Retroactive Control Pt. 01

Chapter 1

Jeremy Hall checked his phone to make sure he had the right house. Once he was sure, he got out of the car, walked up to the front door, and rang the doorbell. As he waited for someone to answer the door, he took in his surroundings. This house had definitely seen better days. The front yard looked like it hadn't been tended to in years - the grass was overgrown and weeds littered the yard. The paint on the outside was peeling in places, and from his vantage point he could see that an upstairs window had cracked and had cardboard put in place to protect the interior from the elements.

Jeremy could hear some stirring inside, and after an uncomfortably long wait someone opened the door.

"Hello?"

"Hello sir, I've got your pizza. Your total will be $7.99" Jeremy said.

The old man was about what Jeremy might have expected given the state of the house. He had mismatched socks, a badly fitting shirt that might have been inside out, and what hair he had seemed to go whatever direction it wanted to. The old man reached into his pocket and pulled out a plastic bag with some coin rolls, and handed him a $2 tube of nickels and a $5 tube of dimes.

"I believe that should cover it." the old man said.

Jeremy looked at the two rolls of coins in his hand a little annoyed. "You're a dollar short, and I believe you forgot a tip." He tried to make it sound polite, but he could tell he had failed.

"Ah, yes. The tip. The tip. I think I have just the thing." the old man reached into his other pocket and produced what looked like a beat up TV remote. He pressed the remote into Jeremy's already full hands and looked meaningfully into Jeremy's eyes. "Be careful how you use it. This miraculous device has worked wonders for me, but it's time for someone else to take the reins."

Jeremy looked at the remote a bit dumbfounded, and before he could get a word out the old man snatched the pizza from him and slammed the door with surprising swiftness. Jeremy cursed under his breath. This is not something he wanted to deal with right now. The old man was still one dollar and a tip short, but he somehow doubted that he was going to see that money. Jeremy decided to cut his losses and tell his manager not to deliver to this address anymore.

Knowing he had more deliveries for the night, Jeremy hopped back in his car and drove to the next house on his list.

* * *

Jeremy finished his shift at the pizza joint around 6, and got home around 6:30. Fortunately, the rest of his night had gone much more smoothly, and he had even made a little more in tips than he was used to. He entered his house, emptied his pockets onto the table by the door, and saw the old remote the man had given him.

He picked up the remote, and really looked at it for the first time. It was a cheap universal remote with buttons for channel, volume, mute and power. However, the old man had apparently made some modifications to the device. The most obvious change was a cheap calculator display that was attached below the buttons and held on by tape. Besides that though, all of the labeling was different. Temp and Undo/Redo had replaced Volume and Channel. Command and Exit had replaced Mute and Power.

Jeremy walked into the kitchen still looking at the strange remote.

"Hey, Jeremy. What you got there?" Lisa said.

Lisa was Jeremy's girlfriend. She had red hair and a body that would give a model a run for its money, although she often kept it hidden under unflattering sweaters, and conservative business wear. She was studying physics in college, and had recently taken to nagging Jeremy to quit his job at the Pizza Barn, and get a degree himself. Then maybe they could finally afford to move into a better appartment together.

"Nothing, just some remote a crazy old man gave me while I was out delivering," Jeremy replied. That's when Jeremy noticed that the screen on the remote had turned on, and now seemed to read LISA. That couldn't be right, maybe it was upside down or something and actually said 8517? He turned the remote so that he was reading the screen upside down, and to his surprise the display changed to JErE. "That's odd," he mused.

He turned the remote around and it again said LISA.

"What's odd?" Lisa said.

"I think it says your name," Jeremy said.

"Are you really playing with a calculator display right now?" she said, rolling her eyes. "We're not in Elementary school, Jeremy. Honestly, you never fail to amaze me with the new depths of immaturity you sink to. I wish you would just-"

Jeremy wasn't really listening, instead he was wondering what the buttons did. He pressed the minus on the Temp button and was surprised see the world around him disappear in a brilliant burst of light. When his eyes had recovered from the flash, he found himself again in his kitchen. However, Lisa was standing about four feet from where she was standing before, and seemed to have changed into a different set of clothes.

"What just happened?" Jeremy asked Lisa. There was no response.

