Hello everyone! This fanfiction is about The Time Machine, and I really think there should be more out there than the very few I've seen.
First off, this story is based off of the BOOK, by H.G. Wells, not either of the movies. Wells was one of the best if not THE best science fiction author of his time, and this story is dedicated him. Did you know he actually coined the term 'time machine'?
Second, there are some elements in the following chapters that I've manipulated slightly in the TTM universe: first and foremost, the Elois' and Morlocks' appearences. I know that in the book the Eloi are described as(1 moment please)...puny, curly-haired, sandle-wearing midgets with 'singularly minute' ears, small mouths and thin lips, pointed chins, and 'large and mild eyes'. And the Morlocks are decribed as "little and ape-like".
Now I don't know about you, but those descriptions aren't very satisfying to your average Sy-Fy fan. That's why in my fanverse of The Time Machine, I have altered the looks of the two races into ones we all can easily imagine and I myself prefer; For the Morlocks, they will be depicted as they were in the 1960 movie of the book, because I think we all much prefer them that way.
The Eloi are more complicated; I have combined pieces of several media depictions of the Eloi into my own version. My Eloi have the basic body shape of the Eloi-like creatures from the episode of Futurama "The Late Phillip J. Fry", including the long ears. They have light pink skin, blonde hair like in the 1960 film that is short and curly, and they wear varying-colored tunics, also like the movie. They have big, blue eyes, and four digits on each limb, and their hands are boneless, as described in the book. Now that I think about it they kinda look like weird elves.
And thirdly, the book mentions that, besides the Morlocks and Eloi themselves, plus some birds generically mentioned, all other animals are extinct, including bacteria. I cannot be the only one who finds this as asinine as it is! Seriously? Of all the thousands of animal species on earth, humans are the only ones that survive what is likely the mother of all mass extinctions?! That makes about as much sense as sheep suddenly becoming the alpha predators of New Zealand! Clearly, I had to intervene. After all, in the book the Time Traveler hardly goes far from where he lands, so he obviously just didn't SEE any fauna aside from the Eloi, nor did he see any geographical regions beyond the Eloi paradises. I've taken to expand the world a bit in the TTM universe, and I have no doubt that it shall be an improvement.
Also, I may and likely will be going against realistic biology at more than one turn in this story, but, hello! This is Science Fiction! Keyword: fiction. Anything's possible!
Disclaimer: I own nothing within the elements portrayed in The Time Machine, so, everything else then.
The sun was high in the sky, which was a lovely shade of blue, and easing into the white of thin, wispy clouds near the horizon. The time was 802,701 AD, and it was the middle of the hot season, when the days were longest, the nights were cool, and the sunsets were simply breathtaking. The cool, starry nights were often alit with the blinking dots that were the glow bugs, and the lazy, sweet summer breeze blew in from down south.
The climate here was tropical year-round, thanks to a global climate shift a few thousand years ago, and the region was predominantly covered in lush, grassy plains with a few small wooded areas in valleys, and around there were these lush, wide-open gardens filled with fruits and flowers of all kinds, as well as odd, seemingly unnatural structures, where small, delicate, blonde-haired, pink-skinned creatures lived. The animals of this region knew about them for the most part. Hardly a day went by when one of the wild-roaming beasts didn't wander into these areas populated by tiny pink lightweights, who seemed to have no fear at all of them. The only time of year one wouldn't see them around was the annual migration west during the dry season, yet the homes of the pink creatures didn't seem to be affected. Whenever the animals did come across the homes of the pink midgets, they usually let them be. The herbivores wanted nothing from them, and the carnivores found their taste rather unpleasing. So the animals, at least the larger more standing-out ones, left the lush gardens and their playful, childish inhabitants alone.
One such creature was tentatively grazing out on the plains. He stood over 7.5 feet tall at the shoulder, and measured 26 feet long from snout to tail. The animal was named Sluff, and he was a beast known as a Ronlak, huge, furry creatures that resembled a cross of a sloth and a bear, with a head like that of a horse's, only more robust, with small, pointed ears. His long, furry tail dragged along the ground behind him, and his hind legs were thick and column-shaped with 3 short claws to hold his massive weight when he stood on two legs to reach leafy branches. His fur was dark cinnamon brown, with thin red stripes along his back and hindquarters, and two short stripes on his snout. Lastly, his long arms were covered in long, shaggy hair that also covered the paws. These shaggy arms and hands looked soft and inviting, but they also concealed a deadly weapon.
