[ WP ] You are a time traveler tasked with killing Hitler , but when you finally get to him , you find out exactly why you ca n't kill him .

( So I defined `` get to him ( Hitler )'' kind of really loosely... sorry. I think it fits though, and this is where the prompt led me. ) 
 
 Even through his squeezed eyelids The Man could tell there was a blinding light in front of him. `` Not Good'' He thought as his mind cycled through images of spotlights and guard towers and checkpoints, squads of soldiers shouting and pointing rifles at the man that popped into existence in front of them. 
 
 The Man lifted an arm to shield his eyes from the light and as he did he felt a nagging sensation that something was wrong. 
 
 As his eyelids began to part he realized what was bothering him, `` It's quiet.'' There was none of the expected noise, no footsteps or sirens, not even leaves rustling or insects chirping. Now that he was aware of it the silence became deafening, The Man's mind was intent on finding input where there was none. 
 
 This was a stark shift from the world of a few seconds earlier, where The Man had stood at the center of a devil's symphony. The many modules of the Tether had all seemed to play their own song, each rising as the machine around the Man gathered and shaped the energy to send him back in time.The noise did n't stop rising until finally the Tether accomplished it's goal and flung The Man nearly two-hundred years into the past. 
 
 The light pained The Man as he tried to look around, but all he can see, other than his own arm in front of him, is white. His surroundings simply offer no hint as to their shape or distance. `` Did they fuck up the jump? What the hell am I seeing here?'' 
 
 The two questions were immediately vacated from his mind as the light disappeared. Whatever ground The Man was standing seemed to have gone with the light, but just as The Man felt himself falling he crumpled harmlessly on what seemed to be solid ground. 
 
 `` Oh fuck...'' The Man groaned as he righted himself. Looking around he can see another man a few yards away, but the afterimage from the light made it impossible to discern much apart from the shape of the other man. 
 
 `` Yeah that part sucks, you're safe to stand now though.'' The Other Man's voice was calm, almost bored. 
 
 `` Where am I?'' The Man said. 
 
 `` Not Munich. You got pretty close though, we almost missed the energy signature.'' 
 
 `` How do you...'' The Man tried to stand but collapsed again as waves of nausea rolled through him. 
 
 `` Oh, you should probably wait a while actually. Find a wall to lean on first too.'' The Other Man paused to regard The Man, then said `` Trying to kill Hitler, yeah? Bad idea man. This whole century is off limits.'' 
 
 `` Off limits?'' The Man's voice was weak from the nausea but notes of uncertainty and confusion were clear. 
 
 `` Well we ca n't have anyone altering history to fit their vision. Time travel is messy, you can change big things to little effect, and little things to big effect.'' The Other Man was gesturing along to his words. `` At some point someone built this place to keep important time periods safe. Hitler is important because he leads Germany into WWII, yeah? That's why people want to kill him, well, broadly anyway.'' 
 
 `` The thing is, even though he's a bad person, he helps deter a worse fate for humanity.'' 
 
 `` Just because he's the lesser of two evils does n't mean he deserves to be saved.'' The Man had mostly recovered from the nausea, and there was anger in his voice. 
 
 `` Alright, so you kill Hitler. Someone else would take his place, the Nazi's would still come to power.'' 
 
 `` Then I'll kill them too.'' 
 
 The Other Man sighed heavily, `` So we just keep killing until history meets our standards? We're not gods for fuck's sake! We ca n't just impose ourselves upon the past.'' 
 
 `` We have the power to stop so much suffering, why should n't we use it? If I can kill Hitler and make WWII less bloody then I owe it to humanity to try.'' The Man had found a wall and was bracing against it as he slowly stood up. 
 
 `` This is n't about any one man. This place exists not to protect Hitler and other individual people, it exists to protect our heritage. Changing our past changes the course of humanity, it changes what we become as a species.'' The Other Man paused. `` In this case it also saves us from annihilation.'' 
 
 The Man gave a disgusted look,'' What, the world turns into 1984 if Hitler dies? Or we nuke ourselves to death?'' 
 
 `` No, not quite.'' The Other Man crossed his arms. `` In 1943 an alien craft observes Earth from orbit, from what we have been able to gather they saw the state of the world as redeemable but our leaders as a problem. Specifically it was Hitler and his public persona that scared them off. They decided to put off official contact for at least five years.'' 
 
 `` Aliens. We ca n't kill Hitler because of aliens?'' The Man smiled at the absurdity of it. 
 
 `` Well, you'll notice that they never contacted us. In fact they never returned. All we know of them we have from the ruins of a few of their planets, and it seems that they intended to bring us into that fold. They entered a war of their own though, one that wiped out both sides in a short span. All the evidence we have suggests the war ended before a month had passed.'' 
 
 `` How do you know any of this?'' The Man's face and voice brimmed with skepticism. 
 
 `` I know what I need to know. I handle World War Two along with some other people. The information I just gave you comes from my home time's future, but here at the Station it does n't matter when something was, only that humans found out.'' 
 
 `` That's a lot to process. How do you know any of the stuff you just said is true? And how did you end up here? What... when is this place?'' The Man still sounded skeptical, but his brow was furrowed with frustration and confusion. The combined efforts of the past few minutes were clearly straining The Man. 
 
 `` How about you get some rest first, maybe take a nap. I'll get you to a bunk. We can finish the Q and A later.'' The Other Man advanced toward The Man, then stopped. `` Oh, and do n't try anything stupid, we'll kill you.'' 
 

