Mission 2012 or bust [TJWC]

In tribute to the man who inspired me to look up, look out and think further. Isaac Asimov, surely one of the greatest science fiction writers to ever have graced the pages of a book. I also tried to work in a few relevant and well known details from ATS too. Hope you enjoy. It's my first ever attempt. Please be gentle. And if you don't like it, blame Druid42, he told me not to be a sissy!

John's personal assistant stood motionless at the end of his bed as he awoke. As his eyes accustomed to the dim light of the Martian sunrise, John noticed that his personal assistants' eyes were burning with more intensity than usual.

"Uh...morning Jack, what's up? Is something wrong? You usually stand in the corner when I sleep."

"I'm sorry John" the 3rd generation robot replied. "I must inform you that your presence is required on Earth immediately. A serious anomaly has occurred and great danger is at hand. Something that was never foreseen by the techs at US Robotics."

"Aww crap. I can tell this is not going to be a good day! Lemme put some clothes on, fire up the caffeine machine and you can fill me in along the way..."

"Very well John." The robot backed away, its eyes seeming to betray the activity occurring in the positronic brain encased inside the 3rd gen titanium/iridium skull. 3rd generation robots were the newest, fastest and strongest ever fabricated. It's 100 GHz positronic brain was literally the most powerful "computer" ever built, with the exception of Multivac.

John donned his synthetic clothing, fabricated from a mixture of Martian Tumbleweeds, Martian water (a foul tasting thing compared to Earth water) and a bacteria discovered after the initial colonisation that covers large areas of the planet . It could best be described as a semi organic nylon only with much less static on the body. The caffeine machine hummed into life and the reassuring smell of fresh caffeine filled the room.

"OK dude, lets hear it" he said, while sipping faux-coffee.

"John, as you know the scientists had to severely alter Earth's timelines and events to avoid a fabled calamity in 2012. If we hadn't the human race would have perished while still in the throes of government coverups and black projects. The Earth was a place filled with the greedy and the cruel. Mankind was being held back and so The Council felt forced to act. Our colonisation of Mars would also have been an impossibility due to the slow progress being made in various open and secret research fields." The robot seemed to be positively humming, its red eyes shimmering with a speed and intensity John had never seen before.

"Spit it out dude, time's a wasting and I can see you have something you want to get off your chest." He lit a cigarette, the only earthly luxury they had been able to grow under the Martian sunlight and augmented lighting they had brought with them.

"Very well John. The engineers have been watching events via the retro-scope and what they have seen worries them deeply. It would appear if we do nothing, somewhere between December 21 and December 25 of the year 2012 a great catastrophe shall sweep the Earth, killing everyone and everything. Pole shifts, earthquakes and other major geological events possibly including the eruption of various super-volcanoes worldwide. I'm sure I don't need to explain further how that would affect life." The robots eyes dimmed slightly, as if a burden had been lifted.

"Not to mention the time anomaly would also mean we wouldn't exist anymore...?"

"Correct John."

"WTH? We tested all this stuff for years, we saw all possible angles and outcomes, ran probability tests till we were blue in the face. How has it gone wrong?" He stubbed his cigarette out dejectedly.

"Correct John but it would appear that one possibility was overlooked in the scenario tests. A small oversight, even considering my computational ability but an oversight nonetheless which could stop everything. We forgot (or rather were unaware of) certain Black Projects that some governments were running were classified and we were not able to hack the systems containing the data of those projects before we left for Mars, as you may remember."

John got another cup of caffeine and lit another cigarette. "OK Jack, hit it. What is required of me?"

"You are to go back to February 2012 and prevent a certain scientist from performing a test at a secured location that contains a particle accelerator. Also we need a rather antiquated piece of IBM technology in order to recalibrate our systems here and hopefully that will give us part of the data we needed before we left."

"And just how in hell am I supposed to do this?" he retorted angrily, sucking hard on the cigarette.

"John, we have worked out some preliminary details and our calculations show there is a 47% chance of complete success."

"It's odds like those they used to have in casinos back in the day. Is that the best you can do?"

"I'm afraid so John but we do have a time-gate ready and waiting and a complete list of how to accomplish the objectives necessary. You are to prevent a certain test happening at CERN which, if attempted, will rip the fabric of time and space. The recovery of the IBM technology can be attempted by a network they call The Internet. You are to inform people of your identity and intent via that medium and wait for the technology to be forwarded to you. The technology is not as important as preventing the CERN test from taking place. If you cannot stop the test, all will cease to be." The light in Jack's eyes dimmed once more and he seemed to relax his robotic stance.

"OK. I think I understand but how do I prevent the CERN test? Surely I will be noticed trying to get into a secured semi-government facility?" He felt a wave of depression come over him. He was a trained astro-physicist and space flight commander, not a time traveler.

"To prevent the CERN experiment you will need to gain access to the facility in order to plant a small jamming device which the technology of the day is unable to detect. This jamming device will affect their tests negatively, giving false readings that lead them to believe they have broken the speed of light with certain particles and they will then go off on a completely different tack looking for something that actually isn't there."

"Well, at least I don't have to kill anyone then." He stubbed his cigarette out. The taste and flavour beginning to irritate his taste-buds due to a higher content of certain chemicals in the tobacco due to decreased light levels.

"That possibility has indeed been considered and calculated but the death of a leading scientist would cause too much attention and possibly alert people to your presence. That would completely destroy the mission. That is why they have decided on the jamming device."