"Lisa!" Jeremy said, trying to get her attention. "Earth to Lisa!"

But it was useless. She didn't seem to be able to hear him. He walked over to try to tap her on the shoulder, and was surprised when his hand slipped through her shoulder. "What the hell?"

Then he saw something that chilled his blood. Walking into the kitchen from the living room was another Jeremy Hall. Jeremy could only watch as this other him gave Lisa a quick peck on the cheek, went to the fridge to grab a soda and started talking with her. That's when Jeremy noticed the deathly silence. Aside from the sound he was making, he couldn't hear anything. He saw Lisa and the imposter Jeremy's lips move, but no sound came out.

Jeremy tried to touch the imposter, but found that his hand went through just like before. He ran over to the counter and found that he could just walk through it. He quickly established that the same was true of the wall, and anything else he tried to touch. Jeremy's mind was panicking at this point, but he realized he had to stay calm. Reason through this. Was he dead? Had he become a ghost?

Jeremy pushed that idea out of his mind. If he was a ghost, how would that explain the other him talking to Lisa? Maybe the imposter was a demon possessing his body, and Jeremy was looking at his body from the outside? He had heard of out of body experiences, maybe something like that was happening to him?

Jeremy looked down at the remote still clutched in his hand. The display had changed to LISA-1. It seemed almost too incredible to believe, but could the remote have something to do with his current predicament? He looked at the buttons again and saw the Exit button. He didn't exactly have any better options...

Jeremy pressed the button, and the same blinding light as before filled his vision.

"-take things seriously every once in awhile," Lisa said.

Jeremy blinked a few times as his eyes readjusted to the room around him. Lisa was standing in front of him again, wearing the clothes from before the incident. Jeremy reached out his hand to touch Lisa and a huge feeling of relief washed over him when his fingers met resistance. He moved in to hug her and could feel tears welling up in his eyes.

"Huh- what's up with you?" Lisa asked, a bit surprised that he would hug her in the middle of one of her rants.

"Oh my god! You don't know how happy I am that I can hold you," Jeremy said, and he actually did start crying. "That remote the old man gave me. It's cursed or something."

Lisa softly pushed him away so she could look at his face. "What do you mean it's cursed?"

"When I pressed the button, it took me to this kitchen. Only it wasn't this kitchen. I was a ghost, and there was another you and me here, and-"

"Is this a joke, Jeremy?" Lisa asked, looking around half expecting to see a hidden camera.

"No, no. It's not a joke. I know what I saw!"

"Jeremy, you're starting to worry me. Let me see that remote."

"No, I don't want you to go through what I went through," Jeremy said, taking a step back from her and clutching the remote tight to his chest.

"Jeremy, give me the remote. You've already told me what you think it does, so I'll be ready if it really does turn me into a ghost," Lisa said, trying to use a calming tone.

Jeremy resisted for a little longer, but he finally relented and let Lisa see the remote. Before he handed it over, he made sure she knew exactly what he had done and seen when he used the remote. She pressed the Temp minus button, and Jeremy could swear that she flickered, if only for a moment.

"Jeremy, this remote isn't cursed. It's some kind of time machine!" Lisa said excitedly.

"A time machine?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah. When I first pressed the button, I saw the kitchen and the other you and me, just like you did. But instead of pressing the Exit button, I decided to try to hit the minus Temp button again-"

"You just decided to hit a random button on a magical remote?" Jeremy asked incredulously.

"It wasn't a random button, Jeremy. We both pressed the minus Temp and it was safe."

"You call being a ghost safe?" Jeremy said.

"Relatively safe," Lisa replied curtly, "that's not important though Jeremy! When I pressed the minus button again, I saw you. Only you weren't in this apartment. You were eating dinner with your parents. And you looked pretty different. Younger. I pressed the minus button a few more times, and confirmed my suspicions. This machine is some sort of window into the past! Each press lets you see a year further back in time."

Jeremy just stood there taking in what he had just been told. He eventually found his voice. "Okay, so if this thing is a time machine, can we, like, change the past?"

"I don't know if it works that way. Neither of us could interact with the past when we were there. It's possible that one of the other buttons besides the two we've tried can change the past, but I-I really feel like we should find out more about this remote before we start trying to muck about with history."

