The journalism courses seemed simple, in comparison to the stress that Danielle felt preparing herself for the trip to Canada. In fact, she was starting to look back on her former life with some nostalgia. Just focusing on paying her bills, handing in assignments on time, and cleaning motel rooms now seemed an almost desirable life. So much had changed, and even though Kenji had said that taking part in the time mission was her call, she was facing the reality that this might be the last time she could ever spend with her family.

  Not that they were acting any differently than in the past. Sylvia had recently moved out, and set up life with her new boyfriend, but was already talking about leaving him. Aslan was drinking too much, and was starting to lose money on gambling. Mom was trying to keep the household together, and leaning on dad for more and more money, even though his support payment orders had mostly come to an end. Dad was still dad. He left Danielle to her own devices most of the time, which was good. But, generally speaking, he didn't seem especially happy. Selling gambling machines had never sat well with him, and now that Aslan was having trouble with what might be becoming a gambling addiction, he was tormented by the thought hat he might have contributed to the problem.

  Even if she could speak with them about her upcoming decision, Danielle wondered if she should. They were completely caught up in their own lives, and could all barely stay afloat. Danielle's perspective was different. All she could think about were the manipulating tendrils of the faction AIs, reaching back into the past and pulling the unseen strings of history. Who knew if something which had been changed in the timeline might have caused Aslan's problems? With all of her being, Danielle was becoming obsessed with the idea of stopping the Time War. If it really was possible to eliminate time travel, surely that was a task worth attempting. Surely, human beings would make better decisions for humanity than factional AIs based in the 25th century! Someone had to try to accomplish this change, and if that someone had to be Danielle, so be it. Or at least that was how she felt sometimes. In her weaker moments, Danielle wanted mainly to find some place to go to run and hide.

  Then there was the Uncle Lou question. Danielle had always considered Uncle Lou to be a bit of a nut case. Pretty much the whole family had always felt that way. But now, it seemed to Danielle, his perspective on life might just yield something of value. Didn't that Art Bell guy talk about time travel in some of his shows? It seemed to her, that she might have remembered some discussions on that topic. What if it wasn't all bunk? At the very least, speaking with her uncle might be good for her mental health. One thing was sure: Bringing up the subject of time travel with anyone else she knew might lead to some serious ostracisation. With Uncle Lou? It was probably Uncle Lou's idea of a good conversation.

  _______________________________________________________________________________________

  "Danielle! Welcome! You've driven yourself up here! You're such a grownup now! I can't tell you how pleased I am to see you. Come on in! Come on in! Sorry about the mess." The state of the trailer hadn't improved much since the previous visit.

  But now, Uncle Lou and his home looked different to Danielle's eyes. Visiting him on her own, seeing everything that she had seen in the past few months, and especially her historical visit to meet with Uncle Lou's idol, had changed a lot. This guy, who everybody else thought was a crackpot, might just be on to something. 'Or maybe not,' thought Danielle. But the possibility was well worth checking out.

  She decided to go for broke: "Uncle Lou, what do you know about time travel?"

  "Well, I'm not sure how much you would want to hear me talk about a subject like that one. I tend to wear out my welcome with all of my speculations, and that last thing I want to do is wear out my welcome with you, Danielle." Uncle Lou was definitely unsure of how to respond.

  "Oh, you will find me tolerant of just about anything, Uncle Lou. Don't worry about causing any offence. I am genuinely curious about time travel, and I really want to hear anything that you have to say on the subject. What do you think? Is time travel real?"

  "Well," Uncle Lou responded, "On balance, I would say that it is real. My thinking is this: If time travel ever becomes possible in the entire future of the whole Earth, then I believe that it is likely they would use the technology to visit this time period. Being that humans and this Earth are probably going to be here for billions of years into the future, then yes, I think it probably happens."

  "Do you have any evidence?" asked Danielle.

  "Old Arty Bell used to interview time travellers! They sounded pretty convincing to me! One guy was back in 1998. He said he was here to pick up an old IBM computer to take back to the future, for the US military. There were piles of other people who called in claiming to be time travellers. I've seen other evidence on the internet. There are old pictures with people carrying I-phones, and reports of people from centuries ago, finding high tech gear," explained Uncle Lou.

  "What if I told you that I am aware of four different time travelling factions, that compete against each other in a war across time, for the Earth's power resources?" 'Why not say it out loud?' thought Danielle.

  "Ah, the faction time travel theory! Spiders and snakes! Yes! That one appeals to me as well. Johnny United has been making videos about that theory, for years. Over on Rumble, mostly." Uncle Lou gestured over towards his computer desk. He had a Chromebook in front of a book shelf full of UFO books. "I think that Youtube kicked him off, or demonetised him, or something. I like the alien time travel theories better though. All of those crop circles, alien abductions, and men in black can be explained by time travellers sent back on time missions. Maybe the alien interactions are just cover for the fact that future inhabitants of Earth need to come back in time to get healthy breeding women or something? Bellow Ruse and Quandary have done some really good work on that angle. I can send you some of their links!" Uncle Lou was becoming quite energised by the conversation.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  "So people actually discuss time travelling factions online? What do they say?" This discussion was making more progress than Danielle had imagined was possible. One thing she had not done was to have attempted any web searches on the subject of time travel. Discussing time travel online was one of many behaviours discouraged in the training modules.