The Ronlak species originally were indigenous to southern Asia, but a recent change in climate, coupled with a small landmass colliding with what was once the Indian peninsula, pressured the Ronlaks to move, to find a new home elsewhere. After generations of continuous migration northeast, the Ronlaks soon spread across the Eurasian realm, and the last of them swam the formerly known English channel to make it here, among them were Sluff's ancestors. The species was quickly established, and they had no major predators in their new region.
Sluff absent-mindedly chewed another mouthful of grass as he heard the sounds of other animals. He wasn't concerned, as Ronlaks were the largest land animals in the region once known as the UK. He looked up from his grazing to see a small herd of antelopes galloping calmly in his direction. The gray-blue deer-like mammals had many predators out here, so they were always on their toes. Not wanting to bother them with his presence, Sluff swallowed his mouthful of vegetation and sauntered off, the antelopes warily watching him leave. Only when the Ronlak was a fair distance away did they relax and begin to graze.
Sluff was glad to be kind to the smaller herbivores. Unlike most animals, the Ronlaks possessed very advanced brains, and were very intelligent despite their beastly appearances. Some were smart enough to even wonder why they had such brainpower, when they clearly hadn't a lot of use for it. Sluff, however, simply enjoyed his intelligence for what he had of it, almost feeling sorry for the less intellectual animals, especially those little pink creatures that played and ate fruit all day.
Speaking of which, he could smell them now. Sluff rose up on his hind legs, standing over 15 feet tall, and sniffed the air. Indeed, the homes of the Eloi- for that was what they were called- were only a few kilometers ahead. Sluff decided to just pass through as he always did, letting the small curly-haired ones mill about their day. Sluff then caught a new scent in the wind; the scent of a predator. The Ronlak stiffened, remaining on his hind legs, scanning the hills and fields around him for the carnivore. Then, he spotted it: a furry, grayish-blue mass moving slowly and quietly through the tall grass.
Sluff grunted, alerting the hunter of his awareness of its presence. The predator stopped and slowly rose from the grass. It was a massive, wolf-like canine, bigger than a modern Clydesdale horse, and it was stalking the antelopes. The beast snarled deeply at Sluff. Sluff growled back, and stood his ground, assuming a defense position, spreading his arms. The giant canine continued to growl, but backed off, knowing what Ronlaks were capable of.
When the dog had backed away enough, it went back to stalking the grazing antelopes while Sluff relaxed and dropped back on all fours. It could be a dangerous world out here, sometimes even for Ronlaks, but that's the way things were.
Sluff groaned and set his sights on what lay ahead, turning his eyes away from the predator and her prey. Only minutes later, Sluff could hear the terrified squeals of the antelopes and the bloodthirsty howls of the wolf-like animal as it made its kill. Sluff then heard a higher yowling from the attack scene, and looked back to see that one antelope lay dead under the wolf-beast's paws and the rest of its herd was fleeing over the plain, and that an 8 foot-long fox-like animal had appeared and was fighting the wolf-animal over the carcass. As stated, antelopes were the staple for almost every large predator out here.
Sluff snorted and trotted onward, ignoring the sounds of one predator possibly fatally wounding the other, and the winner howling in triumph.
A few hours later, Sluff reached the crest of a steep hill, and as he reached the top, he sat down to rest and surveyed what lay before him. Below was a massive valley, and within it a vast expanse of lush gardens, brimming with bushes and flowers of all kinds under the shade of the numerous fruit trees spread about, and the songs of little birds filled the air. The endless vegetation was broken only by the large stone structures that appeared in several places, most cracked and beginning to crumble after thousands of years of exposure to the elements. Other than the songbirds that constantly fluttered about, the only movement came from the valley's only permanent inhabitants; the Eloi. The little pink-skinned, blue-eyed, curly-yellow-haired hominids were out and about, singing, dancing, and playing all over the place, not seeming to have a care in the world. Sluff snorted at the Elois' blissfulness as he stood and began his decent into the valley, intending to leave the little creatures be and not interact with them.
