Time travel alters history but people keep saying nothing's changed Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara Planned maintenance scheduled April 17/18, 2019 at 00:00UTC (8:00pm US/Eastern) Latest Blog Post: Highlights from 2019 – 1st Quarter Favorite questions and answers from first quarter of 2019Short story about meddling time travelersShort story ID: Bouncing-Ball Time TravelTitle and author of short SF story about a seemingly broken 'improvement' machineIdentify short story: creative people brought to future to finish their workStory - Roman Legionnaires travel through time and start our historyScifi novel with super-intelligent humans, interdimensional travel and a school for potential enhanceesStory about an logical alien race whose society is destroyed by a missionary trying to convert them?Story about a man who keeps getting old and going back in time to give his younger self some guidanceAstronaut can't stop counting things. Terrible consequencesLooking for title of a fantasy fiction with huge war, invader on airship with warlock, island fortress with sorcerer, mnemonic storyteller and dragonIdentify a short story where a paraplegic man travels back in time to save his wife but doesn't get the result he wantsTime-spanning alien intelligences gamble with the fate of EarthTime travel to the crucifixion of Jesus and changing the past

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Time travel alters history but people keep saying nothing's changed



Announcing the arrival of Valued Associate #679: Cesar Manara
Planned maintenance scheduled April 17/18, 2019 at 00:00UTC (8:00pm US/Eastern)
Latest Blog Post: Highlights from 2019 – 1st Quarter
Favorite questions and answers from first quarter of 2019Short story about meddling time travelersShort story ID: Bouncing-Ball Time TravelTitle and author of short SF story about a seemingly broken 'improvement' machineIdentify short story: creative people brought to future to finish their workStory - Roman Legionnaires travel through time and start our historyScifi novel with super-intelligent humans, interdimensional travel and a school for potential enhanceesStory about an logical alien race whose society is destroyed by a missionary trying to convert them?Story about a man who keeps getting old and going back in time to give his younger self some guidanceAstronaut can't stop counting things. Terrible consequencesLooking for title of a fantasy fiction with huge war, invader on airship with warlock, island fortress with sorcerer, mnemonic storyteller and dragonIdentify a short story where a paraplegic man travels back in time to save his wife but doesn't get the result he wantsTime-spanning alien intelligences gamble with the fate of EarthTime travel to the crucifixion of Jesus and changing the past



.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0;








36















About 2005-10, I read a story in an anthology. Don't recall the title of the anthology, story or author. Involved the protagonist making repeated trips to the past. At each return, he found the world a little different, but people kept telling him, "See? Nothing's changed." At the end there have been numerous cumulative changes




humanity are now intelligent lobster-like arthropods, still maintaining that time travel does not alter history.











share|improve this question



















  • 27





    This isn't the answer to your question, but this reminds me of a novel by Robert Sheckley where the hero returns to his home after his adventures and is pleased to see that his time travels hadn't made any changes he could detect. "...The giant oak trees still made their annual migration..." etc., etc..

    – M. A. Golding
    Apr 9 at 16:04






  • 3





    I think we can rule out Larry Niven's "Svetz" stories -- in those, anyone inside the Time Institute was sufficiently insulated (by proximity to the time machine) that they could remember the unchanged world.

    – Zeiss Ikon
    Apr 9 at 16:42






  • 1





    @JoeMcMahon Nope, it's Mindswap. archive.org/details/Galaxy_v23n05_1965-06/page/n97

    – user14111
    Apr 9 at 19:24






  • 4





    I think situations like that are quite common in timetravel stories, as it's just about a given that the changes would resonate back in time from the point they happened.

    – jwenting
    Apr 10 at 4:46






  • 1





    Just fyi, the TV show Timeless does it in the same way - only the time travelers know that something has changed, for everyone else the altered history has always been true.

    – Polygnome
    Apr 10 at 12:44

















36















About 2005-10, I read a story in an anthology. Don't recall the title of the anthology, story or author. Involved the protagonist making repeated trips to the past. At each return, he found the world a little different, but people kept telling him, "See? Nothing's changed." At the end there have been numerous cumulative changes




humanity are now intelligent lobster-like arthropods, still maintaining that time travel does not alter history.











share|improve this question



















  • 27





    This isn't the answer to your question, but this reminds me of a novel by Robert Sheckley where the hero returns to his home after his adventures and is pleased to see that his time travels hadn't made any changes he could detect. "...The giant oak trees still made their annual migration..." etc., etc..

    – M. A. Golding
    Apr 9 at 16:04






  • 3





    I think we can rule out Larry Niven's "Svetz" stories -- in those, anyone inside the Time Institute was sufficiently insulated (by proximity to the time machine) that they could remember the unchanged world.

    – Zeiss Ikon
    Apr 9 at 16:42






  • 1





    @JoeMcMahon Nope, it's Mindswap. archive.org/details/Galaxy_v23n05_1965-06/page/n97

    – user14111
    Apr 9 at 19:24






  • 4





    I think situations like that are quite common in timetravel stories, as it's just about a given that the changes would resonate back in time from the point they happened.

