A little bit shorter, but a lot doesn't really happen in this scene, just an explanation.
The first memory wasn't much different from the present. They were still in the same house, same room, same year. It was just earlier.
They headed down stairs in search of Johnny. His presence wasn't in the house, so they searched outside for him. They headed for the lighthouse. There Johnny sat on a bench with Lily, who had disappeared as quickly as they had traveled.
"Johnny?" Dr. Rosalene called out.
Completely unaware of the situation, John stood up and turned to the two. "What a pleasant surprise. We don't get many visitors around here!"
"My name is Dr. Eva Rosalene. And this is..."
"Dr. Von Matterhorn," Dr. Watts joked, "Dr. Lorenzo Von Matterhorn."
"Dr. Neil Watts," Eva corrected, "Are you familiar with the Sigmund Agency of Life Generation?"
"Oh, are you two from the agency? How convenient; I've just been thinking of calling you. Lily, get us some tea please." He turned. "Lily?!"
"Actually, you've already called us," Neil explained.
"We're here to fufill our relative contract from the near future," Eva continued.
John backed up, frightened. "Careful there. If you slip off the cliff, we're gonna have to reload this memory," Neil warned.
"You," John began, "You are here to take me to the moon, aren't you?" They nodded. "I suppose I had a good run."
"Not good enough, it seems," Neil muttered. Dr. Rosalene smacked him.
"So, can you do it?" John asked, "Can you take me to the moon?"
"We can't, but you might be able to,"Eva explained.
"Why do you want to go there?" Neil asked.
"I don't know."
"It's fine, you can tell us. It's essential for helping us to get you to go there. Do you want the fame? The money? You've got to have a motive."
"I'm sorry, but I really don't know. I just, I do."
I can already tell that this is gonna be a pain in the ass. Neil thought.
"Nevertheless Johnny, here's what we're gonna do," Eva started, "We need to get to your childhood, but it is too distant to do so in one memory hop. Thus, we will need to traverse through your memories with gradual backward leaps."
"Which you've given us the permission to do in the relative future," Neil added.
"Once we lay down the waypoints in your childhood memories for direct access, we will return here. That's when you'll need to help us influence the childhood you to become an astronaut."
"Or to get on a giant catapult."
"The point is, you'll need to have more to say then just 'I don't know.'"
"As long as you can take me to the moon, I will cooperate in any way possible."
"Good," Eva said, walking back to Dr. Watts, "Now, in order to leap back into a memory, we need an item that is of importance to you. Do you have a memento of some sort to get us started?" John walked over to the bench he was siting at and grabbed a piece of paper. "That'll do. Well, shall we?"
"Ladies first." They began to prepare the item for a charge so they could go back in time.
"Wait," John said, "What about my privacy?"
"We'll try not to violate what we can avoid," Eva assured him, "But in most cases, it can't be helped."
And then they were gone.
