THE MOMENT
Pete crunched on the orange triangle as he watched the black dot hovering in mid-air. Orange dust fell on his belly, and he tried to dust it off while keeping his eyes on the dot. In an instant, it ballooned into a large black hole. Before he could consider reacting, someone walked out of it, along with a whole other group of someones behind him. They crowded into his small living room completely blocking his view of the TV. Pete appreciated they didn't step on any of his laundry on the floor.
"This guy?" Pete heard someone ask. He had a brief moment to take everything in. His visitors looked young enough to be students; but, they followed a wrinkled, ancient man that looked older than his dad's 93 years old. The old man wore a black button-up shirt with orange pleats down the front along with black shorts and socks with sandals. He was about to ask questions; then, Pete blinked.
When he opened his eyes, he felt like he was watching a replay of the previous moment. The black hole was already open, along with the old man in front of him. But, the students were filing out of the portal again.
"Wow, it really doesn't make a difference," Pete heard a girl say.
"And, that's the way time works on every Earth," the old man said. "Events are pre-determined, but not the participants. You saw a future where nine years from now, this man is the most important man in the world. We took him out of the equation and the timestream found someone else to make important." Pete had a lot of questions, but his mouth refused to ask them. He couldn't even convince his body to stand up and confront the strangers. He could only watch as a silver-haired girl raised her hand.
"Yes, Emily?" the old man asked. Pete decided he was a teacher of some sort after all.
"But, now that we put him back, is he going to be important again?"
"That's a good question," the teacher said. Then, he shook his head. "Probably not. Time doesn't play favorites. Time can be manipulated so that he is. But, if I left the timestream untouched from here on, there's very little chance he'll find that particular success again. The man we saw take his place was chosen the moment we pulled this one out of time. If we went and removed the new choice; the timestream would pick someone else randomly. That's where most Zero time travelers get tripped up when they try to change something." Then, Pete saw a brown-haired girl with a translucent purple visor over her eyes raise her hand.
"Yes, Eury?" the teacher asked.
"Ballisea said that you're so good at controlling time you can change things without people knowing...," the girl said. The teacher tilted his head at her and smiled.
"That's not a question, but I appreciate the compliment from Ballisea," he said. But, Eury spoke up again.
"I was wondering.... since we kind of ruined his future... can you do anything for him now?" The teacher chuckled and nodded.
"Honestly, I was going to anyway. I might as well include you guys in the process," he said. "Let's upgrade him a little; where should we start?" Pete considered himself lucky that he could not cringe and shrink into himself at the moment. As soon as the teacher asked for input, approximately 15 voices all replied with a comment on his weight. Pete blinked as he processed the insult.
He was insulted that they couldn't see how much work he put into his body over the years. He hadn't missed a single day at the gym since his college days and was still lean enough to fit into his high school clothes.
"What else?" the teacher asked. Pete sighed internally. At least someone could see how athletic he really was; he completely glossed over the comments about Pete's weight.
"This tiny place could use some sprucing up too," Emily said. Other students nodded and mumbled their agreement. Pete blinked.
He wondered who exactly these kids were and where they came from. They seemed to have a skewed point of reference if they thought his spacious 2000 square foot home was tiny. And as far as sprucing up, his usual maid service couldn't make it that day; but, he thought he did a decent job cleaning up after himself.
"Anything else?" the teacher asked. Pete was glad he seemed to be ignoring all their requests so far. And, they seemed to pick up on it too, because it took several quiet seconds before anyone had a suggestion. Eury walked forward and whispered in the teacher's ear. He laughed heartily and nodded. Pete grew nervous... then blinked.
When Polly opened her eyes, the class was gone and only the old teacher remained. He stood in front of an open portal.
"Thanks for letting me show my class a few tricks. I've given you a new life; but, if you're not happy with it...," he nodded at the marble coffee table in front of Polly. She spotted a black business card with elegant orange lettering. Then, she reached for it. "...call me for a redo any time," the man said. He took one step into the portal but stopped to face Polly.
"Nah..maybe not that last one," he mumbled. Then, he turned around; Polly blinked.
When he opened his eyes, the man and his class were gone from Pete's living room. He sighed and relaxed into the leather couch and looked at the card.
There was a string of numbers that could have been a phone number under a name: "Tim". Pete guessed that the text at the bottom of the card was a title of some sort. But, it made as much sense as a field trip that just took place in his living room. "Flying Temporal Dragon."