text: Logline: A researcher finds a way to send modern technology to the Allied powers during the Second World War, effectively securing victory and saving lives, but also has repercussions beyond the war. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Jason Reese, a research scientist working for the U.S. Army, is on the brink of a breakthrough. Jason has degrees from Harvard, Yale, and Brown, in the field of quantum physics. He works with a research and development team from a clandestine lab deep in the Nevada desert. Irene Tang, a Japanese graduate student from MIT, holds degrees in organic chemistry and quantum mechanics. There is also Aaron Massey, a budget guy who maintains expenditures under the supervision of the Army and serves as a contact with other branches of the military. Aaron has a Bachelor's degree from Arizona State. After serving in the Army, he was the number one insurance agent in Arizona for three straight years. Jason's breakthrough, hopefully, would enable him to send things through time using a wormhole. The device is the size of the breadbasket. He delivered a letter via the wormhole last night. There was a message in return this morning, his great-grandfather, Wayne Reese, a Command Sergeant in the U.S. Army, responded, while serving in World War II. He had just lost several soldiers the night before, and he was concerned that they weren't going to make it out alive. "Wow, that's incredible," Irene says, looking over Jason's shoulder. "We could give some details to support them, we know how the war is going to end, we know what the German strategy was, giving him a few tips is only going to save lives," Aaron says, realizing the value of this technology. "I don't know; we shouldn't play with the past, who knows what sort of effect it would have on us today. Besides, who knows what harm we've already caused," Jason says. "Although we're all here. If there were any changes, they were so slight that we couldn't perceive them. What if you're dealing with a parallel universe, one that doesn't have any effect on the one we're living right now?" Irene speculates. "She's right; if this device succeeds, it will transform the universe, you will go down in history as the greatest scientist in human history," Aaron says. "How about a little test, your great-grandfather included the date, the 9th of March, 1942, we could very quickly lookup where his brigade was and give him some advice. If there's no difference in our universe, we'll know it's a parallel universe," agrees Irene. Jason decides to go with Irene's idea; he researched the brigade of his great-grandfather and discovered that they were battling in France on that day. Sadly, he also found out that his great-grandfather was about to be killed in a machine-gun ambush in Calais. With full hindsight, Jason can guarantee that if his great-grandfather moves his brigade south of the area, they would be able to surprise the German forces. Jason prepares the letter carefully, submits it through the wormhole, and it works! His great-grandfather took the south route, shocking the Germans, and won a vital battle. Jason felt proud; he had done something that wasn't in the history books before today. "Look, we're linked to the U.S. Army, we can get them some top-of-the-line 2020 weapons, sit back and watch your grand-grandfather become a goddamn hero," Aaron entices. Jason says, "Let's see what this wormhole can do ." Aaron brings General Andrew Scarlett to the facility the following day. The general is very knowledgeable regarding the Second World War and is also in charge of the very substantial arsenal of 2020 weapons. The general asked Jason if he'd be able to construct a bigger wormhole, Jason said he'd be able to make one around the size of the garage door. The general returns with all kinds of high-tech weapons that can fit inside a garage, Jason includes a letter for his great-grandfather, which consists of a few instructions about how to handle such modern advanced weapons. The next week, Jason received a letter back, the latest guns performed beautifully, they moved Germany closer to its original border, something that took four years to do in the original timeline was achieved in a matter of five months using 2020 technologies. But Aaron and the general were greedy; they wanted Jason to create an even larger wormhole, one in which they could bring tanks, warships, jetplanes, and much more comprehensive high-tech weapons. "Don't forget, we still have to defeat Japan, imagine if we can achieve that without the A-bomb," the general says excitedly. Jason agrees and will construct a wormhole the size of a building in the middle of the desert. The general instantly submits a requisition for larger equipment. Jason got another letter from his great-grandfather, they defeated Hitler in June 1942, and Japan is set to surrender by the end of the summer. Their strategy succeeded, the advanced technologies and the 80 years of development involved, gave the Allied forces a significant advantage over the Nazis