PASTWATCH: JAPAN
With apologies to Orson Scott Card, whose book “Pastwatch” inspired this AAR.
The Future
Haxnder stared at the blanket of gray snow through the window of the conference room. The whispers of the other members of Pastwatch were drowned out by the warm voice of the reporter filling the chamber with the news of the day.
“… ministry of agriculture reports that two hundred million acres of farming land were reclaimed last year. With these new devices, the ministry believes it can double that rate. ‘We can actually foresee the end of rationing now,’ says Mikhail Doberoff, a senior research specialist at the ministry…”
The door slid open as Matthaway entered the room. Haxnder glanced at his watch and flashed Matthaway a knowing look. Matthaway grinned sheepishly, pointed at his datapad, and shrugged, moving to his seat. Haxnder let out a sigh, and moved to his tall chair at the head of the table.
“Thank you all for coming today,” he began. “I realize you’ve all been working hard on your various projects and…”
Lacin leaned forward and tapped her datapen on the table. “Hax, how long are we going to have to put up with this charade. We know what’s going on.”
Haxnder felt his body flinch, but his eyes remained fixed on Lacin, and he managed to allow a look of confusion to pass across his face. “What are you talking about, Lacin?”
Lacin looked around the table and received nods from Matthaway and Garner. “We’re talking about what you’ve been doing with Pastwatch. We’re talking about violating the mission. We’re talking about you planning to meddle with the past.”
Haxnder smiled inwardly. He was planning to tell them today, anyway. But he felt pride rise within him that they had put the pieces together, themselves. It was sort of a paternal feeling that swelled in his gut, that he had instilled in them such a …
“Hax!” Lacin said more forcefully. “You’ve had Garner and I pouring over the Pacific theatre of the second world war for months, observing the leaders, compiling reports on their strengths, their weaknesses, what they like to eat for supper, who they boff on a regular basis… Ande has been up to her neck in tracing the development of the nuclear weaponry through the fourth world war… You’ve got Syndel adding some strange new circuitry to the viewers… What the hell is going on!”
Haxnder pressed his hands on the table and looked around at the eyes fixed on him. “You’re absolutely right. The mission of Pastwatch has changed.”
Exclamations of outrage marked the excited chatter that erupted. Haxnder held up his hands. “The council voted on this two years ago. You weren’t told then because we couldn’t risk that any of you would stop work. You are the best we have, and it would have taken too long to get adequate replacements.”
Haxnder ducked his head as Lacin’s datapad whizzed by and ricocheted off the high back of his chair. “You’re damn right I would have stopped this! This goes against everything we stand for! How could you allow –“
“We’re dying, Lacin,” Haxnder said flatly. “Maybe not this year. Maybe it will be next year. Maybe five years from now… but civilization as we know it is gasping its last breath.”
“Nonsense,” Garner retorted. “We’ve all heard the reports from Agriculture. Hell, we just heard one not five minutes ago. Reclamation is –“
“— is a hoax,” Haxnder interrupted. “Reclamation is failing. They can make the reclaimed areas look workable again. But the fact is, even when they can get crops to grow, they are too contaminated by the air, water, and elements from the deeper soil to be edible. There are some reclamation projects that are successful, but those require too much intensive work to be conducted on the hundreds of millions of acres that the ministry projects need to be reclaimed. The main purpose of the reclamation projects now is to maintain some semblance of order in our civilization. If people really knew how bad the food situation is, there would be global chaos.”
The room was quiet now. Haxnder continued, “The fact is, the rations are only going to get smaller. And at some point, the system will break down. Whatever survives will be nothing like what we know now.” He paused to make sure his comrades were following him. “The council decided that it was better that we attempt to prevent that from ever happening.”
Lacin stared out the window. “You realize that changing anything in the past will mean our world, our time… us – will cease to exist.”
Haxnder walked around to stand in front of her gaze. “Yes. Our world is ending, whether we want it to or not. The question is whether we can do anything to save humanity from this fate. The council asked Pastwatch to stop the Conflagration. I’ve been guiding you to that end for some time now.”
