[ WP ] The lottery is an Institution designed to catch Time Travelers .

**November 1st, 2014, 17:24 EST** 
 
 I stood in the queue, reciting the small piece of data under my breath. *'' 1st November, 2014 AD. 5, 12, 23, 32, 45, 47, bonus 8. 1st November, 2014 AD. 5, 12, 23, 32, 45, 47, bonus 8. 1st November, 2014...'' * I noticed that the woman in front of me had finally finished, and I stepped up to the small stand, quickly jotting down six numbers, before I made my way to the kiosk and paid for it, taking my play-slip and my ticket copy. The lottery would be on soon, and although I already knew the result, I decided I would head to my hotel and watch it live. 
 
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 **3 months earlier/27 years in the future** 
 
 I knew the risks of course. Everyone had heard about the Institution, how they policed the most common time abuses. It was set up after some mad-man had gone back in time and shot John Kennedy. The collateral from that had screwed up the future ( well, the present to me ) badly, and the World Security Council implemented a task force to catch unlicensed time travellers 
 
 Between the wannabe do-gooders who were stopped before trying to kill Hitler, Stalin or any other dictators, to those who wanted to kill Washington, Eisenhower, or even poor Queen Elizabeth II, they had their hands full, but Section 25 were dedicated to one task: apprehending all illegal time travellers by any means necessary. Funnily enough though, they spent most of their time chasing down those people trying to pull `` get-rich-quick'' schemes. 
 
 Shares bandits proved tricky to catch, as they could never tell who got a lucky break from the real time travellers exploiting the stock market. It drove them crazy until some genius came up with the idea of'The Lottery'. For a few US dollars, anybody could win millions, just by guessing 6 numbers correctly. Of course, it had to be foolproof, so they set up a computer to analyze the historic results of the'clean' draws, pick a 6 number combination nobody chose, and select those'randomly' from a machine. A paradox engine would prevent it picking up results from winning time travellers, allowing the swift capture of anyone who was illegally jumping. 
 
 I stood in the musty basement of a run down old building, with nothing but a roll of fifty hundred dollar bills, a fake identity and the clothes on my back. My left arm was bandaged, the ID-N-T chip implant removed by a backstreet sawbones. The basement was bare except a single table and a chair, in which my contact sat with a small parcel in front of him. Taking the roll out my pocket, I tossed it on the table. * ” There, five thousand dollars, as stated. Now give me the device. ” * 
 
 The man grinned, and his hands flashed out like a striking snake, grabbing the money and quickly checking the roll. * ” Seems to all be there. Now enjoy your purchase sir. ” * He grinned an oily smirk and slid the package over to me. Lifting the flap, I saw the single item inside, a one use vortex-hopper, usable for a single trip through time. Totally untraceable from both sides. Perfect for my plan. I pocketed it, and turned to leave. As I reached the door, I heard the man say * ” It ’ s useless you know. Nobody ’ s ever won the Lottery and escaped Section 25. Nobody ’ s ever found out how to cheat the system! ” * 
 
 I turned and looked him right in the eyes. * “ I have. * ” 
 
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 Flinch was spooked. It was the easiest sale he had ever made, free from all the gang politics, but he was still unnerved by the young man he had just sold to. The was he looked at him, with that utter conviction in his eyes… It was more than just optimism, that boy had *known* he was right when he replied. * ” Last time I deal outside the underworld, ” * he muttered. * “ At least with those psychos I know what I ’ m dealing with. ” * 
 
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 **November 1st, 2014, 19:01 EST** 
 
 Sitting on my bed in the hotel, I checked my numbers once more then turned on my television. The jingle of adverts eventually gave way to a serious looking man in a suit and a glamorous woman in a scandalously tight red dress standing in a studio, with a row of machines behind them. The man beamed at the camera with his showbusiness-white smile and began to talk. * ” Hi there! As always I ’ m your host Jack, and this is The Lottery! With me is the lovely Helena, and tonight for the November 1st draw we will be choosing ‘ Roosevelt ’ as our machine. Helena, why don ’ t you go get Teddy ’ s motor running! ” * Smiling at the camera, the woman sashayed sensuously over the machine, pushing the lever to start the balls spinning. * “ And now, the winning number for tonight! ” * I watched as the numbers I knew were coming were revealed.First out was 12, then 45, 47, 5, 32 and finally 23, and a bonus ball of 8. I looked at my ticket and smiled. Easy as candy from a baby. 
 
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 **November 2nd, 2014 09:23 EST** 
 
 I greeted the clerk in the lottery offices with a smile like the cat that got the canary. Handing over the play-slip, she checked it over with the bar-code scanner then smiled. * ” Thank you for playing sir, and congratulations on the result. Here ’ s your cheque, valid at any major bank. Have a good day. ” * Thanking her back, I walked out the building, whistling cheerfully, nodding at the security officer I knew for a fact was a Section 25 agent. Reaching the street, I took out my wallet to store the cheque, I spotted my ticket still in it, and looked at the numbers printed on the front. I grinned. Three months, and nobody had caught on yet. On it, there were six numbers circled. 5, 12, 23, 32, 46, and 49, with the number 8 circled in the bonus ball section. Four numbers, plus the bonus ball. Same as every other draw I had played since getting here. 

