"Happy New Year, Mr. Nakamoto," offered Danielle, as she was let into the home by the troubled computer coder.

  "I have no time for such nonsense, young lady. It is imperative that I complete my work today. My upload window is closing, and I will have to be ready by tomorrow, at the latest."

  Mr. Nakamoto was consumed with this project. Obviously, Danielle knew more than she should about what was going on, due to the research she had done back in Pahrump. Satoshi had already published his white paper, detailing the general principals of privately created electronic money. All that was left was to finish the programs, and make them ready to load them on to publicly accessible servers. The first public step, would be to mine the first block of 50 Bitcoin from a mining program that would be installed on a server in Helsinki, Finland. From what she had read, that event would take place today, January 1, 2009.

  But, there was a problem. As the day wore on, Satoshi just kept working and working. He made several emotional phone calls to his friend, Hal. Bugs, glitches, and errors were slowing things down and the upload was rescheduled for the next day.

  The problems started to concern Danielle so much, that she grabbed some cleaning supplies and set herself into the bathroom to scrub every surface of Satoshi's shower stall and bathtub. Mindless cleaning would allow her to consider some of the possibilities, and think clearly. Did that mean that Danielle had failed in her time mission? What had gone wrong to cause this change? Conceivably, the available online accounts of the early history of Bitcoin were inaccurate. Maybe January 2nd was the true day of the Helsinki upload? Or maybe something else was happening. Kenji and Malaika had mentioned that Danielle was not the first agent, sent back to influence the historical time line of the development of Bitcoin. Maybe she would get back to her life in 2027, and find that the date of the creation of the first cryptocurrency had changed to January 2nd? A selfish thought occurred to Danielle, 'Will my bonus be reduced because of this failure? Will I even get a bonus?'

  There it was. 'I am turning into one of those self centred time agents that Kenji warned me about,' was all Danielle could think about, while she scrubbed out the shower drain. She needed to know more. Kenji had mentioned that he would be available for further conversation, if Danielle wished, after she got off work at 4:00 pm, today. He was planning to be in the city hall park, at that time. Last night, Danielle had politely declined the offer, and the three young time agents had parted amicably, but without resolving much. Maybe she should ask him a few more questions?

  Her work day degenerated into one of the toughest so far. Satoshi did not even let her go out to shop for groceries. It was full steam ahead, with the meals prepared from the food they already had on hand. By 3:00 pm, there was somewhat of a breakthrough. Hal Finney showed up again, and both Satoshi and Hal seemed to think that the program was getting close. From what Danielle could gather, the first upload was going to happen the next day, Saturday, January 2, 2009. A day late, but hopefully that was good enough. 'Good enough for what,' wondered Danielle. A few more gigawatts delivered to a psychotic AI in the year 2428? Should I even be contributing to this? Maybe, instead of contributing, I should be resisting this? Now there was a novel idea!'

  That afternoon, at 4:00 pm, when Satoshi paid her wages, he informed her that would need to work one more day, however, her employment would probably end by noon or so. That was it. Nothing extra for working on New Years day. Barely a thank you. And on her last day, she would receive half pay. This guy was something else.

  Danielle still had one more night to stay in 2009. 'Maybe I should make my last night a worthwhile one,' thought Danielle.

  _________________________________________________________________________________

  "Hey, Kenji," said Danielle.

  "You made it! I was thinking that I might have scared you off, with all my doom and gloom talk yesterday," replied Kenji.

  "No, I probably needed to have some of the gaps in my understanding filled in. Your description of an AI faction dominating, has a ring of truth to it. What are the people you know, doing about this?"

  "The first thing that you have to realise is that those glasses you were wearing, are the single biggest tool for Arachnid to exert influence on you. Have you ever felt compelled to do something, while you were wearing those glasses? Something you regretted later, or wondered why you did it?" asked Kenji.

  "Yes" answered Danielle. The first time that I touched them. A few minutes later I was hiding them from the police. You mean something like that?"

  "Yes!" exactly like that," confirmed Kenji. "Those glasses can do a lot. Nanotechnology, run by energy pushed across time by the Arachnid. The glasses are self repairing and can even modify their own appearance over time. Plus, they can manufacture substances that you can absorb through the surface of your skin. In some cases those substances can save your life, but in other cases they can exert some control of your mind, or even injure you."

  "I have never had any problems with them, since the first day!" replied Danielle.

  'Ya, great, but if the Arachnid AI gets wind of any streak of resistance in you, that could change. Generally speaking, all that happens is your contract gets terminated. I have heard of a few extreme cases though. If Arachnid ever began to perceive you as a threat to its existence then, it could take almost any conceivable action."