    – jwenting
    Apr 10 at 4:46






  • 1





    Just fyi, the TV show Timeless does it in the same way - only the time travelers know that something has changed, for everyone else the altered history has always been true.

    – Polygnome
    Apr 10 at 12:44













36












36








36


13






About 2005-10, I read a story in an anthology. Don't recall the title of the anthology, story or author. Involved the protagonist making repeated trips to the past. At each return, he found the world a little different, but people kept telling him, "See? Nothing's changed." At the end there have been numerous cumulative changes




humanity are now intelligent lobster-like arthropods, still maintaining that time travel does not alter history.











share|improve this question
















About 2005-10, I read a story in an anthology. Don't recall the title of the anthology, story or author. Involved the protagonist making repeated trips to the past. At each return, he found the world a little different, but people kept telling him, "See? Nothing's changed." At the end there have been numerous cumulative changes




humanity are now intelligent lobster-like arthropods, still maintaining that time travel does not alter history.








story-identification time-travel






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Apr 9 at 15:57









Valorum

416k11330283246




416k11330283246










asked Apr 9 at 15:52









user89108user89108

389410




389410







  • 27





    This isn't the answer to your question, but this reminds me of a novel by Robert Sheckley where the hero returns to his home after his adventures and is pleased to see that his time travels hadn't made any changes he could detect. "...The giant oak trees still made their annual migration..." etc., etc..

    – M. A. Golding
    Apr 9 at 16:04






  • 3





    I think we can rule out Larry Niven's "Svetz" stories -- in those, anyone inside the Time Institute was sufficiently insulated (by proximity to the time machine) that they could remember the unchanged world.

    – Zeiss Ikon
    Apr 9 at 16:42






  • 1





    @JoeMcMahon Nope, it's Mindswap. archive.org/details/Galaxy_v23n05_1965-06/page/n97

    – user14111
    Apr 9 at 19:24






  • 4





    I think situations like that are quite common in timetravel stories, as it's just about a given that the changes would resonate back in time from the point they happened.

    – jwenting
    Apr 10 at 4:46






  • 1





    Just fyi, the TV show Timeless does it in the same way - only the time travelers know that something has changed, for everyone else the altered history has always been true.

    – Polygnome
    Apr 10 at 12:44












  • 27





    This isn't the answer to your question, but this reminds me of a novel by Robert Sheckley where the hero returns to his home after his adventures and is pleased to see that his time travels hadn't made any changes he could detect. "...The giant oak trees still made their annual migration..." etc., etc..

    – M. A. Golding
    Apr 9 at 16:04






  • 3





    I think we can rule out Larry Niven's "Svetz" stories -- in those, anyone inside the Time Institute was sufficiently insulated (by proximity to the time machine) that they could remember the unchanged world.

    – Zeiss Ikon
    Apr 9 at 16:42






  • 1





    @JoeMcMahon Nope, it's Mindswap. archive.org/details/Galaxy_v23n05_1965-06/page/n97

    – user14111
    Apr 9 at 19:24






  • 4





    I think situations like that are quite common in timetravel stories, as it's just about a given that the changes would resonate back in time from the point they happened.

    – jwenting
    Apr 10 at 4:46






  • 1





    Just fyi, the TV show Timeless does it in the same way - only the time travelers know that something has changed, for everyone else the altered history has always been true.

    – Polygnome
    Apr 10 at 12:44







27




27





This isn't the answer to your question, but this reminds me of a novel by Robert Sheckley where the hero returns to his home after his adventures and is pleased to see that his time travels hadn't made any changes he could detect. "...The giant oak trees still made their annual migration..." etc., etc..

– M. A. Golding
Apr 9 at 16:04





This isn't the answer to your question, but this reminds me of a novel by Robert Sheckley where the hero returns to his home after his adventures and is pleased to see that his time travels hadn't made any changes he could detect. "...The giant oak trees still made their annual migration..." etc., etc..

– M. A. Golding
Apr 9 at 16:04




3




3





I think we can rule out Larry Niven's "Svetz" stories -- in those, anyone inside the Time Institute was sufficiently insulated (by proximity to the time machine) that they could remember the unchanged world.

– Zeiss Ikon
Apr 9 at 16:42





I think we can rule out Larry Niven's "Svetz" stories -- in those, anyone inside the Time Institute was sufficiently insulated (by proximity to the time machine) that they could remember the unchanged world.

– Zeiss Ikon
Apr 9 at 16:42




1




1





@JoeMcMahon Nope, it's Mindswap. archive.org/details/Galaxy_v23n05_1965-06/page/n97

– user14111
Apr 9 at 19:24





@JoeMcMahon Nope, it's Mindswap. archive.org/details/Galaxy_v23n05_1965-06/page/n97

– user14111
Apr 9 at 19:24




4




4





I think situations like that are quite common in timetravel stories, as it's just about a given that the changes would resonate back in time from the point they happened.

– jwenting
Apr 10 at 4:46





I think situations like that are quite common in timetravel stories, as it's just about a given that the changes would resonate back in time from the point they happened.

