The man opened his eyes. He needed to go to the white building. The man stood up, his legs scratched and bruised. He was covered in dirt and scabs. He started walking. He needed to go to the white building.



Everyone he passed on the street seemed afraid of him. They cowered in fear as he walked by. The man did not know why. All he knew was that he needed to go to the white building. The area looked like a waste land. Garbage covered the road that the man walked on. He needed to go to the white building.



His clothes were torn. He was not wearing any shoes, and his feet were covered in blisters from walking. He didn’t wonder why. He couldn’t remember anything. The only thing he knew was that he needed to go to the white building. The leader was waiting for him.



The people around him looked worse than he did. They were crying. They were afraid. The man did not care. The man walked past them. He didn’t know what had happened. He did know one thing: he must go to the white building.



When he reached the white building, he saw 2 men dressed in black, holding guns, guarding the entrance. They quickly moved out of his way. The man walked into the building. He now knew something else: he must enter the 48th room. He walked down the hall. Other people were in the hall, too. He listened to the sounds coming from different rooms.



In the 2nd room, he heard a man shouting. He sounded very mad. In the 12th room, he heard a woman saying something about taxes. It took him a while to finally reach the 48th room. In the room, 3 men were sitting behind a desk. They knew everything about the man. The man in the 2nd seat smiled.



“Hello, Phil,” the man in the 2nd seat said. He was addressing the man who had just walked in. “You must be confused,” the man continued. “You are here to serve us. Your full name is Phil America Blue. You are currently in Washington D.C



“You do not need to know my name. You can just call me ‘Leader’. I am the president of the country we are currently in.” Phil tried to take all of this in. “What is the date?”, Phil asked in a raspy voice. “October 9, 2530,” Leader replied.



“We are currently in World War III,” he continued, “and it is causing great despair. I fear that this great country may leave the battlefield in a coffin. You are here to go back and prevent this war from happening.” Phil was confused. “What do you mean, ‘go back’?” he asked. Leader glared at him. “I mean to go back in time,” he stated. “I know that it seems absurd-“ “It IS absurd,” Phil replied.




Phil stared at the leader. “It feels like I was born just a few minutes ago,” he said. “I knew I had to go to the white building, nothing else. When I got there, I knew I had to go to the 48th room. Now here I am, in the 48th room. All of a sudden, I can think clearly now. Did you do this to me? Why am I covered with scars?! Why don’t they hurt?! Who are those people sitting next to you?!”




“You didn’t answer any of my REAL worries, you try to convince me that I’m your slave, and you’re talking about TIME TRAVEL!?!” Leader was shocked. He didn’t expect Phil to get so mad at him. He didn’t even expect Phil to know anything yet! The man sitting to the left of Leader pulled out a gun. “Don’t worry, he won’t shoot,” Leader said with a smirk, “as long as you be a good little boy for us while I explain to you everything you need to do.”




Phil stood very still. “You do not need to know that information,” Leader continued. “All that you need to know is what to do in order to help us.” Leader then brought out a remote that had a red button and a blue button. “Do you know what these buttons do, Phil?” Leader asked him. Phil shook his head as a sweat ran down his cheek. “You are not human, Phil,” he said. “You are a man-made robot. This remote can control certain things about you. How about we see what happens when we press the blue button?”




“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!”, Phil screamed. He felt pain in every corner of his body. It felt as if someone had dropped him in a vat of acid. The scorching pain lasted for 10 minutes, but to Phil, it felt as if a whole year had passed. After a while, the pain stopped, and Phil came back to his senses. “Now, I don’t think we want to press to red button, do we?” Leader asked. Phil just stood still and stared at the crimson red button. What would it do to him?


“Phil,” he continued, “This is why you are here to serve us. We control what happens to you.” Leader stared at Phil as he reached into his pocket and dug around in his pocket, all the while holding the remote. He finally took out a plane ticket and handed it to Phil. “You are to go to the airport on West drive tomorrow at 2:00 sharp. You will go on this plane. It will take you to Germany, where the war began. When you are there, a man will drive you to a building. You will have further instructions when you are at this proposed location.”

“If you are not at the building by 9:00 pm this Friday, we will know, and press the blue button 5 times. That will be 5 times worse than what happened earlier. The plane leaves tomorrow. I suggest you get ready.” Phil nodded as he slid the plane ticket in his pocket. “You are free to go,” Leader said. Phil stared at the man for a little while longer, and left the room.

As Phil left, he heard a woman saying something about taxes in one room. In another room, he heard a man shouting. The man sounded very mad. The 2 men in front of the doors quickly moved out of Phil’s way. Phil still felt the stinging from when Leader had pressed the blue button. Phil hated Leader, and was pretty sure Leader hated him, too.

Phil sat on the steps outside the building and pulled the plane ticket out of his pocket. Where was ‘West drive’ anyway? Did Leader really expect him to know where it was? Phil decided to worry about it tomorrow. Right now, he needed to worry about finding a good place to sleep. Phil started walking down the street.