Disclaimer: based on the TV-show owned by BBC, the book written by H.G. Wells and its subsequent musical version by Jeff Wayne. The story's narrator is mine.


I tried to talk the Doctor out of going to Japan, but he seemed too confident about going there, as if there was no problem about it at all.

"Doc, don't you know what their government does, even to their own people?" I said.

"What?" the Doctor questioned, "That they kidnap entire classes and have them fight against one another until only one survives?"

"Yes!" I answered, "Among other things."

"That's only a story you've heard." the Doctor assured me.

"Even so, they did become quite hostile towards westerners since they lost the last war." I added.

"How would you know?" the Doctor asked, "Have you been there?"

"I have, actually." I replied.

"And how did they treat you?" he asked.

"Well..." I almost refuted the point I was trying to make, by hesitating to answer, "... the people were nice..."

"Well then, what's the problem?" the Doctor asked.

"But I was there only recently." I added, "About a year ago. By then, the people were more lenient to westerners. But we're going to the late seventies..."

"Do you have a problem with Japanese people?" the Doctor asked.

If I understood the Doctor right, he was implying that I have some kind of racist problem with them. In all honesty, I did manage to make some friends when I was in Japan. It were those same friends who had given me the advice I needed that eventually got me the job that I have now. So no, I don't have a problem with them. The only reason I'd much rather avoid Japan is the same as why I'm avoiding this one town in Illinois, this woods area in New Jersey, and the country in Texas, because all of them harbor dangerous people. I should know, as I actually interacted with these people. And in case of one of them, I only survived because I promised him I would never return. I could say all of that out loud, but I couldn't be too sure if the Doctor would even let me finish talking. That was why I hesitated to say anything.

"Well, it looks like your problem is worse than I thought." the Doctor said.

He sounded as though he was talking about something else, so I asked: "Problem? What problem?"

"Trusting people." the Doctor answered.

I rolled my eyes: "So what? You'll take away the only means I have to survive?"

"Survive?" the Doctor scoffed, "The only reason your race has been able to survive as long as it has, is because people trusted each other."

"Then you have a dreamer's view of humanity that I don't share." I sighed.

"Well, we'll see." the Doctor said, as the Tardis sounded as though it were landing.

As soon as the engines stopped making their noise, the Doctor turned to leave the Tardis. Though reluctantly, I followed him.

The Doctor stepped out of the Tardis and took one quick look around: "Here we are. Your world as it was in 1978."

I just took one peek at first. We were inside some kind of building, but I had no idea what kind of building.

"Where are we?" I asked, "I mean, what is this place?"

"An observatory, by the looks of it." the Doctor said.

I opened the door to stick my head out, so I could see more. We were inside what looked like a round room, which had a large telescope in the middle. This building generally harbors scientists only, and the Doctor was one they would gladly learn more from, so I had nothing to worry about. I stepped out of the Tardis.

"So where exactly did we land, Doc?" I asked.

"I thought you didn't want to be here." the Doctor replied, "So why does it matter?"

"I'm just curious why you thought an observatory was the best place to land." I told him.

"I didn't pick this spot." the Doctor said, "All I did was tell the Tardis to go to Japan in 1978, and it randomly picked this spot."

"I see." I replied, as my eye fell on a newspaper that somebody had left on a desk in the room. I took one quick look at it, then asked the Doctor: "Are you sure we're in Japan?"

"Yes." he answered.

"Then how come can I read this newspaper?" I asked him as I showed him the paper.

He turned to me to give an answer, but since I held up the newspaper, he could see it for himself. The paper was printed in English.

"This can't be right." the Doctor said, "Not again."

"Again?" this didn't sound right.

"The Tardis does that sometimes." the Doctor explained, "Landing me in the wrong place."

"Now he tells me!" I exclaimed, more to myself than to him.

"Wait, what is that?" the Doctor pointed to something on the paper I held.

He took the paper out of my hands, then said what he just read: "This says green lights have started to appear in the skies."

"Green lights?" that sounded unusual, even after what the Doctor has already shown me.

"I'd better look into this myself." the Doctor said, upon which he turned to the telescope and, I guessed, started looking for these green lights. As he was doing so, I heard voices.

"Er... Doc? You might want to hurry it up a little." I said.

"This won't be long." he assured me.

Perhaps he was right, but those voices sounded as though they were getting closer. Whatever the Doctor was doing, he'd better do it fast, as I feared that whoever was coming, probably would have a problem with finding random strangers in the observatory.