– jwenting
Apr 10 at 4:46




1




1





Just fyi, the TV show Timeless does it in the same way - only the time travelers know that something has changed, for everyone else the altered history has always been true.

– Polygnome
Apr 10 at 12:44





Just fyi, the TV show Timeless does it in the same way - only the time travelers know that something has changed, for everyone else the altered history has always been true.

– Polygnome
Apr 10 at 12:44










3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes


















38














This might be "Brooklyn Project" by William Tenn (pseudonym of Philip Klass) as identified in Short story ID: Bouncing-Ball Time Travel




"See," cried the thing that had been the acting secretary to the executive assistant on public relations. "See, no matter how subtly! Those who billow were wrong: we haven't changed." He extended fifteen purple blobs triumphantly. "Nothing has changed!"




Because I remembered seeing this one before on this site, I did a Google search for site:scifi.stackexchange.com "time travel" "short story" nothing happened and found that question/answer among the results.






share|improve this answer




















  • 8





    scifi.stackexchange.com/a/142854/23243 mentions "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne", which has a similar setup of no one at the table realizing the changes, but there's no transformation involved.

    – FuzzyBoots
    Apr 9 at 17:31


















27














It does not exactly match your description, but you may be thinking of "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne", a short story by R. A. Lafferty, which was the answer to this old question and (unaccepted) to this one; first published in Galaxy Magazine, February 1967, available at the Internet Archive. Does any of these covers look familiar?



No protagonist travels to the past. Rather, a committee of scientists sits in their Institute and has their AI computing machine send an Avatar to the past to effect the desired changes, which they hope to observe in the present:




"We have perfect test conditions," the machine Epikt said as though calling them to order. "We set out basic texts, and we take careful note of the world as it is. If the world changes, then the texts should change here before our eyes. For our test pilot, we have taken that portion of our own middle-sized city that can be viewed from this fine vantage point. If the world in its past-present continuity is changed by our meddling, then the face of our city will also change instantly as we watch it.

"We have assembled here the finest minds and judgments in the world: eight humans and one Ktistec machine, myself. Remember that there are nine of us. It might be important."

[. . . .]

From his depths, Epiktistes the Ktistec machine sent out an Avatar, partly of mechanical and partly of ghostly construction. Along about sundown on the road from Pamplona to Roncesvalles, on August 14 of the year 778, the traitor Gano was taken up from the road and hanged on a carob tree, the only one in those groves of oak and beech. And all things thereafter were changed.




But of course the scientists were not aware of the changes:




"Did it work, Epikt? Is it done?" Louis Lobachevski demanded. "I can't see a change in anything."

"The Avatar is back and reports his mission accomplished," Epikt stated. "I can't see any change in anything either."

"Let's look at the evidence," Gregory said.

The thirteen of them, the ten humans and the Ktistec, Chresmoeidec and Proaisthematic machines, turned to the evidence, and with mounting disappointment.

[. . . .]

"No, there is not one word of the text changed," Gregory grumbled. "History followed its same course. How did our experiment fail? We tried, by a device that seems a little cloudy now, to shorten the gestation period for the new birth. It would not be shortened."

"The town is in no way changed," said Aloysius Shiplap. "It is still a fine large town with two dozen imposing towers of limestone and midland marble. It is a vital metropolis, and we all love it, but it is now as it was before."




After a second try they are stone age people, not lobsters:




"Did it work, Epikt? Is it done?" Aloysius asked.

"Let's look at the evidence," said Gregory.

The four of them, the three humans and the ghost Epikt, who was a kachenko mask with a speaking tube, turned to the evidence with mounting disappointment.

"There is still the stick and the five notches in it," said Gregory. "It was our test stick. Nothing in the world is changed."

"The arts remain as they were," said Aloysius. "Our picture here on the stone which we have worked for so many seasons is the same as it was. We have painted the bears black, the buffalos red and the people blue. When we find a way to make another color, we can represent birds also. I had hoped that our experiment might give us that other color. I had even dreamed that it might appear in the picture on the rock before our very eyes."

"There's still rump of skunk to eat and nothing else," said Valery. "I had hoped that our experiment would have changed it to haunch of deer."




On the third try they undo the changes and restore the world to its original state,






share|improve this answer
































    14














    I feel obliged to mention R.A. Lafferty's "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne" as referenced in an answer to Title and author of short SF story about a seemingly broken 'improvement' machine. It also has someone making changes in history with no one but them noticing, but it lacks the inhuman transformations.




    "I hope the Avatar isn't expensive," Willy McGilly said. "When I was a boy we got by with a dart whittled out of slippery elm wood."



    "This is no place for humor," Glasser protested. "Who did you, as a boy, ever kill in time, Willy?"



    "Lots of them. King Wu of the Manchu, Pope Adrian VII, President Hardy of our own country, King Marcel of Auvergne, the philosopher Gabriel Toeplitz. It's a good thing we got them. They were a bad lot."



    "But I never heard of any of them, Willy," Glasser insisted.