  "So, you know of agents who don't wear their glasses?" questioned Danielle.

  "Well, not exactly. That would be pretty suspicious if you never put them on, but they are careful, and wear them only when necessary," explained Kenji.

  "What else are agents doing?" asked Danielle.

  "Look, everybody has to ask that question for themselves. Many just tow the line, until they meet a financial goal or something. They just try not to think about the consequences of their actions. Most of the Arachnid agents are like that. You guys are paid well enough to conform. It is a bit different for the rest of us. Money and benefits can be sparse. Promises are made and not kept. Tigers, like Malaika are especially impoverished. She hasn't received a dime for over a year now. That sort of lack of reimbursement doesn't exactly encourage loyalty to the cause. As I understand it, rewards get better, for all factions, after 2018 or so. By then, the AI factions have quite a bit more influence. Apparently, connections from the future are easier to make the more that computers take over the world."

  "What about in the past? How much influence does my Arachnid AI have before 2000? or 1950 for that matter?"

  "Before 2000, there was some direct influence, but it was not very profound. Essentially zero before the creation of the internet. The only way anything substantial can be accomplished, back then, is to send agents back in time. Only Arachnid level two agents, and above, are trusted enough to go back before 1985 or so. The Time War before 1985 is fought only between people. After 2100, it is fought exclusively between machines controlled by AI. 1985 to 2100 is the most complicated era. People fighting people, machines fighting machines and machines fighting people. You live smack dab in the hottest era of the Time War," explained Kenji.

  Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  "What about the other factions?" asked Danielle.

  "It's a mixed bag. My Dragon AI can get some serious things done, and even project some influence around the world, after the year 2000. Serpents and Tigers spend most of their energy and agents defending their own continents, so anyone in North America from those factions is a non-time travelling observer agent. Most of the disgruntled agents that I've met, come from those factions. Arachnids can comfort themselves by knowing that the current state of affairs in their country is pretty good. Tigers especially, don't see that the Time War benefits Africa now, nor in the future."

  "But since it is obviously impossible to fight globe spanning AIs and their drone armies from 2428, how can anyone believe that resisting them is going to accomplish anything?"

  "Well, there is the billion dollar question isn't it? Or maybe, for you, the billion Bitcoin question. First off, most agents bothered by this, just quit. They don't want to contribute to a future that is so bleak it likely ends all life on Earth. They live the rest of their life, glad that they don't live forever. There are however, some who are attempting a more substantial challenge to the status quo. I am one of them," stated Kenji, proudly.

  "You think that you can fight this, Kenji?"

  "I do. Would you consider joining us, Danielle?"

  "What? You have to be kidding! I really don't know....." Danielle trailed off and considered some of the things that she had learned from Kenji and Malaika. "I might be one of the agents that quits, but joining some sort of heroic resistance doesn't sound like me," she said as she looked into his pleading face. Perhaps this was serious enough to warrant Danielle straying outside of her comfort zone. She finally added, "But I will consider it."

  "Excellent!" replied Kenji.

  "Just one problem though, I exit, stage left, tomorrow morning. Back home, on the afternoon time machine. I will be going back to January 24, 2027."

  "Oh, don't worry, I have already thought of that. We are in this for the long game, and significant planning has already begun. I will get back to you when I can, and you should contact me if you get sent back to any of the years between now and 2027," explained Kenji.

  "Via Facebook," commented Danielle.

  "Danielle Wilson, Pahrump Nevada."

  "That's me," responded Danielle.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  The return to 2027 went as smoothly as could be expected. The second she was on her own, Danielle dropped her AI glasses into the bottom of her travel bag. As she made her way to exit the building, there was one thing that really caught Danielle's attention: 'The street scenes in 2009 Central City East weren't much different than in 2027 Central City East. For almost 20 years, nothing had been done to improve this situation! The wealth of America simply did not positively affect these people. If anything, it made their lives worse. What about the system of giant AI factions, which will be built in the next four hundred years? Surely, once time travel is invented, they will send help back to these people! No! They simply used every dollar, every bit of resources and energy to fight with each other across the centuries! Maybe all of this needed to be resisted in some way. Maybe Kenji was right and there is a way to fight back. But how?'

  One thought formed in her mind, as she exited the parking garage and navigated the poverty laden streets towards the I-10 highway: 'If I can fight this system, I will.'