"Good. Well, if you will give me my mission itinerary and equipment I guess I should be leaving." He returned his cup to the caffeine unit for automatic cleaning.

"Indeed John. The time-gate is all ready and calibrated. Engineers anticipate some communication difficulties once you are there but we will be monitoring you the whole time via the retro-scope. Apparently there is a lot of interference at this time. Possibly as a result of increased scientific and Black Project work being performed at various facilities around the world."

"So once I'm there I'm pretty much stuck till someone here presses the button to bring me back, and won't be able to communicate with HQ?" The apprehensive feeling he awoke to was now like a thick cloud enveloping his whole body.

"Correct John, but we will be watching you the whole time, at the first sign of danger you will be brought back while the engineers try to create a new plan."

"How much time do I have before I need to leave?" He grabbed a small holdall from a cupboard and began to pack clothes, tools and communication devices.

"13 minutes and 40 seconds John." The robot's eyes were now their usual intensity but still shimmering unnervingly.

"Good, enough time for one more caffeine shot and a ciggy." He took a clean cup from the dispenser and pressed the button for caffeine, lit another cigarette and placed it in a nearby ashtray. Jack moved to the fabrication machine and punched in the details for clothing fitting to Earth 2012. In 5 minutes he was ready and clothed for the time and feeling slightly energised by his high caffeine intake. A definite buzz mixed with anticipation and a small measure of fear.

"OK. Let's hit it Jack. It's time to hit the road Jack!" Feeling trepidation he walked to the console and pressed the on button.

"What good does hitting a road do John. I am somewhat confused by this statement. My databanks contain no information on this." If the robot could be said to have an expression, then it was surely puzzlement.

"It's an old song from Earth Jack, a very old song. I guess the engineers didn't give you too much musical background. No biggie."

"Ah, indeed John. I have no musical knowledge of old music. Thank you for explaining it to me."

John punched in his access code on the console and fired up the communication option connecting directly to Federation HQ.

"Ah, good morning John. I trust you have been informed of the mission sufficiently?" The voice was that of Chief Admiral Armstrong.

"Yes Sir. I am ready to do what is necessary. It seems there is little option left from what I have been told."

"Indeed." replied the Admiral. "You are set to leave in one minute and we here at HQ wanted to wish you godspeed."

"Thank you sir. It all seems fairly straightforward and planned out. I hope to be back in time for tea."

"We look forward to it John. We'll have some Martian moonshine ready for your return."

John shuddered. The stuff got you drunk as hell but tasted like eating sewage from a crater and gave a hangover that felt like it would never leave.

"Thank you see. See you when I get back. John out." He closed the communication channel and activated the time-gate device that was part of a wall of his room. The wall faded away and a spiral tunnel was revealed.

"Is it calibrated Jack?" he asked.

"Yes John, just report for duty and say the mission number and the time-gate will be immediately activated."

He took a deep breath. "Computer, Commander John Titor reporting for duty for mission M2012."

The time-gate lit up and hummed into life and he walked to meet his destiny. "See ya Jack"

Phew, I nearly lost it all! Damn computers!

Anyway...

I just wanted to add that while I HAVE borrowed some ideas (robots with positronic brains) from the late Mr Asimov, I have not stolen any plot ideas from him or anyone else. It's just a random meshing of various ideas in my head, some of which are obviously linked to certain conspiracies that have been on ATS. I tried to make it topical at least.

It took me a while I guess, an hour or maybe a little more, all in one go. I think while it's not the shortest story, I did try to keep it short and comprehensive and it didn't turn out that badly for a first attempt. I love science fiction. Fly me to the moon baby!

reply to post by LightSpeedDriver


You have grown from "sissy" status to "pretty good, just a little short of awesome, but still a captivating read" status. Seriously, '___', you have talent.

However, and yes, there is always a however, your theme was transparent. I knew you were talking about John. One of my future entries was gonna be a John Titor parody. I read, enthralled by the story you were presenting before me, and I thought, sounds a lot like John Titor. I chuckled when you mentioned John, then chuckled again as I realized it was another Titor story.

Very well done, my friend. I liked it, and I was fixed to my computer screen as I digested every word you had typed in. Very satisfying.

For this short story, '___', and honestly, there's no reason to go gentle on you, you have innate writing ability. You should REALLY try writing more. Once the words flow......

.....you'll have to give us more.

We are waiting!

reply to post by Druid42

Thank you for the kind words. I was trying a little too hard to be tongue-in-cheek but it had to be done. I could have used my own name which is also biblical but I switched to John at the last minute for anonymity. Johnny Anonymous! Sorry Johnny.... I should have just titled it Ode To ATS.

Thank you once again. If there is a next one (not in this competition) it will be much darker I think...

Finally found it...

First off, apologies for the comment in the other thread, was supposed to be a PM that somehow wound up on the page. As you, said, damn computers....

This is good work man. Quick written, to the point and not too overly detailed, but with just enough to set the reader up and draw them in. This could be great as a longer story, with a lot more detail filled out, such as surroundings, climate and the general feel of the place in the story, along with a few more details of your characters also.
In any even great work, hoping to see more in the near future

The only problem is your protagonist has coffee, cigarettes on Mars but no sticky buns? But I liked it anyway!

Thanks all for the kinds words and sentiments. I didn't expect it to get this much attention.

Sticky buns would awaken the deadly Martian ground worms, (huge beasts with millions of gnashing teeth in a huge, foul smelling maw) hence why I had to leave them out.