    "Of course not. We killed them when they were kids."




    ....




    The four of them, the three humans and the ghost Epikt who was a kachenko mask with a speaking tube, turned to the evidence with mounting disappointment.



    "There is still the stick and the five notches in it," said Gregory. "It was our test stick. Nothing in the world has changed."







    share|improve this answer























    • @user14111: ^_^ Why didn't you just copy and paste your prior answer, which I cited?

      – FuzzyBoots
      Apr 9 at 18:30











    • Ah. That's fair. You've got an upvote from me. :)

      – FuzzyBoots
      Apr 9 at 18:40











    • Interesting that Willy McGilly remembers previous changes in the timeline. If I were ever going to ask a plot-explanation question hre, that might be it.

      – user14111
      Apr 9 at 23:33











    • @user14111, that would be because Willy went himself rather than sending another.

      – Separatrix
      Apr 11 at 11:28











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    3 Answers
    3






    active

    oldest

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    3 Answers
    3






    active

    oldest

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    active

    oldest

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    active

    oldest

    votes









    38














    This might be "Brooklyn Project" by William Tenn (pseudonym of Philip Klass) as identified in Short story ID: Bouncing-Ball Time Travel




    "See," cried the thing that had been the acting secretary to the executive assistant on public relations. "See, no matter how subtly! Those who billow were wrong: we haven't changed." He extended fifteen purple blobs triumphantly. "Nothing has changed!"




    Because I remembered seeing this one before on this site, I did a Google search for site:scifi.stackexchange.com "time travel" "short story" nothing happened and found that question/answer among the results.






    share|improve this answer




















    • 8





      scifi.stackexchange.com/a/142854/23243 mentions "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne", which has a similar setup of no one at the table realizing the changes, but there's no transformation involved.

      – FuzzyBoots
      Apr 9 at 17:31















    38














    This might be "Brooklyn Project" by William Tenn (pseudonym of Philip Klass) as identified in Short story ID: Bouncing-Ball Time Travel




    "See," cried the thing that had been the acting secretary to the executive assistant on public relations. "See, no matter how subtly! Those who billow were wrong: we haven't changed." He extended fifteen purple blobs triumphantly. "Nothing has changed!"




    Because I remembered seeing this one before on this site, I did a Google search for site:scifi.stackexchange.com "time travel" "short story" nothing happened and found that question/answer among the results.






    share|improve this answer




















    • 8





      scifi.stackexchange.com/a/142854/23243 mentions "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne", which has a similar setup of no one at the table realizing the changes, but there's no transformation involved.

      – FuzzyBoots
      Apr 9 at 17:31













    38












    38








    38







    This might be "Brooklyn Project" by William Tenn (pseudonym of Philip Klass) as identified in Short story ID: Bouncing-Ball Time Travel




    "See," cried the thing that had been the acting secretary to the executive assistant on public relations. "See, no matter how subtly! Those who billow were wrong: we haven't changed." He extended fifteen purple blobs triumphantly. "Nothing has changed!"




    Because I remembered seeing this one before on this site, I did a Google search for site:scifi.stackexchange.com "time travel" "short story" nothing happened and found that question/answer among the results.






    share|improve this answer















    This might be "Brooklyn Project" by William Tenn (pseudonym of Philip Klass) as identified in Short story ID: Bouncing-Ball Time Travel




    "See," cried the thing that had been the acting secretary to the executive assistant on public relations. "See, no matter how subtly! Those who billow were wrong: we haven't changed." He extended fifteen purple blobs triumphantly. "Nothing has changed!"




    Because I remembered seeing this one before on this site, I did a Google search for site:scifi.stackexchange.com "time travel" "short story" nothing happened and found that question/answer among the results.







    share|improve this answer














    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer








    edited Apr 9 at 17:26

























    answered Apr 9 at 16:20









    FuzzyBootsFuzzyBoots

    96.2k12295460




    96.2k12295460







    • 8





      scifi.stackexchange.com/a/142854/23243 mentions "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne", which has a similar setup of no one at the table realizing the changes, but there's no transformation involved.

      – FuzzyBoots
      Apr 9 at 17:31












    • 8





      scifi.stackexchange.com/a/142854/23243 mentions "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne", which has a similar setup of no one at the table realizing the changes, but there's no transformation involved.

      – FuzzyBoots
      Apr 9 at 17:31







    8




    8





    scifi.stackexchange.com/a/142854/23243 mentions "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne", which has a similar setup of no one at the table realizing the changes, but there's no transformation involved.

    – FuzzyBoots
    Apr 9 at 17:31





    scifi.stackexchange.com/a/142854/23243 mentions "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne", which has a similar setup of no one at the table realizing the changes, but there's no transformation involved.

    – FuzzyBoots
    Apr 9 at 17:31













    27














    It does not exactly match your description, but you may be thinking of "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne", a short story by R. A. Lafferty, which was the answer to this old question and (unaccepted) to this one; first published in Galaxy Magazine, February 1967, available at the Internet Archive. Does any of these covers look familiar?