  "Oh yes! Time travel and time travellers get lots of attention. There are people who say that we are all being manipulated for the benefit of future societies. Personally, I think that the people doing most of the manipulating are our politicians. It is refreshing to hear from a young person that is interested in these subjects, Danielle. After all, it is young people who have the most at stake in the future of this world! I really didn't know that this sort of thing appealed to you. Your dad never mentioned anything, and he always called me a conspiracy theorist, whenever I brought stuff up." Uncle Lou grimaced when he said the words: 'conspiracy theorist.' "Where do you go online to get your information?"

  "What if I was to say that I don't get my information online? Maybe I work for one of the factions. What would you say to that?" There was no way that Danielle could imagine asking that question of anyone else she knew, who was outside the time travel business.

  This brought Uncle Lou down to Earth and he developed a very serious facial expression. "Is this a theoretical question, or a real life question?"

  ""We can keep it on a theoretical level if you want, Uncle Lou. If that makes you feel more comfortable, then let's do that."

  "Okay, then here is my answer: That is some next level shit, if you can forgive my English. On the one hand, I would deeply respect what you are doing. Anybody who wants to get directly involved with the future of the world, especially someone as young as yourself should be praised. Highly praised, if you ask me. On the other hand it sounds dangerous as hell, and I am afraid for my niece's life!"

  The insides of a trailer seemed the perfect place to be having this conversation. The spartan surroundings, the faded pictures on the walls, the noisy fridge cycling on and off. "I understand your concerns, Uncle Lou," replied Danielle.

  "Have you discussed any of this with your mother or your father?" asked Uncle Lou.

  "I really couldn't imagine it being a productive conversation. They would probably want me to go see a psychiatrist, or something."

  "I suppose that you are right about that. Having one conspiracy theorist in the family is already too much for them to handle. If you bring it up to them after we finish talking, they will probably think that I have been brainwashing you."

  "There is another angle on this subject that I wanted to get your opinion on, Uncle Lou. Theoretically speaking, of course. Let's say that I have discovered that these factions are all run by giant AIs that will end human life as we know it? And, even worse than that, they constantly manipulate their past, which is our present. They subtly twist and change our timeline for their benefit, but to the detriment of the current population of Earth. Their time missions can even erase the lives of people we know! What would you think of that?"

  "Well, there is where you are pitching into my wheelhouse, Danielle. I am fully aware that nefarious forces manipulate the world, to the detriment of the common person. It has always been that way. They would sell their own grandmothers to make a buck, and lie through their teeth to cover it up. Your story makes sense to me!"

  "How is it that you can understand this sort of thing so easily, Uncle Lou? I just don't get it. Everyone else in my life is just making a paycheck, or trying to pass a course. Nobody else seems to question the system, which itself makes everything so difficult! I used to be just like them: Do my job. Make some money. Sign up for more schooling. Blow off steam on the weekends. But then I got this new job. There is lots of money. More money than I ever thought I would see at my age. But what I have seen! It's like the curtain has been pulled back to reveal a dirty truth." Danielle felt some tears coming into her eyes. "How did you manage to see behind the curtain, Uncle Lou."

  "There are a few things that you probably haven't been told, Danielle," said the 75 year old Uncle Lou. "When I was your age, they drafted me, and sent me to Vietnam. It was bad, real bad. I saw the very worst that life had to offer in my 2 year tour of duty. Gut wrenching stuff. When I got home to Marianne," he said pointing to one of the faded pictures on the wall, a photograph of an attractive young woman from the sixties, "I tried to forget about what I had seen. Marianne and I got married and we had a son, Theodor. Theo made me forget about serving in the army. We did everything together until he was 18. But, then he got in with some bad people, and some even worse drugs. The police got involved. We tried everything the authorities suggested: Rehab, interventions and finally psychiatry. I did what they told me to do. We committed him to psych wards, and filled him full of psych meds. None of it helped. By the time he was 24, I could hardly recognise my son, and one day in 1985, he died of an overdose. Marianne was devastated, and she never recovered. In 1988, she took her own life. And you know what? I blamed myself! I knew what the system was capable of, from my time in Vietnam! I knew that the psychiatrists and all of their medications weren't the answer! I knew that what I should have done was to resist the system, and saved my son myself! I should have stopped everything, and taken him out fishing and hunting, and moved back to the land if we had to! But I didn't try anything like that until he was too far gone. Not only did I lose Theo, but Marianne too. I resolved to never accept their lies again. Now I always question their narratives, and usually I am proved right."

  Danielle was really blown away by Uncle Lou's story. It explained so much of his current situation that had previously seemed confusing to Danielle. Now she understood why he lived in a trailer, all by himself on the edge of town. "Uncle Lou, I am so sorry for your loss. I never knew any of this." She gave him a heartfelt hug.

  "Thank you, Danielle. That means a lot to me."

  They both sat for a long while, thinking about what had just happened. But Danielle still had one more question to ask. "Uncle Lou, let me ask you something else. What if I was given a chance to make a difference? What if I could be the one to confront the system that I am sure will lead to the destruction of everyone I know. The odds may or may not be in my favour, but if we win, we beat factions and end the Time War. What should I do?"

  Uncle Lou thought carefully. Then he offered, "Danielle, here is my answer. If I could go back in time in my own life, I would do anything. I would take any risk to change what happened, and save my family. If I died trying, so be it. Does that help?"

  "It does, Uncle Lou. It does help. I am going to have to think seriously about what we have talked about. I can't thank you enough."

  As she drove back to her father's house in Pahrump, Danielle realised that she had completely revised her mental image of her uncle. She also realised that she was going to have to do a lot of work, to prepare for her trip to Canada.