"I agree," said Jeremy. "This thing could be dangerous, we should put it away for now. I can go to the old man's house tomorrow and see if he can tell us anything more about this remote."

Lisa looked happy that Jeremy agreed with her on this point. She put the remote down on the kitchen table, and they both walked to the living room. They both tried to stick to their usual routine the rest of the night, but the remote wasn't far from either of their minds. Lisa was only a physics student, but she was thinking about all the ways that this remote could change science for the better. Jeremy, on the other hand, was thinking about all the ways this remote could change his life for the better.

Chapter 2

That night, Jeremy found himself unable to sleep. Making sure to not wake Lisa, he left the bedroom and wandered down to the kitchen. He couldn't resist the urge to experiment with it just a little bit more. He picked up the device from the table, and walked quietly back to the bedroom. He opened the door a crack, and pointed the remote at Lisa's sleeping form. As expected, the display changed to LISA. He pressed the minus Temp button, and...

After the flash, his eyes were treated to Lisa, still sleeping in her bedroom. A glance at the wall calender beside the bed confirmed that this was indeed about a year ago. Lisa seemed to be alone in the bed, further corroborating the time period. He had only officially moved in with her in the last few months.

Just like before, he couldn't interact with anything. He decided to tried pressing Undo/Redo, but the display changed to "Err." Okay, that wasn't it. He pressed Command, and was surprised when a blue beam of light came from the front of the remote and began to hover over Lisa. Could this mean...

"Lisa, wake up."

Slowly, sleepily Lisa woke up, and the blue light faded. She looked around groggily. Jeremy could barely believe it, had that really worked? He had to test it further. He pressed the Command button again.

"Lisa, get out of bed and write 'Jeremy' on your calendar."

Lisa got out of bed, grabbed a pen from her desk and walked to the calendar. She blocked the calendar while she was writing, but when she walked away Jeremy could read it. 'Jeremy.' This thing worked. He could use this device to change the past, by controlling people in it. What kinds of limits did the commands he could give have? He needed to try a small experiment. He pressed the Command button.

"Lisa, whenever you sleep from now on, sleep in the nude."

Jeremy watched as she started to get ready to get back to sleep after her rude awakening. Rather than staying in her bra and panties, she took off her remaining garments and went back to sleep. Now to check what effect that had in the present. He pressed the Exit button.

When Jeremy arrived, an almost unbearable pain stormed through his head. The pain was like being stabbed over and over again. It only lasted for a few seconds, and when it subsided Jeremy could tell that it had worked. When he tried to remember how Lisa slept, he had two sets of memories. A strong memory that she always slept in the nude (something that he had always enjoyed), and a faint memory that she would typically sleep in a bra and panties. He looked around the room, and it was pretty much how he remembered. He could swear that a few things were in slightly different locations than before, but none of them were of too much concern. A hairbrush a few inches from where it had been, the towel in the bathroom was a different color - that sort of thing.

Now that Jeremy knew he had this power, he didn't want other people knowing about it. Unfortunately, he had already told Lisa about the device. Maybe he could fix that, though. He didn't know if him remembering the other timeline was because that's just how time travel works, or because he had the remote on him when he altered the timeline. Only one way to find out. He pointed the device at himself, the display changed to JERE. Here goes nothing. Click.

He saw himself sleeping at his old, crappy apartment. It was him from a year ago. He pressed Command.

"Jeremy, if you ever get a remote from an old man, do not tell Lisa about it."

If this worked he'd be the only person to know about his remote. If it didn't, Lisa might be pissed that he used the time machine while she was asleep despite their agreement. He pressed Exit.

* * *

The next morning was pleasant. They enjoyed a quick breakfast before they both had to take off for work and classes. Throughout breakfast, Jeremy's heart was pounding like crazy. He was waiting for Lisa to bring up the remote. But she never did. Had it really worked?

"Hey, Lisa?" Jeremy said slowly.

"What's up, Jeremy?" Lisa said.

"Did anything... weird happen last night?"

"Weird, like how?" Lisa asked curiously.

"Never mind, forget I brought it up," Jeremy said.