    No protagonist travels to the past. Rather, a committee of scientists sits in their Institute and has their AI computing machine send an Avatar to the past to effect the desired changes, which they hope to observe in the present:




    "We have perfect test conditions," the machine Epikt said as though calling them to order. "We set out basic texts, and we take careful note of the world as it is. If the world changes, then the texts should change here before our eyes. For our test pilot, we have taken that portion of our own middle-sized city that can be viewed from this fine vantage point. If the world in its past-present continuity is changed by our meddling, then the face of our city will also change instantly as we watch it.

    "We have assembled here the finest minds and judgments in the world: eight humans and one Ktistec machine, myself. Remember that there are nine of us. It might be important."

    [. . . .]

    From his depths, Epiktistes the Ktistec machine sent out an Avatar, partly of mechanical and partly of ghostly construction. Along about sundown on the road from Pamplona to Roncesvalles, on August 14 of the year 778, the traitor Gano was taken up from the road and hanged on a carob tree, the only one in those groves of oak and beech. And all things thereafter were changed.




    But of course the scientists were not aware of the changes:




    "Did it work, Epikt? Is it done?" Louis Lobachevski demanded. "I can't see a change in anything."

    "The Avatar is back and reports his mission accomplished," Epikt stated. "I can't see any change in anything either."

    "Let's look at the evidence," Gregory said.

    The thirteen of them, the ten humans and the Ktistec, Chresmoeidec and Proaisthematic machines, turned to the evidence, and with mounting disappointment.

    [. . . .]

    "No, there is not one word of the text changed," Gregory grumbled. "History followed its same course. How did our experiment fail? We tried, by a device that seems a little cloudy now, to shorten the gestation period for the new birth. It would not be shortened."

    "The town is in no way changed," said Aloysius Shiplap. "It is still a fine large town with two dozen imposing towers of limestone and midland marble. It is a vital metropolis, and we all love it, but it is now as it was before."




    After a second try they are stone age people, not lobsters:




    "Did it work, Epikt? Is it done?" Aloysius asked.

    "Let's look at the evidence," said Gregory.

    The four of them, the three humans and the ghost Epikt, who was a kachenko mask with a speaking tube, turned to the evidence with mounting disappointment.

    "There is still the stick and the five notches in it," said Gregory. "It was our test stick. Nothing in the world is changed."

    "The arts remain as they were," said Aloysius. "Our picture here on the stone which we have worked for so many seasons is the same as it was. We have painted the bears black, the buffalos red and the people blue. When we find a way to make another color, we can represent birds also. I had hoped that our experiment might give us that other color. I had even dreamed that it might appear in the picture on the rock before our very eyes."

    "There's still rump of skunk to eat and nothing else," said Valery. "I had hoped that our experiment would have changed it to haunch of deer."




    On the third try they undo the changes and restore the world to its original state,






    share|improve this answer





























      27














      It does not exactly match your description, but you may be thinking of "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne", a short story by R. A. Lafferty, which was the answer to this old question and (unaccepted) to this one; first published in Galaxy Magazine, February 1967, available at the Internet Archive. Does any of these covers look familiar?



      No protagonist travels to the past. Rather, a committee of scientists sits in their Institute and has their AI computing machine send an Avatar to the past to effect the desired changes, which they hope to observe in the present:




      "We have perfect test conditions," the machine Epikt said as though calling them to order. "We set out basic texts, and we take careful note of the world as it is. If the world changes, then the texts should change here before our eyes. For our test pilot, we have taken that portion of our own middle-sized city that can be viewed from this fine vantage point. If the world in its past-present continuity is changed by our meddling, then the face of our city will also change instantly as we watch it.

      "We have assembled here the finest minds and judgments in the world: eight humans and one Ktistec machine, myself. Remember that there are nine of us. It might be important."

      [. . . .]

      From his depths, Epiktistes the Ktistec machine sent out an Avatar, partly of mechanical and partly of ghostly construction. Along about sundown on the road from Pamplona to Roncesvalles, on August 14 of the year 778, the traitor Gano was taken up from the road and hanged on a carob tree, the only one in those groves of oak and beech. And all things thereafter were changed.




      But of course the scientists were not aware of the changes:




      "Did it work, Epikt? Is it done?" Louis Lobachevski demanded. "I can't see a change in anything."

      "The Avatar is back and reports his mission accomplished," Epikt stated. "I can't see any change in anything either."

      "Let's look at the evidence," Gregory said.

      The thirteen of them, the ten humans and the Ktistec, Chresmoeidec and Proaisthematic machines, turned to the evidence, and with mounting disappointment.

      [. . . .]

      "No, there is not one word of the text changed," Gregory grumbled. "History followed its same course. How did our experiment fail? We tried, by a device that seems a little cloudy now, to shorten the gestation period for the new birth. It would not be shortened."

      "The town is in no way changed," said Aloysius Shiplap. "It is still a fine large town with two dozen imposing towers of limestone and midland marble. It is a vital metropolis, and we all love it, but it is now as it was before."




