Stiles had claimed then that he invented a time machine (which he privately refers to as his Toynbee Convector, although he does not reveal the name of the device to anyone until much later).

Stiles used the machine to travel forward in time about a hundred years from what was an economically and creatively stagnant society (c. 1984).

Initially, people were skeptical of the Traveler's claims, but they are unable to explain or disprove the authenticity of the records brought from the future.

Inspired by the prospect of a utopian future, many people began projects to fulfill the vision and create the world the Traveler claims to have seen.

Turning the machine on once again, in order to destroy it, Shumway quietly drops the evidence into an incinerator set into the wall nearby and exits Stiles' home via a glass elevator.