Bradbury year 2025 Collection

Time shift (Bradbury 14)

The elderly scientist stood next to the strange control console that reached the height of his waist.

“We have reverse engineered technology from an extra-terrestrial space craft from Area 51. This device controls time itself. There is a way to alter history with this alien technology. If you press this button, history will be altered so that Nazi Germany emerged victorious from World War Two. The person who presses this button will be the only one who can recall what this version of history was like!”

An attractive blonde woman about 21 years old named Gudrun ran to the console and pressed the button with more zeal than a child let loose in a candy store. The smug look of satisfaction on her face couldn’t be hidden.

Her world swirled around her, and she awakened on a gurney attached to some electronic equipment. She unplugged the electrodes connected to her scalp, then noticed her probation officer seated nearby. Then, it all came back to her. This had all been a simulation to test her.

“Did I pass the test?” Gudrun asked, hoping against the impossible.

“I’m afraid not,” her probation officer replied. “You were arrested for taking part in crimes with neo-Nazi skinheads. You caused a lot of property damage, and the simulator was meant to determine whether your subconscious mind had rid itself of your white supremacist leanings. I’m afraid I’m going to have to recommend to the court that they extend your probation for another year.”

“But I’ve learned so much!” Gudrun shouted, but her probation officer was already in the process of leaving the chamber. She knew in her heart that she could never stop thinking like a white supremacist. It could be a very long time before she was rehabilitated, if it would ever happen at all.

The End

(301 words)