The Ideal Scenario

Trevor's time-traveling best friend comes bearing exciting and terrifying news about his future. The implications mean the end of life as he knows it.

“Let me show you where you’ll be working.”

I led Emma, our latest hire, down the sterile corridor toward the unassuming office. Bold letters labeled the room: “Dispatch.”

I held open the door and gestured. “After you.”

“Thank you, sir,” Emma said.

“For the last time: Trevor is fine. Trev, even.”

She gave a nod of uneasy gratitude, before stepping into the organized chaos. A horseshoe desk took up the center of the room, penning in two chairs behind an array of computer monitors. Open files lay scattered about the desk. Overstuffed filing cabinets and sagging bookshelves lined the left and right walls. The back of the room was a floor-to-ceiling window.

“It—it’s—”

“A mess, I know. A regular disasterpiece worthy of a place in the Metropolitan Museum of Mayhem.” I grinned.

“—Enormous.” Emma walked around the desk, drawn to the window, and the view beyond. Rather than a glimpse outside, it offered a vantage point of the beating heart of our organization.

“Ah, yes. That’s where the magic happens, so to speak.” I joined her by the glass. A green door set in a natural-looking rock face stood at the end of the football field-length room.

“What is it?” Her breath fogged the window, now just inches from her lips.

“The Green Door,” I said. “That’s where the travelers come through, with news from the future. Timelines and histories that will never happen.”