"Why does time travel have to be so bumpy?"
"I told you to tighten your rocket belt, Williams! Safety first!"
The sleek starship groaned as spurts of vapor shot out from various nozzles onto the polished landing pad. The Timekeeper and his assistant, Williams had just returned from a visit to Ancient Rome on Earth.
"Can you believe a whole day was lost to time! What an incredible discovery we've made!" the Timekeeper exclaimed as he stepped out of the vessel.
"Sir, it wasn't lost. They just renamed it," replied Williams following behind.
"Oh that is considerably less exciting."
The Timekeeper tossed a 'World's Best Charioteer' clay mug onto a pile of ever growing souvenirs from across space and time. Since Williams had begun traveling with him, the Timekeeper had begun revisiting some of his favorite moments in time, only taking side trips when he was asked to by...
"Aunty Gravity! What a pleasant surprise to find you here!"
"Hello, Timekeeper!" The mysterious owner of Aunty Gravity's Galactic Goodies in Tomorrowland smiled from a bench in the lounge area of the hangar.
"What brings you to our house of the future? Another piece of your puzzle needs a nudge?" the Timekeeper moved to a mobile console and began to rapidly flip switches.
"Why actually, yes."
"You know me, Aunty. Any place, any face, any time, I'll be there on a dime! Who may I assist today?" several lights on the console started to glow.
"It's you, Timekeeper. It's time."
The Timekeeper froze his movements over the console. The sound of a light hum from the pre-flight boot sequence filled the room.
"Ah! Common mistake. You meant to visit my neighbor, the Timekeeper! And here am I - the Rhyme Beeper! Not to worry, just head next door. Thank you!" the Timekeeper turned back away from his partner and their guest to begin aimlessly cleaning up some fuel tubes. Some fell on the floor as he made several beep noises.
"You knew you would have to go back someday, Timekeeper."
The Timekeeper dropped the tubes in his hand.
"Timekeeper?" Williams asked.
After returning to the console and adjusting several knobs and switches, three green lights now glowed in front of the Timekeeper.
"We have a trip to make, Williams."
"I'm just saying, there has to be a way to smooth that out. At least the landing," Williams was muttering as he rubbed his head and exited the starship.
The craft was positioned a short distance away from a small outpost on an otherwise deserted peninsula. A few small shelters stood surrounded by multiple workshops. Equipment of all styles littered the ground. The entire area gave off a fierce energy though nothing moved.
"Watch your step! And your watch. Time to move forward! Thank you!" The Timekeeper rattled off as he began to move toward the outpost.
The pair trekked toward the outpost, navigating an increasing number of obstacles as they approached the largest of the shelters.
"What is all this stuff?" Williams asked, picking up a pair of oblong metallic levers.
"The pieces required to discover the pieces required to travel time!" the Timekeeper stood holding a faceplate that looked remarkably similar to his own.
"Is that...you?" asked Williams.
"How dare you. Not nearly as handsome!" the Timekeeper tossed the faceplate over his shoulder.
Williams walked to the door of the largest shelter and pressed the access panel.
"Wait!" exclaimed the Timekeeper. He was too late.
With a whoosh the door slid open, revealing a crowd of engineers surrounding a table. Frozen in time. The room contained a setup of equipment quite similar to what the Timekeeper kept at their base. The table held several blueprints of what appeared to be the Timekeeper. On the wall hung a clock, set at IX : I.
"Timekeeper..."
"This was the day we discovered time travel, Williams. The day I was created. It was a wonderful moment. The team was so happy. Happy team happy dream they say!"
"No one says that.."
"I said that! Thank you!"
"Timekeeper!"
"I estimate you still have several trillion questions."
"What happened here?" Williams finally asked.
"There were 93 versions before me. Attempts at creating a machine capable of withstanding the immense knowledge to operate a time travel vessel. My head is human sized but contains a very big brain! Much, much larger than yours, Williams!"
"Hey! I've been piloting a vessel for you just fine."
"I simplified the controls for your primitive mind. Thank you! Upon activation I immediately got to work taking test flights across time and space. I made thousands of trips in what was only a few seconds for the team. I saw so much history! I also saw the future! What might become of my new friends here."
The Timekeeper hung his head. Williams waited a moment and then responded.
"You should know better than anyone that the future is always in motion. Just because it seems something is headed a certain way, doesn't mean the outcome can't be changed. Especially when someone has a friend to help them."
The Timekeeper looked up at the clock and then to Williams.
He closed his eyes as his chest began to glow.
"That was actually really nice! I barely felt it," Williams smiled as he exited the starship followed by two of the engineers he and the Timekeeper had brought back from the outpost.
"You finally tightened your safety belt! Good going, Williams!" exclaimed the Timekeeper. He was staring out a viewport at the clouds.
"It's your engineers - they have so many great ideas!" Williams said excitedly as he and the pair of engineers went off to check on another project.
The hangar was full of activity as Aunty Gravity appeared alongside the Timekeeper at the viewport. Down below the glow of the light from Tomorrowland interrupted an otherwise dark planet.
"How did we do, my friend?" Aunty asked.
"Aunty! Mission accomplished I would say. You were right. Where to next?"
"Nowhere today, Timekeeper. Maybe tomorrow."