[Ancesthntr]

OK, so what is the nature of "the 3 words"?

“Enjoy these last days and months and years of your slumber, Grandfather,” said the scarred old man. “Your wake-up call is coming soon.”

The Time Traveler said three last words and was gone.

I put the pistol away – realizing too late that it had never been loaded – and sat down to write this. I could not. I waited these three months to try again.

...

It was not the horrors of his revelations about my grandchildren that had shaken me the most deeply, shaken me to the core of my core, but rather the Time Traveler’s last three words. Three words that any Replayer or time traveler visiting here from a century or more from now would react to first and most emotionally – three words I will not share here in this piece nor ever plan to share, at least until everyone on Earth knows them – three words that will keep me awake nights for months and years to come.

1. The words can't be "I'm your grandson" or anything like that, because the Time Traveler already identified himself as such.

2. The words can't be "phobos, kerdos, and doxa" because the Time Traveler already mentioned them in this piece and the writer said "...three words I will not share here in this piece."

3. The words can't be strictly personal to the writer, since "...any Replayer or time traveler visiting here from a century or more from now would react to first and most emotionally." ANY Replayer or time traveler - that phrase means something, and implies that it need not be an American time traveler.

4. I don't think the words are "Goodbye, Mr. President" or "Goodbye, President X" or anything like that - this would certainly affect the writer a lot, but they likely wouldn't cause a future time traveler to react emotionally.

5. The words are ones that any Replayer or time traveler would react to "first and most emotionally." Emotions are many - this could be (in the context of this story) anger, sadness, shock, horror, contempt (for our present-day weakness) or extreme gratitude/reverence (for an action or warning that saved people, similar to our reverence for Churchill now).

6. These are words "that will keep me awake nights for months and years to come." These words are ones that caused the writer to say that he couldn't write this story, not for 3 months.

7. I don’t believe that the words are “New York City” or “New York nuked” or “Remember New York” or “The White House” or anything of that kind. Yes, these words would cause a person from the future to react emotionally (as would saying “Auschwitz” to a Jew now), but they wouldn’t have the same kind of effect on the writer – they wouldn’t keep the writer from putting this down on paper for 3 months.

8. Words to the effect of “It has begun” or “Its too late” or “You are next” or “Its Coming Soon” also don’t qualify for the effect on the writer and also a future time traveler.

9. “Resistance is futile” doesn’t work because the war is still going on and its result is undecided in the Time Travelers day.

10 “Load the gun” doesn’t work – no effect on a future time traveler.

I believe that the writer was kept up at night for months and years because of extreme guilt about what he wrote - i.e. this story, which condemned 2 of his 3 grandsons to death. The story itself is the key. Now, the words also have to have meaning to future time travelers - meaning that causes them to react "first and most emotionally." The Time Traveler came back for a reason - the story is a message, a warning. As such, I think that the 3 words are something to the effect of "Write 'The Message' or "Wake the Dreamers" or "Warn the world." Only something of this sort would both keep the writer awake at night (knowing that he had just put himself and his whole family at risk) while causing future time travelers to react first and most emotionally, knowing that these words may have saved our civilization.

[txhurl]

But that doesn't line up with 'nor ever plan to share, at least until everyone on Earth knows them'

Like everyone knows 'katrina' or '9/11' etc...?

It's as if he expects the world to learn these words before these words have any shocking emotional meaning.

[null and void]

Good post.

I've got a theory. It would be something that we would have to react to, and react with a strong emotional component.

Our hottest hot button is our children.

Something like: "Chicago Children's Hospital" or "Disneyland Fire bombing[s]"

[schu]

Islam is Satan.... or vise versa. ;-)

[NathanR]

I like your reasoning. "Write my message" would work, maybe even more than something like "America is destroyed". Especially when the latter would be common knowledge to any Time Traveler. Just like "Constantinople has fallen", would not arouse us.

[BenLurkin]

See post # 157

[higgmeister]

You started me thinking harder.

...Time Traveler’s last three words. Three words that any Replayer or time traveler visiting here from a century or more from now would react to first and most emotionally...

How about: "Osama had NUKES!"

[Skywarner]

"I believe that the writer was kept up at night for months and years because of extreme guilt about what he wrote - i.e. this story, which condemned 2 of his 3 grandsons to death. The story itself is the key. Now, the words also have to have meaning to future time travelers - meaning that causes them to react "first and most emotionally." The Time Traveler came back for a reason - the story is a message, a warning. As such, I think that the 3 words are something to the effect of "Write 'The Message' or "Wake the Dreamers" or "Warn the world." Only something of this sort would both keep the writer awake at night (knowing that he had just put himself and his whole family at risk) while causing future time travelers to react first and most emotionally, knowing that these words may have saved our civilization.

Hmmm, you may be on to something with your line of reasoning. How about the traveler telling the author to "Wake them up." as his remark?

[hocndoc]

After the news the last few days, I thought of another - "No more Burqas!" Or, "Search the burqas!"

But, I'm sure it's the "Write this story," "Warn the world," "Tell my Dad," etc.