The Anarchist's Flaw

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 25; the Silver Edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The topic for this month is 'When Journey Meant More Than Destination'.

To whoever may read this,

I do not know what it feels like to stand on the edge of a precipice, looking down at flames of chaos and knowing that I have been the cause. I do know what it feels like to look into the eyes of the man who would kill me and feel the cold end of a pistol on my forehead. I have a good feeling, as I sit here writing this, I will know soon enough.

I was born 28 years ago in April, 2050 to a normal middle class family with normal middle class aspirations. I, however, was always a rather strange child. At least that’s what everyone said about me. I had an IQ of over 200, which I came to know about several years later into my life. But no, that’s not what was queer about me. I’ve always had the strange ability of blacking out at the rarest of moments and catch a glimpse into what is to come. Something like what I’d read about the great Nostradamus. However, I only saw glimpses into my own future. When I was 12 I was graduating magna cum laude having majored in physics and neurology. It never appeared strange to as to why I had chosen those two rather disparate subjects. I was building towards a greater end. I might only say that it was something I had foreseen. I know it sounds unbelievable, but I was obsessed by my power and the possibilities of how far I could use it. I had seen my abilities and what I would be able to do with it. I also knew I could never change the future. What I saw would certainly come to pass.

By the age of 16, I was working at a university laboratory to research the fourth dimension. I was obsessed with wanting to translate the visual to the tangible. Amalgamate the three dimensions with the fourth, if I may say so. I had known for a long time that time travel would not be impossible. The technology had been there for some time. I just hadn’t come along sooner to do it.

It took me seven years. I made it. It was a helmet connected to three cylinders of liquid nitrogen. No ordinary helmet, of course. The inside of the helmet had needle like spokes, much like needles used in acupuncture and were meant to stimulate specific parts of my brain.This would result in a specific circuit of neurons to be connected in my brain which would then create a rather abnormal charge. This charge was the reason of my visions, if you will, for the lack of a better word. I found a way to channel this spark and accelerate the particles involved in it. Einstein was wrong. But then, the 1940s was too early to talk about time travel. It was a simple matter of combining light particles with the charge produced in my brain and pass it through to a powerful computer. The computer would then generate a holographic image of what I was seeing. Only I wouldn’t just be seeing it anymore. It turned out that though my body stayed in the same time dimension, my mind travelled and when it landed to a point in another dimension of time, because of the automatic need for the feel of everything, it recreated my body there. So I never physically disappeared from the ‘present’. But I was able to interact with people from the future and later come to witness those very moments in the present. I was successful.

However, I never ventured into the past. Memories cannot be changed and in any case, it could have destroyed the space-time continuum and the way they are so intricately connected together would have been shred to pieces. I never gave it much thought. At the time I was busy with my technology, America and China were preparing for war with each other. The whole world had taken sides. But no guns were being fired yet. It was like the calm before a great typhoon. I was 24 and rather arrogant. All I saw in the world was ineptitude and corruption. Ever since I was small, I had wanted to eradicate the world of the vermin that led us. They led us to the brink of destruction and it never seemed like they would stop. I wanted to bring about a new world order. An open world which thinks  and knows what it's doing. We would be a perfect human race. I used my device to see how this would be done. 

I could never control how far I would go into the future. I would only see important moments, when I was particularly excited or stimulated. Important moments in my life. I saw the great world war come to pass and I saw how I did it. I found that I would discover how to intrude into the online defence systems of each country and fire ballistic missiles to target any point on the globe. I found that I would discover how to keep anyone from realising this. China attacked America. America fought back. The UK and France hit Russia because they supported China. India fought China and Pakistan at the same time. There was fire burning everywhere. Every major city in the world was in flames. And laughable though it is, I was the sole reason it happened. Of course, there’s always the need for the catalyst. I simply brought about something inevitable. War was to happen anyway. I simply found the means to make sure it happened sooner and with surer results. 

Years ago, I saw all this and witnessed all this happening. I had a dream once. I dreamed that one day, as I looked down at the great city of New York from a high vantage point, I would hear loud footsteps behind the door to the stairwell behind me. A man would appear from there. He would put the muzzle of a gun to my head and looking into my eyes, would tell me that he’s from the future; that somehow, my time machine would take a man to the past as well and that this capability had been added to it only for the purpose for which he stood before me. He would then thank me for my work with the civilization and tell me that the future is bright and all that I had dreamed of has happened there; with one minor glitch. Apparently, I assume power after the world stops burning and I assume the people to be too stupid and rule over them. The openness I had dreamed about wouldn’t be there in the future. There would be no anarchy or evolution. Under my governance, the human race would be confined to the intellectuals; perfect and stay that way. It was not what I had really wanted. I would forget the importance to remain one of the many thousands and nothing more. Arrogance would take me. He told me I was the flaw in the equation. It may have been merely a dream. I couldn’t even see his hidden face. 

A few hours ago, I destroyed my machine. I cannot let myself be killed. I am too important and the world needs my guidance. I have brought about war and the world as everyone knew it has died. A rebirth is in order and I will be the carrier for my train of thought. I must not die. Now I stand here atop the new World Trade Centre fearfully waiting for an event that I hope will not occur. The great city of New York is burning. The lady has fallen; broken across her legs. What remains of her is blackened. I can hear loud footsteps on the the stairwell.

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“Finish the letter, old boy. The world needs to know what we have done for it. Yes, we. You and I are not too different. I’m just older. Finish it and transmit it into every major network that still remains. But we must die. I must not see the future beyond this point. Without me, or us, their will be anarchy. Finish it. Then we die today. The future I have created has to be different; a new journey for everyone, everyday. We are the flaw in the equation.”

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.