As the massive Ronlak reached the bottom of the hill, he could plainly hear the laughter and singing of the Eloi as they danced and played and did *ahem* other things in their veritable gardens of Eden; the only difference was that they COULD eat the fruit here. As Sluff passed along some flowery bushes, he stopped a moment to smell their sweet pollen scents, groaning in pleasure afterwards. He then grabbed a large mouthful of leaves and blossoms and chewed them heartily, finding them much more flavorful than the tough, dry grass of the hot season. As Sluff swallowed his leafy snack, he spotted a young Eloi male standing not six feet away from him on the other side of the bushes, staring up at him with a bunch of pinkish-red flowers gathered in his delicate little hands. Sluff locked eyes with the tiny person for moment, and then snorted loudly, making the Eloi scurry off, giggling and accidentally dropping a few flowers. Sluff rolled his eyes. The Eloi were used to wild animals, including Ronlaks, in their gardens, and vice versa, and contact between the two was rare, if it even occurred. Sluff ate up another few bucketfuls of shrubbery before continuing on his way, not paying the Eloi any heed, nor they him.
In the middle of the day, when the sun reached it's peak in the sky, Sluff decided to lay down for a nap beside an old, green ceramic statue of a thickly-built animal that looked like a hornless antelope with a Ronlak's head standing on its hind legs, partly covered in vines and ivy. Sluff slumped his huge body onto the grassy ground with a dull thud, and let out a yawn that was more reminiscent of a low roar. Sluff lowered his huge head to the ground, and curled his fluffy tail around himself before closing his eyes and drifting off.
Later, Sluff awoke with a loud, rumbling yawn. As the Ronlak heaved his massive body up off the ground and blinked his eyes to rouse himself, he realized that he was covered in garlands of numerous different-colored flowers, and two young Eloi were playing around on his tail. He grunted brusquely at the little people and whipped his tail away, and they ran back to their fellows, laughing childishly. Sluff rumbled in his throat, and shook his body to remove the numerous floral annoyances. Once he was sure that not one loose petal was left clinging to his fur, he went on his way, making a mental note not to fall asleep in the presence of Eloi again.
So went the remainder of Sluff's day in the Eloi valley. He ate from the green trees and bushes until his hunger was satisfied, and drank from the small rivers and streams that flowed through the gardens as the little pink people splashed in the shallows. During one of these instances, however, Sluff heard a commotion coming from about 100 yards upriver, where a group of Eloi were playing by the shore. He rose up on his sturdy hind limbs to get a better look, and saw that one Eloi, a female, had been pulled out further by the current and was crying out for help, yet the others did nothing to aid her. One of their own was drowning, and the Eloi didn't seem to care in the least! Sluff came back down on all fours, and was about to dive into the river himself, when he suddenly saw that some...thing had beaten him to it. Another creature had gone into the water and pulled the Eloi female out of the water before she drowned. Sluff had never seen an animal like this before in all his years. It looked like an Eloi, sort of...okay, not really. The creature stood on two legs like the Eloi, but was much taller, and wore strange clothing that looked nothing like the Elois' silken tunics. Its skin was pale and whitish, in stark contrast to the Elois' light pink skin tone. It had 5 fingers on each hand while the Eloi had only four, its hair was very short and dark-colored, unlike the Eloi's longer, golden-blonde hair, and its eyes were small in proportion to its head, and weren't blue.
Sluff cocked his head at the sight of this odd creature, but the Eloi it had just rescued seemed to love it instantly. The weird-thing then began walking back towards the Elois' old ruins, but suddenly looked back in Sluff's direction, and would've seen him, had the Ronlak not swiftly disappeared into the nearby trees.
Sluff watched as the strange, pale animal in strange clothing disappeared over the hill, but still pondered over it. What was it? Where did it come from? Why was it in an Eloi valley? Such questions couldn't be answered for Sluff, and probably never would be, but he decided to pay them no heed. Whatever that alien creature was, it probably wouldn't be joyful to see something like him come up to it. So with his mind made up, Sluff merely grunted and walked deeper into the small wood.
So that's the first chapter, kinda short, just introducing our main character, nothing too big. Personally, I like how I fit Sluff into that scene where the Time Traveler saves Weena.
I promise future chapters will be much longer. If you've read my Animal Farm fanfic, you'll know not to expect regular updates. I'm just one of those people who jumps from one thing to another, but rest assured that no story will go unfinished while I'm still typing, no matter how long intervals are.
Oh, and that statue Sluff slept next to was of a horse, in case you didn't catch that.