I couldn’t believe there was a time traveler standing in my living room dressed in what appeared to be space armor, aerodynamic and dark, staring me in the face, blushing and dotting like a shy young girl. But she wasn’t a girl. She was a woman, seemingly lost in admiration in my direction. “You’re from…”

“Yes!” She couldn’t seem to contain her excitement and I couldn’t explain it. Why would anyone from the future want to see me? I was just a random blogger in a dirty neighborhood downtown. I never wanted to live in the city but what was I going to do? I was born here. “You’ve been a hero of mine since I was a young girl growing up in 2150. I had to meet you.”

The carpet was still singed from where she teleported…or…materialized? “You came all the way from the future just to meet me? I’m a nobody.”

She clutched her hands to her face and couldn’t contain her goofy smile. “I watched you in the DNA-replication simulator. Your words are such an inspiration to me, I couldn’t help seek you and learn everything I could about you. I’m your biggest fan.”

She clearly had mistaken me for someone else. I’m an introvert internet troll. If she was from the future, she would only have seen my posts railing against politically correct bullcrap on social media. I’m not exactly ambitious so what the hell could I have accomplished that was so important? “You got the wrong guy. I’m a loser. I haven’t done anything with my life and don’t plan on it.”

“Oh, but you have. In 2150 your words mean more than you could imagine. You want to help people understand that there’s more to life than being childish and cowardly. Your strength inspires us all.”

Psh, if the future needed my help the future must be a dark place. “What do you mean you watched me? How? Thats an invasion of my privacy.”

She became even more giddy. Her physique was a little intimidating but her cheery disposition made her seem less tall than she actually was. “All biological lifeforms, past and present are recreated in hologram environments, the same way you play war games in your spare time.”

“How did you…?”

“For decades I’ve watched you play games for hours in your apartment, sat with you while you watch tv, watched you prepare gourmet noodles every day. Watched you yell at your mother over the phone before she died. Watched you…shower.” she grew flush. “Watched you look at porn and well–.”

It was my turn to grow flush. “How could you…? This is my life you’re intruding on.” That means she knew what I was into. If she was into what I was into maybe this wasn’t such a bad thing. Girls had rarely been attracted to me in school and I wasn’t exactly getting any action now. Women aren’t as compliant and submissive as I’d like these days.

“Wait, my mother hasn’t died yet. When does she…It doesn’t matter.” I stood there in my cheese-stained shirt realizing that didn’t matter either. She had seen me naked after all. It had been a while since anyone saw me naked, yet she had seen everything, even my death. How insane. “So, when do I kick the bucket?”

“I can’t tell you that.” She still had that dumb smile. Even knowing that her hero died couldn’t hamper her mood. “But you will live a long and healthy life.”

“Well that’s good.” Things became awkward. “So… uh…since you know everything about me why did you even feel a need to meet me?”

She blushed. “Well…I just wanted you to know that you are appreciated. Your ability to look passed all of humanity’s weaknesses and strive to push back, and fight when you feel it’s necessary, to save lives, to show them that they should be tougher, stronger.”

I thought about the people I harassed online. The ones that didn’t believe what I believed and refused to believe it. So, I made them pay by spoofing social groups that themselves they were apart of and made them think I had their interests in mind. That they failed at their political correctness. I spoofed their friends and family and told them that they weren’t loved anymore. Bad behavior always seemed to be rewarded. So why shouldn’t I be allowed to use it to my advantage?

Eventually these social groups fell apart. For example, the group for the Mistreatment of Animals collapsed when I funneled illegal funds through their animal shelters and told the feds about it. It was easy. Too easy. But they were posting garbage condemning new shoes made from tiger skin. I had to put a stop to it, otherwise I couldn’t get a pair myself. Free market and all.

“You spread so much hate and I think I love you for it.” Her voice was soft and sweet. “And I would like to share with you a vision of my future. If that’s okay with you.”

Of course my first thought turned to what she looked like without that metallic suit. The idea that I could see the future though. “Sure, whatever.”

She offered me her hand and I took it. She was shaking. An aura appeared around us as I felt a warm heat. Maybe I can bring some sweet tech back to use against the PC police. My vision blurred and we were thrown through a tunnel of energy. I found myself standing on a rooftop overlooking a city, but the city was on fire…Gray smoky pillars stretched over the horizon with buildings crumbling from the violence in the streets below. A missile slammed into a tower and sent a shockwave in our direction. I clutched her hand. “What is this? This can’t be right.”

Glass fell to the streets from the skyscraper that was struck. She was still giddy. “This is the world you created. Militias were formed to defend our freedoms and strike down any who oppose them. Isn’t it great?!”

“No…” from this high up I could still hear the harrowing screams of people being slaughtered and the popping of gunfire that preceded it. “They’re killing each other. This is awful.”

“They’re just mini-wars. Nothing to worry about. Currently the anti-speech people are taking the city back from the anti-government group. They’re champions of your message. See look.” I followed her finger and saw a banner with a badly drawn caricature of my face. How could they use my depiction for murder and hate? A group of men in armor, the same armor she was wearing, were marching and chanting something.

“What are they saying?”

“‘Freedom is slavery.’ It was one of your final manifestos that you wrote on your blog. A declaration of war against those who wish to make freedom mandatory. You showed us that hatred and anger have a place in this country and that people should be allowed to decide if they want to be subservient. If someone wants something they should be allowed to take it. If someone doesn’t like someone, they should be allowed to kill them. Isn’t it great?”

So much killing. So much animosity. Why would anyone want this? If this is how they were conditioned they wouldn’t know the comfort of how things were before. How internet users could sit at home and spread their displeasure, lies, and dreams of violence without ever leaving the house. But perhaps it was that peace, that contentment that made everyone search for something to hate, something to despise in their spare time. Boredom had always let me astray when I spent hours doing nothing in my apartment. I thought complacency and pride would lead this country into the future but the future was bleak and depressing. “Take me home. I don’t want to see this anymore.”

She transported me back to my apartment with reluctance in her eyes. I started to realize that the future was just another group that was wrong, another social group that lost their way. I would set things right. I would make them pay. Humanity and violence go together like bacon and eggs. Far be it from me to take that from them. I told her to leave me and she narrowed her eyes and left after trying to speak. She couldn’t find the words but I could. I knew what I was going to tell the world. And it wasn’t any different than before I saw the future. I started to hate the future. Those people deserve to suffer. The future needed me. The future needed a voice to spread dissent and chaos. Freedom always has a cost. Freedom is slavery.