[ WP ] An ancient cult preforms a dark ritual in 1914 to summon someone from 100 years in the future . You are that person .

I held down the key combo for drop and crawl and my character on screen hit the floor of the passage and began inching forward, staying low to avoid notice from the gathering of thugee cultists below, their eerie hair raising chanting was beginning to seem a little artificial due to inadequate looping in the sound track, but still, I had the lights turned off and I was playing late at night, so it lent to the atmosphere nicely. 
 
 Then my eyes did something funny, and I felt compelled to close them a moment. Man, was it *that* late? I took off my glasses and massaged the bridge of my nose thinking maybe I should save game and pack it in for the night. When I opened my eyes once more, I was surrounded. By... cultists? What the...? 
 
 `` All hail the goddess Minerva has heard our plea! The Messenger has arrived!'' shouted the woman leading of the circle. And all the others chanted various praises to Minerva as well, leaving me feeling more than a little socially awkward, to tell the truth. 
 
 `` Uh... Messenger? I'm sorry, I do n't quite...'' 
 
 `` It's perfectly alright, traveler,'' said the leader of the group, a matronly woman who smiled reassuringly at me, `` It would be surprising if you did n't feel at least a little initial disorientation after your journey through time.'' 
 
 `` Wait, time travel?'' 
 
 The cult leader smiled and patted my arm. `` I realize it's probably a little hard to understand. There is this wonderful story by a fellow named Wells that just came out about twenty years ago that explains it all marvelously. It was where I got the idea, you see.'' There was an excited babble from the others as she led me out of the ritual circle and offered me a seat. This surprised me, as my confused brain was n't aware of standing up until that moment ( I had been sitting in front of my computer a moment earlier ). 
 
 `` You see, the Great War concerns us deeply. *You* know how it will all end. You are our Messenger -- from the future. You can tell us how best to navigate this last of all great wars.'' 
 
 `` Last of all great wars?'' I laughed. The leader looked at me a little nonplussed. 
 
 `` Well, yes. They are saying this is the war to end all wars, you know. And that is a fine thing, of course. But war is always terrible, and we were just hoping you could tell us...'' 
 
 `` Well, sure, it's the'last' war until the second World War a few years later.'' There were some hissing intakes of breath around the room. 
 
 `` There... is another?'' 
 
 `` Well, yes, and then after that there's the Cold War.'' 
 
 `` *Cold* war?'' 
 
 `` Well, they call it that because the superpowers could n't very well directly battle each other due to their nuclear arsenals, so they sort of quibbled by proxy, I guess you could say, though conflicts in other lesser nations that...'' 
 
 I paused, wondering if I was even explaining this right. I never really did concentrate on history back in school. I've probably forgotten most of what I did learn in class because... well, because you can just look this stuff up on Wikipedia, right? But slowly, I became aware that the cultists had pushed back their hoods and were staring at me in utter horror. 
 
 `` New... clear... arsenals,'' the leader pronounced slowly. `` And *they* are...?'' 
 
 `` Well, it's these weapons that can wipe out whole cities at a single blast. And they had started to stockpile them, you see, until there was theoretically enough firepower to wipe out all life on Earth. Well, except cockroaches. `` I looked around at the puzzled stares I was getting, `` They're really good at adapting, they say. So I guess the bugs would... you know what? Never mind that part. The point is, you can see why they would n't want to use those kinds of weapons.'' 
 
 `` Then why make them?'' one cultist asked. 
 
 `` Well, because our enemies did. So we had to, see?'' He shook his head, and I tried to explain the way our social studies teachers had explained it to us, `` Well, see, it's like'you kill us, we kill you, so nobody wins.' The only way to win is not to play the game?'' I stopped and frowned, wondering if that last part was from class, or a movie I once watched. 
 
 `` So, you built weapons that no one would use,'' said the leader, puzzling this through, `` Which I *suppose* is a good thing. At least humanity shows *some* wisdom.'' 
 
 `` Unless the terrorists get hold of one,'' I commented, then immediately wished I had n't, watching her crestfallen expression. 
 
 `` You still have trouble with anarchists in your time?'' she asked, clearly disappointed. 
 
 `` Well, I guess you could call them that. Terrorists are like... well, it's kind of like guerrilla warfare...'' I hesitated. How far back did that term go? Pretty far, I'm guessing, since nobody seemed confused by it. ``... only it's like, these people who are desperate and a little crazy because they see all the power concentrated in the hands of a few superpowers, so they just do sneak attacks and suicide bombings, and...'' I let the thought drop. By this time, there was a general sense of dismay and a few of the cultists were actively in tears, and I realized this is n't what any of them wanted to hear. 
 
 `` So, these lesser powers rise up against the armies of greater nations?'' 
 
 I ducked my head, knowing that if they had n't welcomed what I had said so far, they were *really* not going to like this part. `` Well,'' I admitted reluctantly, `` Actually, the reason they call it'terrorism' is that they more often than not go for civilian targets. Less protection, you see. What they call a'soft' target, so...'' I trailed off, almost ashamed of myself as I listen to a wailing moans in the background. The leader's face had turned grim and stony. 
 
 And then I notice that everything was becoming hazy, like a fog had risen. `` Hey, what's happening?'' I asked. 
 
 `` The spell has run its course,'' the leader told me, `` You are returning to your own time.'' 
 
 `` Oh, uh... great. Listen, is there anything else I can say that might...'' 
 
 And the last thing I saw before returning to the present is the leader's sour expression as she told me, `` No thank you. You have already told us *quite* enough!'' 
 

