Back in Time Part 1

Anthony and his friend Mike Quartz take a trip back in time and discover something they never thought they see.

<--- Previous - Reality
Planet G - Next--->

Download PDF Here

Synopsis

While overseeing the early formation of a new interplanetary Federation, Shortstop (Anthony) discovers that a full month of mission logs was deleted during the period surrounding his brief death. When questioned, Botimus Prime refuses to reveal the information, citing it as classified and encrypted for Anthony’s own protection—raising concerns about what truly occurred during that time.

Seeking distraction from mounting stress, Anthony spends time with his human friends. Unbeknownst to him, the Zapbots have prepared a surprise: Timetravel’s temporal jump ability is finally operational. Anthony and Mike Quartz volunteer to test the system and are transported back to Earth during the Middle Ages.

Back in Time

Upon arrival, Anthony and Mike witness a dragon attacking a medieval village. Using stealth and limited intervention, Anthony drives the creature back to its cave. To avoid altering the timeline, Timetravel returns to the future to determine whether any historical record of the dragon exists.

Exploring the dragon’s cave, Anthony discovers crystals closely resembling those of the Matrix of Leadership. When Mike is startled by cave bats, the dragon attacks and severely burns him. With Timetravel delayed, medieval monks recover Mike’s body and bring him to their temple. There, a crystal taken from the cave interacts with the Matrix, restoring Mike to full health. A prophetic manuscript confirms that these events were predestined, easing Anthony’s fears of timeline disruption.

Anthony and Timetravel confront the dragon once more and discover it is not biological but robotic in origin. After disabling it, Anthony disperses the remaining technology to prevent contamination of the timeline. The two then return to the present.

Present Time

During Anthony’s absence, tensions rise aboard Fortress Misslemax when it is revealed that Tiretracks has a same-sex gender preference—an anomaly among Zapbots. Disagreement escalates into violence when Tiretracks is attacked by other civilians. Botimus Prime intervenes, enforcing discipline and emphasizing respect while refusing forced reprogramming.

It is revealed that Shortwing, the lost brother of Speedy and Timetravel, shared a similar trait and committed suicide after attempting to alter his programming. The revelation deeply affects Speedy and leads to a broader reckoning among the Zapbots regarding individuality, free will, and intolerance.

After Anthony’s return, he and Botimus agree that education—not reprogramming—is the proper response to fear and prejudice. Anthony later visits Tiretracks and Tiremarks personally, apologizing for the harm caused and reaffirming their place among the Zapbots.

Featured characters

Zapbots	Humans	Enemies	Planets
Boaty Botimus Prime Click Dodge Flier Fortress Misslemax Hot Shot Pliers Repairs Rup Scan Shortstop Speedy Superrobot Terrain Tiny Tiretracks Tiremarks Ultra Attack	Alan F. Bill T. aka 'Billy' David D. Jeremy D. Matt R. aka 'Rogish' Mike B. aka 'Mikey' Mike Quartz Various Medieval Individuals	Dragon	Earth

Quotes

"My lord, Thou aren’t so clean. Never has thou seen someone this well groomed!"

Medieval Person talking to Mike Q..

Notes

Versions

• First Version: 1989?
• Second Version: 1996?
• Third Version: 2021

Production notes

• In the original writing of this story, Matt E. still existed and the story was based around him. In 1996 when I rewrote it, I changed it to my straight friend Bill T. aka 'Billy'. Rereading it in 2020 it didn't quite have the same impact unless there was a romantic involvement with the character so it was adapted to include Mike Quartz (no offense to Bill.)
• This version of the story is completely expanded from the first version I wrote. In the original version it was a simple adventure timetravel/boy-saves-boy type of story. In this version I decided to add the extra subplot of the gay Zapbots. The goal here was two fold. 1) Can I write a story with two continuous plot lines and 2) Can I Star Trek like explain the logic behind being gay to someone who wouldn't have a clue? The goal was to provide a way to logically explain it to people that don't have a clue. I can specifically remember writing this in my Junior year apartment on my old computer. Good times!
• (I believe) this is the first appearance of Hot Shot and Rup.
• Third pass to provide extra details and upgrades happened in 2021.

Continuity notes

• The rule here is established with Timetravel's ability that for how long you are gone, is the time the continues in present time. So if you're gone ten minutes in the past you come back ten minutes later in present time.

Other trivia

• The Dragon idea was somewhat inspired by Trogdor I think...