      After a second try they are stone age people, not lobsters:




      "Did it work, Epikt? Is it done?" Aloysius asked.

      "Let's look at the evidence," said Gregory.

      The four of them, the three humans and the ghost Epikt, who was a kachenko mask with a speaking tube, turned to the evidence with mounting disappointment.

      "There is still the stick and the five notches in it," said Gregory. "It was our test stick. Nothing in the world is changed."

      "The arts remain as they were," said Aloysius. "Our picture here on the stone which we have worked for so many seasons is the same as it was. We have painted the bears black, the buffalos red and the people blue. When we find a way to make another color, we can represent birds also. I had hoped that our experiment might give us that other color. I had even dreamed that it might appear in the picture on the rock before our very eyes."

      "There's still rump of skunk to eat and nothing else," said Valery. "I had hoped that our experiment would have changed it to haunch of deer."




      On the third try they undo the changes and restore the world to its original state,






      share|improve this answer



























        27












        27








        27







        It does not exactly match your description, but you may be thinking of "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne", a short story by R. A. Lafferty, which was the answer to this old question and (unaccepted) to this one; first published in Galaxy Magazine, February 1967, available at the Internet Archive. Does any of these covers look familiar?



        No protagonist travels to the past. Rather, a committee of scientists sits in their Institute and has their AI computing machine send an Avatar to the past to effect the desired changes, which they hope to observe in the present:




        "We have perfect test conditions," the machine Epikt said as though calling them to order. "We set out basic texts, and we take careful note of the world as it is. If the world changes, then the texts should change here before our eyes. For our test pilot, we have taken that portion of our own middle-sized city that can be viewed from this fine vantage point. If the world in its past-present continuity is changed by our meddling, then the face of our city will also change instantly as we watch it.

        "We have assembled here the finest minds and judgments in the world: eight humans and one Ktistec machine, myself. Remember that there are nine of us. It might be important."

        [. . . .]

        From his depths, Epiktistes the Ktistec machine sent out an Avatar, partly of mechanical and partly of ghostly construction. Along about sundown on the road from Pamplona to Roncesvalles, on August 14 of the year 778, the traitor Gano was taken up from the road and hanged on a carob tree, the only one in those groves of oak and beech. And all things thereafter were changed.




        But of course the scientists were not aware of the changes:




        "Did it work, Epikt? Is it done?" Louis Lobachevski demanded. "I can't see a change in anything."

        "The Avatar is back and reports his mission accomplished," Epikt stated. "I can't see any change in anything either."

        "Let's look at the evidence," Gregory said.

        The thirteen of them, the ten humans and the Ktistec, Chresmoeidec and Proaisthematic machines, turned to the evidence, and with mounting disappointment.

        [. . . .]

        "No, there is not one word of the text changed," Gregory grumbled. "History followed its same course. How did our experiment fail? We tried, by a device that seems a little cloudy now, to shorten the gestation period for the new birth. It would not be shortened."

        "The town is in no way changed," said Aloysius Shiplap. "It is still a fine large town with two dozen imposing towers of limestone and midland marble. It is a vital metropolis, and we all love it, but it is now as it was before."




        After a second try they are stone age people, not lobsters:




        "Did it work, Epikt? Is it done?" Aloysius asked.

        "Let's look at the evidence," said Gregory.

        The four of them, the three humans and the ghost Epikt, who was a kachenko mask with a speaking tube, turned to the evidence with mounting disappointment.

        "There is still the stick and the five notches in it," said Gregory. "It was our test stick. Nothing in the world is changed."

        "The arts remain as they were," said Aloysius. "Our picture here on the stone which we have worked for so many seasons is the same as it was. We have painted the bears black, the buffalos red and the people blue. When we find a way to make another color, we can represent birds also. I had hoped that our experiment might give us that other color. I had even dreamed that it might appear in the picture on the rock before our very eyes."

        "There's still rump of skunk to eat and nothing else," said Valery. "I had hoped that our experiment would have changed it to haunch of deer."




        On the third try they undo the changes and restore the world to its original state,






        share|improve this answer















        It does not exactly match your description, but you may be thinking of "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne", a short story by R. A. Lafferty, which was the answer to this old question and (unaccepted) to this one; first published in Galaxy Magazine, February 1967, available at the Internet Archive. Does any of these covers look familiar?



        No protagonist travels to the past. Rather, a committee of scientists sits in their Institute and has their AI computing machine send an Avatar to the past to effect the desired changes, which they hope to observe in the present:




        "We have perfect test conditions," the machine Epikt said as though calling them to order. "We set out basic texts, and we take careful note of the world as it is. If the world changes, then the texts should change here before our eyes. For our test pilot, we have taken that portion of our own middle-sized city that can be viewed from this fine vantage point. If the world in its past-present continuity is changed by our meddling, then the face of our city will also change instantly as we watch it.

        "We have assembled here the finest minds and judgments in the world: eight humans and one Ktistec machine, myself. Remember that there are nine of us. It might be important."

        [. . . .]