of the 1940s. Jason gets up the next morning, but he's not in his bed. Confused, he looks out the window, he's in London. He heads out and suddenly meets Irene and Aaron. London looks odd, there are American flags everywhere, Jason looks in the center of Trafalgar Square, and there's a massive statue of his great-grandfather, Emperor Wayne Reese? Jason, Irene, and Aaron are shocked by all the American patriotism. General Scarlet steps up behind them and pushes them into a building. "We did it, America controls the world," says the general. "What do you mean, why are we in Britain?" Jason questions. "It's not Great Britain; it's America, it's all America, London is just the capital of the American colonies in Europe. After defeating the Japanese, we continued to colonize almost 90% of the world," explains the general. "It's impossible, according to the letters with my great-grandfather, they were only in August, 1942," Jason tries to rationalize. "What did you suppose would happen when the U.S. Army got hold of the 2020 weapons, they made more of them! They deployed satellites; they built the Internet, they established advanced surveillance technologies, years before it was invented in our timeline, what did you think, he was going to write you about all of it?" the general asks. "How did this happen, we confirmed that it was a parallel universe; it wasn't our timeline!" Jason told Irene. "Do we even know how parallel universes work? Maybe there was a way for timelines to merge, it's all theoretical," Irene speculates. "Hey guys, listen to me, it's all going to be all right, this is the best of all worlds, all these nations are paying America to defend them, the planet is at peace, sit back and appreciate it," Aaron says as he marches away with the general. When Jason walks through London, he finds that conditions are better, the buildings are cleaner, hardly any homeless, people seem happy under American rule. It wasn't until they entered a cafe to get breakfast that he realized, everything wasn't the same for everyone. The barista at the counter takes one look at Irene, "We don't serve her kind here, the japs have their restaurants on the south side of the city, I'm sorry, that's the rules," says the barista. Jason and Irene leave the coffee shop and conduct some analysis to see exactly how much of their timeline had changed; most people were living on a par with what was expected from the original timeline. However, life is harsh for citizens who fought American occupation or citizens from Axis nations. They exist under an authoritarian rule, do not have all the rights and liberties of the Allied countries, and do not exercise the same economic freedoms. A powerful military crushes uprisings with zero tolerance for acts of disobedience. Jason and Irene are eager to undo what they have done; they travel back to the Nevada facility, which has been locked up and abandoned. The equipment is gone and such materials have been outlawed in America. Above all, Aaron and the general were aware of what was going on due to internet monitoring. Soldiers were dispatched to arrest Jason and Irene onsite. Locked up for six months, they were sent to Germany upon release, and their American visas were stripped away. A dark and seedy place, rife with corruption, and military on every corner. Stuck in Germany, they become friends with several dissidents who want to see America crumble. Mistreatment gives Jason and Irene a new perspective on things; they become jaded. "They have to be stopped!" Jason says, addressing a group of revolutionaries. Jason was obsessed with wormhole technology, and after his facility in Nevada was ruined, he remained determined to re-create the project. Living on the Axis side of the border rendered it difficult for him to access the necessary materials. However, Jason holds a wormhole party, a maneuver once attempted by Stephen Hawking. If anyone in the future develops wormhole technology and wishes to escape the control of the U.S. government, come back to the 1st of January, 2021. He doesn't tell anyone or send out any invites until after the party has already taken place. The 1st of January arrives, and it's mostly uneventful, but, at 10 p.m., a wormhole opens, and an army marches out. Jason's wormhole technology was already responsible for ending a World War; it's now going to be responsible for beginning one. Jason's journey took him from a reluctant scientist who helped the Allied powers in World War II to harden revolutionary, with an army at his disposal, obsessed with destroying the world he helped to create. There are winners and losers in war; perspective is everything. The winners write the history books; the losers have to suffer the repercussions. Sometimes in the universe, things are meant to happen the way they happen, there's no improving on it. Jason rescued his great-grandfather from certain death, but through man's unpredictability, his great-grandfather went on to take over the world, the very thing he was trying to stop in the first place.