Even Lewis and Clark, the famous explorers I named the partner team program after, have some unsavory details in their story if you look closely enough, but if we don’t learn from our ancestors’ mistakes, how can we ever hope to create a better tomorrow? So, when Regan and Elliot go into the past, they aren’t trying to fix history, just preserve it. History is touchy and the human race has had to learn lessons the hard way as far back as we can remember. But if you remove those hard-earned lessons . . . does anything change? Does anything improve? So, my question to you, dear reader, is this: If you had the chance to change history . . . would you do it?

Until next time,

Laura Martin

Glitch Glossary

The Chaos Theory: The idea in mathematics that certain systems are very sensitive and a tiny change in a system may cause it to turn out completely differently.

The Butterfly Effect: A term in chaos theory that originated with the findings of theoretical meteorologist Edward Lorenz, who stated that “a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can produce a tornado in Texas.” Essentially the butterfly effect states that a tiny change in the present can have huge consequences in the future.

Butterfly: A time traveler who travels into the past with the intention of changing a key historical event in order to affect the future in a negative way.

Glitcher: A time traveler trained specifically to journey to the past in order to capture a Butterfly.

Glitch: A trip through time done for the sole purpose of stopping a Butterfly from changing a historical event.

Cadet: A Glitcher in training, usually at their nation’s Academy.

Recap: The playback of a cadet’s failed simulation that is watched in order for the cadet to learn from their mistakes.

Repercussion Track: A hypothetical analysis a cadet watches after a failed simulation in order to better understand their failure’s potential impact on history.

The Academy: A training facility for Glitchers. The location of each nation’s Academy is so top secret even the Academy residents are unaware of its exact coordinates.

Commander in Chief: The head of an Academy. Each nation’s Academy has its own commander in chief.

The Mayhem: A group of time-traveling criminals willing to alter history for the right price.

The Lewis and Clark Partner Program: A new top secret partner program located inside a mountain where Glitchers are trained to work as a team.

Chaos Cuffs: The high-tech handcuffs used by Glitchers to secure a Butterfly in the past in order to bring them back to the present with them. Named for the chaos theory, Chaos Cuffs always return the Glitcher to the exact location they originally came from. No exceptions.

Class list for the Mountain and the Academy:

Nuance and Observation Class, or “Sherlock Class”: Cadets practice identifying the historically incorrect anomaly that identifies a Butterfly as a trespasser in time.