        From his depths, Epiktistes the Ktistec machine sent out an Avatar, partly of mechanical and partly of ghostly construction. Along about sundown on the road from Pamplona to Roncesvalles, on August 14 of the year 778, the traitor Gano was taken up from the road and hanged on a carob tree, the only one in those groves of oak and beech. And all things thereafter were changed.




        But of course the scientists were not aware of the changes:




        "Did it work, Epikt? Is it done?" Louis Lobachevski demanded. "I can't see a change in anything."

        "The Avatar is back and reports his mission accomplished," Epikt stated. "I can't see any change in anything either."

        "Let's look at the evidence," Gregory said.

        The thirteen of them, the ten humans and the Ktistec, Chresmoeidec and Proaisthematic machines, turned to the evidence, and with mounting disappointment.

        [. . . .]

        "No, there is not one word of the text changed," Gregory grumbled. "History followed its same course. How did our experiment fail? We tried, by a device that seems a little cloudy now, to shorten the gestation period for the new birth. It would not be shortened."

        "The town is in no way changed," said Aloysius Shiplap. "It is still a fine large town with two dozen imposing towers of limestone and midland marble. It is a vital metropolis, and we all love it, but it is now as it was before."




        After a second try they are stone age people, not lobsters:




        "Did it work, Epikt? Is it done?" Aloysius asked.

        "Let's look at the evidence," said Gregory.

        The four of them, the three humans and the ghost Epikt, who was a kachenko mask with a speaking tube, turned to the evidence with mounting disappointment.

        "There is still the stick and the five notches in it," said Gregory. "It was our test stick. Nothing in the world is changed."

        "The arts remain as they were," said Aloysius. "Our picture here on the stone which we have worked for so many seasons is the same as it was. We have painted the bears black, the buffalos red and the people blue. When we find a way to make another color, we can represent birds also. I had hoped that our experiment might give us that other color. I had even dreamed that it might appear in the picture on the rock before our very eyes."

        "There's still rump of skunk to eat and nothing else," said Valery. "I had hoped that our experiment would have changed it to haunch of deer."




        On the third try they undo the changes and restore the world to its original state,







        share|improve this answer














        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited yesterday

























        answered Apr 9 at 17:55









        user14111user14111

        105k6410528




        105k6410528





















            14














            I feel obliged to mention R.A. Lafferty's "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne" as referenced in an answer to Title and author of short SF story about a seemingly broken 'improvement' machine. It also has someone making changes in history with no one but them noticing, but it lacks the inhuman transformations.




            "I hope the Avatar isn't expensive," Willy McGilly said. "When I was a boy we got by with a dart whittled out of slippery elm wood."



            "This is no place for humor," Glasser protested. "Who did you, as a boy, ever kill in time, Willy?"



            "Lots of them. King Wu of the Manchu, Pope Adrian VII, President Hardy of our own country, King Marcel of Auvergne, the philosopher Gabriel Toeplitz. It's a good thing we got them. They were a bad lot."



            "But I never heard of any of them, Willy," Glasser insisted.



            "Of course not. We killed them when they were kids."




            ....




            The four of them, the three humans and the ghost Epikt who was a kachenko mask with a speaking tube, turned to the evidence with mounting disappointment.



            "There is still the stick and the five notches in it," said Gregory. "It was our test stick. Nothing in the world has changed."







            share|improve this answer























            • @user14111: ^_^ Why didn't you just copy and paste your prior answer, which I cited?

              – FuzzyBoots
              Apr 9 at 18:30











            • Ah. That's fair. You've got an upvote from me. :)

              – FuzzyBoots
              Apr 9 at 18:40











            • Interesting that Willy McGilly remembers previous changes in the timeline. If I were ever going to ask a plot-explanation question hre, that might be it.

              – user14111
              Apr 9 at 23:33











            • @user14111, that would be because Willy went himself rather than sending another.

              – Separatrix
              Apr 11 at 11:28















            14














            I feel obliged to mention R.A. Lafferty's "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne" as referenced in an answer to Title and author of short SF story about a seemingly broken 'improvement' machine. It also has someone making changes in history with no one but them noticing, but it lacks the inhuman transformations.




            "I hope the Avatar isn't expensive," Willy McGilly said. "When I was a boy we got by with a dart whittled out of slippery elm wood."



            "This is no place for humor," Glasser protested. "Who did you, as a boy, ever kill in time, Willy?"



            "Lots of them. King Wu of the Manchu, Pope Adrian VII, President Hardy of our own country, King Marcel of Auvergne, the philosopher Gabriel Toeplitz. It's a good thing we got them. They were a bad lot."



            "But I never heard of any of them, Willy," Glasser insisted.



            "Of course not. We killed them when they were kids."




            ....




            The four of them, the three humans and the ghost Epikt who was a kachenko mask with a speaking tube, turned to the evidence with mounting disappointment.



            "There is still the stick and the five notches in it," said Gregory. "It was our test stick. Nothing in the world has changed."







            share|improve this answer























            • @user14111: ^_^ Why didn't you just copy and paste your prior answer, which I cited?