  The drive home allowed Danielle's mind to wander back to some of the things that Kenji and Malaika had told her. What if she got back to Pahrump and found that she had a different dad, or lived in a different home? Was that possible? From what Kenji had said, maybe! What if one of her family members was dead in this time line, because of something Danielle did back in 2008? Kenji seemed to indicate that such events were rare, but if there was any chance of something like that, Danielle wanted no part of this nonsense.

  Once she arrived at home, it was very late, but Danielle felt compelled to check up on everyone she could think of on Facebook. Surely, that was the best way to confirm that most of the people she cared about were okay. Amongst several notifications, was a friend request from a Kenji Drakewyrm. She took note, but went on to check on the well being of everyone she could think of. Everybody seemed okay. She was able to go to sleep, after that.

  Next morning, she saw her dad off to his golf game and made her way back downstairs to her bedroom. It was time to don the glasses of doom. That was the image she now associated with AI glasses. What a difference a mission makes.

  CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING YOUR SECOND MISSION IN TIME. YOUR PERFORMANCE IS DEEMED SATISFACTORY. YOU HAVE BEEN CREDITED WITH A MISSION BONUS OF $82,000.

  Eighty-two thousand dollars for a weekend of work? 'Sort of,' thought Danielle. 'In reality, it was a week's worth of tough manual labour crammed into about one second of real time.'

  I HAVE PREPARED AN ADDITIONAL FIVE TRAINING MODULES FOR YOU TO STUDY. UPON COMPLETION YOU CAN EXPECT TO BE PROMOTED TO LEVEL 2 TIME TECHNICIAN.

  "Thank you AI glasses. I appreciate all of that but I need to do some things right now. I will talk to you again tomorrow." It felt a bit awkward for Danielle to be so abrupt with the Arachnid AI but that could not be helped. She really did not want to engage in any sort of communication that might incriminate herself. Danielle took the $82,000 bonus to mean that she was still in the good books with the Arachnid faction, and she wanted to keep it that way.

  After packing the glasses away in her most elaborate wrapping of black fabric ever, she took her laptop upstairs and pulled up her Facebook account. She clicked on the 'confirm' button on the Kenji friend request.

  It didn't take long for a message icon to pop up on her home page. "We should meet. I suggest a meeting at the Petroglyph Wall in Red Rock Canyon. Are you available this evening? Say, 5:30?"

  "Yes, I can meet you there at 5:30," replied Danielle.

  ___________________________________________________________________________

  Danielle drove out to Red Rock Canyon Park. How could she have been so naive just 6 months ago? She was only barely convinced to sign up for this job, by seeing the timely deposits into her bank account. Agent Tetor had been so welcoming and convincing, that Danielle hadn't paid too much attention to some of the ethics and morals of being a Time Agent. The first mission had really been so entertaining and exciting! But Kenji and Malaika had opened Danielle's eyes for her. This was no 'game.' This wasn't an appropriate way to earn money to pay for schooling or buy a condo in Las Vegas. The more that Danielle thought about it, the more she wondered about the reasoning behind sending her back to babysit Satoshi Nakamoto. Is that how the Arachnid AI had so much money? Did it get in on Bitcoin early? Some of the features of cryptocurrency might be ideal for conducting surreptitious business. She had so many questions to ask Kenji. All of these thoughts raced through her mind while she pulled into the Petroglyph Wall parking lot.

  She looked around the parking lot, but did not see anyone familiar. However, Kenji had made a point to say that they should meet at the Petroglyphs. He would know that the place was suitable for a private conversation, which was no doubt the reason for that choice of location. Danielle locked her CRV and walked up the trail, and checked out everyone along the way. Even at the Wall, there was nobody that looked like him. Danielle wondered what Kenji might look like, given that he had presumably aged almost 20 years. Suddenly, she noticed a man walking up the trail, alone. There was no doubt, it was him!

  "We meet again," said Kenji. He was the same guy, there was no doubt about that. The same Kenji. But, he had to be 15 -20 years older. It blew Danielle away.

  Danielle gave him a big hug, with tears in her eyes. Kenji also shed some tears.

  "I don't believe this," responded Danielle.

  "Yes, it has been a long time for me, Danielle Wilson. But for you? Not so much. I remember you, as if it was yesterday," waxed Kenji.

  "It was!" replied Danielle.

  "I have a great deal to tell you, if you have made the decision to join our cause. I have not been idle for the past eighteen years. There is a real chance that we can change the time line which resulted in the development of time travel. Can you help us?"

  'Holy crap,' thought Danielle. Then she considered a single aspect of the complicated decision. 'What if I had come home and found my dad was gone, or my mother, or my brother or sister?'

  "I'm in, Kenji," announced Danielle, definitively.