Lisa seemed a little confused by this line of questioning, but she let it drop. When breakfast finished, they kissed each other goodbye and Jeremy was left alone in the house for a bit. He pumped his fist in the air. It had worked. Only the user of the remote kept their memory. Now that he knew this, he could tell that work today was going to be great.

* * *

Jeremy kept the remote control on him all day. He was eager to see what he could do with the device. His first opportunity quickly presented itself.

He was delivering to a house on the south side of town. A woman in her mid-40's answered the door. She was holding a baby, and her hair was a bit disheveled. Jeremy could hear two young boys (about 9 and 7 if he had to guess), fighting in the background.

"Timmy, would you please stop fighting with your brother? The pizza is here!" the woman looked like she hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in weeks. "I'm really sorry, about all this. Here's $20, keep the change," she said.

Jeremy was moved to help the woman in his own small way, so he pulled out the remote, pointed it at the elder of the two boys and pressed the button. He was treated to a scene of the boy (younger now) chasing a cat around the house. Jeremy pressed Command.

"Timmy, listen to your mother from now on. Set a good example for your brother."

He pressed Exit. There was a slight pain in his head, but it was lighter and shorter than the first time. He was back at the house handing the mother her pizza. She looked much less stressed than before, and he could see the two young boys playing quietly and politely behind her. Something was a bit off, though.

"Didn't you have a baby?" Jeremy asked.

"What? No. It's just Timmy and Jason here. Maybe you're thinking of somebody else you deliver to?" the woman said.

"That must be it..." Jeremy said, a sinking feeling starting in his stomach. He took the $20, and handed her the pizza. "Have a nice day, ma'am." His heart was not in the words. He walked numbly back to the car. He had just erased someone from existence, without even meaning to. The woman seemed much happier, but an entire person had been deleted from history. He had wanted the power to rewrite history, but he hadn't fully considered what that entailed. Maybe he could fix this though! He pulled out the remote, and looked at it. He hadn't really tried the Undo/Redo buttons. Maybe, if he was very lucky...

With trembling fingers he pushed the Undo button. He saw a familiar blinding flash, and found himself sitting in his car in the same neighborhood. After a slight pain in his head he knew it had worked. He had two memories like before, and the most clear memories were of the woman having a baby. He quickly realized what this meant. Not only could he change time, but he could explore different possibilities without consequence. It seemed the old man (or whoever had invented this remote) had thought of everything.

* * *

His second delivery of the day was a straitlaced young couple. The guy answered the door. They both appeared to be in their mid 20s and if their house was any indication, their finances were fairly healthy. Jeremy pulled out the remote, and (click) was soon looking at a younger version of the guy, sitting alone watching TV. Jeremy pressed Command.

"Write your name on a piece of paper."

The guy got up and was looking around struggling to find a pen. After few minutes, he found a pen in the couch cushions and pulled out a piece of scratch paper. He wrote: 'Jonathan Wilson.' Click.

"Jonathan, write your biggest regret on that paper."

Jonathan wrote for a few seconds, then put the pen down: 'Starting to smoke.' That was easy enough to fix. Jeremy hit minus until he was looking a Jonathan at seven or eight. Click.

"Jonathan, never start smoking."

He hit Exit, and saw Jonathan standing before him. Aside from the light pain in Jeremy's head confirming that time had changed slightly, he couldn't see much difference. Maybe Jonathan looked a bit taller? Well that was no fun.

"Here's your pizza, sir," Jeremy said. Jonathan handed over the money (with a very generous tip). Jeremy decided to try the girl this time. Click.

Flash. Jeremy was looking at the girl talking to a bunch of people in a restaurant. Click.

"Excuse yourself to the restroom, and take a paper and pen with you."

The girls said something to the people she was eating with, and walked off to the restroom. Click.

"Pull out your driver's license, and hold in front for you for a few seconds."

The girl rummaged through her purse and pulled it out. Her name was apparently Jennifer Miller. Click.

"Jennifer, put away your driver license, and write down your biggest regret."

'Not having more fun in college.'

Jeremy knew what to do. Based on her age from the license, he guessed how many years he needed to go back. Click. The girl was eating lunch and pouring over a textbook, and he could see Jonathan apparently studying and eating with her. They had apparently been a couple for a while. Click.