              – FuzzyBoots
              Apr 9 at 18:30











            • Ah. That's fair. You've got an upvote from me. :)

              – FuzzyBoots
              Apr 9 at 18:40











            • Interesting that Willy McGilly remembers previous changes in the timeline. If I were ever going to ask a plot-explanation question hre, that might be it.

              – user14111
              Apr 9 at 23:33











            • @user14111, that would be because Willy went himself rather than sending another.

              – Separatrix
              Apr 11 at 11:28













            14












            14








            14







            I feel obliged to mention R.A. Lafferty's "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne" as referenced in an answer to Title and author of short SF story about a seemingly broken 'improvement' machine. It also has someone making changes in history with no one but them noticing, but it lacks the inhuman transformations.




            "I hope the Avatar isn't expensive," Willy McGilly said. "When I was a boy we got by with a dart whittled out of slippery elm wood."



            "This is no place for humor," Glasser protested. "Who did you, as a boy, ever kill in time, Willy?"



            "Lots of them. King Wu of the Manchu, Pope Adrian VII, President Hardy of our own country, King Marcel of Auvergne, the philosopher Gabriel Toeplitz. It's a good thing we got them. They were a bad lot."



            "But I never heard of any of them, Willy," Glasser insisted.



            "Of course not. We killed them when they were kids."




            ....




            The four of them, the three humans and the ghost Epikt who was a kachenko mask with a speaking tube, turned to the evidence with mounting disappointment.



            "There is still the stick and the five notches in it," said Gregory. "It was our test stick. Nothing in the world has changed."







            share|improve this answer













            I feel obliged to mention R.A. Lafferty's "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne" as referenced in an answer to Title and author of short SF story about a seemingly broken 'improvement' machine. It also has someone making changes in history with no one but them noticing, but it lacks the inhuman transformations.




            "I hope the Avatar isn't expensive," Willy McGilly said. "When I was a boy we got by with a dart whittled out of slippery elm wood."



            "This is no place for humor," Glasser protested. "Who did you, as a boy, ever kill in time, Willy?"



            "Lots of them. King Wu of the Manchu, Pope Adrian VII, President Hardy of our own country, King Marcel of Auvergne, the philosopher Gabriel Toeplitz. It's a good thing we got them. They were a bad lot."



            "But I never heard of any of them, Willy," Glasser insisted.



            "Of course not. We killed them when they were kids."




            ....




            The four of them, the three humans and the ghost Epikt who was a kachenko mask with a speaking tube, turned to the evidence with mounting disappointment.



            "There is still the stick and the five notches in it," said Gregory. "It was our test stick. Nothing in the world has changed."








            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered Apr 9 at 17:35









            FuzzyBootsFuzzyBoots

            96.2k12295460




            96.2k12295460












            • @user14111: ^_^ Why didn't you just copy and paste your prior answer, which I cited?

              – FuzzyBoots
              Apr 9 at 18:30











            • Ah. That's fair. You've got an upvote from me. :)

              – FuzzyBoots
              Apr 9 at 18:40











            • Interesting that Willy McGilly remembers previous changes in the timeline. If I were ever going to ask a plot-explanation question hre, that might be it.

              – user14111
              Apr 9 at 23:33











            • @user14111, that would be because Willy went himself rather than sending another.

              – Separatrix
              Apr 11 at 11:28

















            • @user14111: ^_^ Why didn't you just copy and paste your prior answer, which I cited?

              – FuzzyBoots
              Apr 9 at 18:30











            • Ah. That's fair. You've got an upvote from me. :)

              – FuzzyBoots
              Apr 9 at 18:40











            • Interesting that Willy McGilly remembers previous changes in the timeline. If I were ever going to ask a plot-explanation question hre, that might be it.

              – user14111
              Apr 9 at 23:33











            • @user14111, that would be because Willy went himself rather than sending another.

              – Separatrix
              Apr 11 at 11:28
















            @user14111: ^_^ Why didn't you just copy and paste your prior answer, which I cited?

            – FuzzyBoots
            Apr 9 at 18:30





            @user14111: ^_^ Why didn't you just copy and paste your prior answer, which I cited?

            – FuzzyBoots
            Apr 9 at 18:30













            Ah. That's fair. You've got an upvote from me. :)

            – FuzzyBoots
            Apr 9 at 18:40





            Ah. That's fair. You've got an upvote from me. :)

            – FuzzyBoots
            Apr 9 at 18:40













            Interesting that Willy McGilly remembers previous changes in the timeline. If I were ever going to ask a plot-explanation question hre, that might be it.

            – user14111
            Apr 9 at 23:33





            Interesting that Willy McGilly remembers previous changes in the timeline. If I were ever going to ask a plot-explanation question hre, that might be it.

            – user14111
            Apr 9 at 23:33













            @user14111, that would be because Willy went himself rather than sending another.

            – Separatrix
            Apr 11 at 11:28





            @user14111, that would be because Willy went himself rather than sending another.

            – Separatrix
            Apr 11 at 11:28

















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