Chain 197: Captain Planet

Chain 197: Captain Planet

Location: Australia
Age: 16
Identity: Drop-In
Drawbacks: [+300] Hitler Hate Beams

[100/1300]  Alternate Element
[400/1300]  Multi-Talented
[Free]      Heart Is An Awesome Power
[800/1300]  The Power Is Yours
[1200/1300] Power Ring
[Free]      Construction Supplies
[1300/1300] Money Maker

Things that make you go 'hmmm':

Showing up on the day that the Planeteers get their rings, and subsequently confusing the everloving crap out of the five of them because I'm definitely not on the agenda. Sure, I've got a very nice power ring, but... okay, maybe I cheated a little by teleporting to Hope Island on the day everyone else got their rings. And hung back until everyone got their introduction to Gaia and have everything explained, until it's my turn to talk. And looking very clearly out of place.

"So, ah... you guys look younger than I remember, A LOT younger," I said. Which made them all look at me with confusion and apprehension - including Gaia. "I'm going to go out on a limb and assume it isn't twenty ... hold on, spoilers. What year is it?"

"1990," Gaia responded. "You don't feel as though you belong here. Who are you?"

"Oh boy. I don't think I've technically been BORN yet." I waved my hand vaguely, before telling Gaia my name and continuing, "I mean, if it's 1990 my grandparents are still in Bendigo, probably. So someone's been playing with time... oh man, nobody even has cellphones smaller than a brick yet, do they?"

Blank looks answered me. And confused looks when I pulled a smartphone out of my pocket - after all, to their eyes, this is nothing more than an overglorified black piece of glass.

"Okaaay. Uh. Tell you guys what, you uh... go whip some sense into... whoever it is that's wrecking the environment the worst. I think I'm going to need to sit here and talk to Gaia about the future," I told them. "Maybe I can figure out how to get back home. Some of us there pulled double duty and had two elements instead of just one. Like me, with both wood and glass, nature and technology working in harmony. Very different world, but one you guys will do great in bringing about."

And so they took off to stop someone from doing stupid things with oil. Meanwhile Gaia and I had a chat. About the state of the planet, where it was going. A very long one.

"Honestly," I told her, "There's only so much that an everyday person can do when their society is permeated by products. In the future people've got the internet - basically it's something people can use to look up information and talk to each other aronud the globe - and groups of people are able to influence what big companies do. People don't need to picket when they can tell the company themselves, en masse. Limiting pollution, making better choices. There's a lot less smog as long as you don't live in China, we've got electric cars, recycling's become commonplace in major cities most places, there's more solar and wind power than ever. But the situation is... not good."

"How bad is it?" she asked.

I shook my head a little, walking over to a chair and sitting. "It's not apocalyptic, but... I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Right now there's what, less than five and a half billion people? Where I came from... the population was almost eight billion. There's enough carbon dioxide in the air from fossil fuels that weather patterns are getting disrupted. It's not simple global warming, the weather's grown more extreme. And for all the good that's in the world... there's a lot of stupidity. Would you believe that we've got a decent number of people that don't believe mankind went to the moon? Or that the Earth is flat?"

Gaia pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'd ask if you were joking... but you're really not, are you?"

I chuckled a bit. "It's not all doom and gloom, but... when you have a way for everyone to talk to each other, it turns out that stubborn people tend to scream the loudest and drown a lot of others out. But! Here's the thing." I tapped the tabletop in front of me. "I'm here, I know what's coming. I have my phone here, and it's got a copy of Wikipedia on it - sorry, basically a VERY comprehensive encyclopedia - and..." I trailed off. "I think the first thing I'm going to have to do is figure out how to wire up a charger for this, but it wouldn't be the first time I've had to rig up a solar panel."

Gaia narrowed her eyes at me. "That's all a very fine story, but... who are you, exactly? You're more than you say you are."

I slipped the phone back into my pocket. "That obvious, huh?"

"Perhaps not to the Planeteers, but to me it is," she replied with a smile.

I chuckled and nodded. "The time travel thing seemed the easiest way to explain me knowing things I shouldn't. Dimensional traveller, in truth. I intend to help out anywhere I can, including on larger scales. Everything I said was still true, just... in the world I came from. I got to watch my home go from being on the edge of a desert to being in the middle of it, I don't want that to happen here. But the kicker is... if I just use the information publicly available and get it in the right hands, it could change a LOT of things without being obvious."

Gaia looked to me, bemused. "So that's what you're here for, then, to help out?"

"I may not be as young as I look, but quite honestly, I do just want to make this world a better place," I told her.

The Planeteers all came back at about this point, and they were busy chatting with each other as they entered, before speaking to Gaia about everything, including Captain Planet. Their excitement was infectious, and I found myself grinning as they told me about it.

"I wish I could have been there," I told them. "Sounds like you guys were spectacular."

"Yeah, and Captain Planet was pretty radical," the American said. Wheeler, if my memory was accurate. "So hey, can you tell us any cool stuff about the future?"

I shook my head, "I probably shouldn't say too much, I don't want to throw everything off. And I never memorized any winning lottery numbers, so don't even ask."

One of the girls, Gi, looked at me skeptically. "Very well, but... what are things like?"

I looked around at each of them, before I said, "Okay. You have to swear not to say anything to anyone about this with politics. I'll tell you guys, but I'm not kidding, tell NO one." They looked around at each other, then nodded to me. "Well, the biggest thing is that the Soviet Union's going to end in a few years. Peacefully, mind you, it's nothing too bad, even if it looks like it might go sideways. Things get a little chaotic for a bit, but the quality of life in Russia and the former Soviet states gets way better. For the most part beyond that... last I knew, the United Kingdom was trying to get out of the European Union, but there was a lot less war at that point than there is now. Less chaos in the middle east and Africa, China and India are bigger players on the world stage, Russia's still a big deal, America less so."

Linka blinked a couple of times. "Wait, hold on. Back to the Soviet Union... it falls apart peacefully? Not conquered?"

I nodded. "Yes, Boris Yeltsin helps it transition and was... I mean, will be in charge of the Russian Federation until 1999, I think? I haven't studied Russian history in depth though, but I can pull up some information on it."

Wheeler spoke up again, "So are there still Nazis in the future?"

I frowned, before saying, "There are always people who will use any excuse to put down other people. Some call themselves nazis and use the same scapegoats. Doesn't matter what atrocities they were proven to be doing, doesn't matter that their leader took his own life at the end of the second world war-"

Mahti spoke up next, uneasily. "I think we have a bigger problem here than we thought."

"Adolf Hitler is still in charge of the German Reich, although he is very old," Kwame added. "There is no European Union. He controls most of Europe, from the borders of Spain to the Iron Curtain in Warsaw."

I stared at the Planeteer in disbelief. "What. No, no, Hitler shot himself in his bunker while the Allies were rolling into Berlin..."

"The Armistice of Versailles ended the second world war in a stalemate rather than face the Allies and Axis engage in mutual atomic bombardment," came the answer. "There is no... European Union."

I paused, before looking back to Gaia. "Well. It appears I'm going to have to take a much more direct hand, because someone's been meddling with time a LOT more than I thought they were..."