With apologies to Orson Scott Card, whose book “Pastwatch” inspired this AAR.
The Future

Haxnder stared at the blanket of gray snow through the window of the conference room. The whispers of the other members of Pastwatch were drowned out by the warm voice of the reporter filling the chamber with the news of the day.
“… ministry of agriculture reports that two hundred million acres of farming land were reclaimed last year. With these new devices, the ministry believes it can double that rate. ‘We can actually foresee the end of rationing now,’ says Mikhail Doberoff, a senior research specialist at the ministry…”
The door slid open as Matthaway entered the room. Haxnder glanced at his watch and flashed Matthaway a knowing look. Matthaway grinned sheepishly, pointed at his datapad, and shrugged, moving to his seat. Haxnder let out a sigh, and moved to his tall chair at the head of the table.
“Thank you all for coming today,” he began. “I realize you’ve all been working hard on your various projects and…”
Lacin leaned forward and tapped her datapen on the table. “Hax, how long are we going to have to put up with this charade. We know what’s going on.”
Haxnder felt his body flinch, but his eyes remained fixed on Lacin, and he managed to allow a look of confusion to pass across his face. “What are you talking about, Lacin?”
Lacin looked around the table and received nods from Matthaway and Garner. “We’re talking about what you’ve been doing with Pastwatch. We’re talking about violating the mission. We’re talking about you planning to meddle with the past.”
Haxnder smiled inwardly. He was planning to tell them today, anyway. But he felt pride rise within him that they had put the pieces together, themselves. It was sort of a paternal feeling that swelled in his gut, that he had instilled in them such a …
“Hax!” Lacin said more forcefully. “You’ve had Garner and I pouring over the Pacific theatre of the second world war for months, observing the leaders, compiling reports on their strengths, their weaknesses, what they like to eat for supper, who they boff on a regular basis… Ande has been up to her neck in tracing the development of the nuclear weaponry through the fourth world war… You’ve got Syndel adding some strange new circuitry to the viewers… What the hell is going on!”
Haxnder pressed his hands on the table and looked around at the eyes fixed on him. “You’re absolutely right. The mission of Pastwatch has changed.”
Exclamations of outrage marked the excited chatter that erupted. Haxnder held up his hands. “The council voted on this two years ago. You weren’t told then because we couldn’t risk that any of you would stop work. You are the best we have, and it would have taken too long to get adequate replacements.”
Haxnder ducked his head as Lacin’s datapad whizzed by and ricocheted off the high back of his chair. “You’re damn right I would have stopped this! This goes against everything we stand for! How could you allow –“
“We’re dying, Lacin,” Haxnder said flatly. “Maybe not this year. Maybe it will be next year. Maybe five years from now… but civilization as we know it is gasping its last breath.”
“Nonsense,” Garner retorted. “We’ve all heard the reports from Agriculture. Hell, we just heard one not five minutes ago. Reclamation is –“
“— is a hoax,” Haxnder interrupted. “Reclamation is failing. They can make the reclaimed areas look workable again. But the fact is, even when they can get crops to grow, they are too contaminated by the air, water, and elements from the deeper soil to be edible. There are some reclamation projects that are successful, but those require too much intensive work to be conducted on the hundreds of millions of acres that the ministry projects need to be reclaimed. The main purpose of the reclamation projects now is to maintain some semblance of order in our civilization. If people really knew how bad the food situation is, there would be global chaos.”
The room was quiet now. Haxnder continued, “The fact is, the rations are only going to get smaller. And at some point, the system will break down. Whatever survives will be nothing like what we know now.” He paused to make sure his comrades were following him. “The council decided that it was better that we attempt to prevent that from ever happening.”
Lacin stared out the window. “You realize that changing anything in the past will mean our world, our time… us – will cease to exist.”
Haxnder walked around to stand in front of her gaze. “Yes. Our world is ending, whether we want it to or not. The question is whether we can do anything to save humanity from this fate. The council asked Pastwatch to stop the Conflagration. I’ve been guiding you to that end for some time now.”