Laurence Johns is a young African American boy who lives in Blackwood, one of the few prospering Black settlements in the southern United States in the early twentieth century. He lives with his mother, sisters and brother, as well as his father who leads his family, and his town of Blackwood, as a reverend with a strong biblical foundation. They prosper by staying out of the way of the white population, particularly of the poor white settlement named Whitewood. Whitewood, while less prosperous than Blackwood, does not respect any Black citizens, even ones who are more successful. They find reasons to persecute and attack the Black citizens who live in Whitewood, and knowing that they themselves are on thin ice, the citizens of Blackwood put plenty of effort into staying in their good graces. However, one day a Black teenager is accused of trying to force himself upon a white woman. He is set to be executed by Whitewood citizens without a trial. It is clear that it would be a lynching. While the entirety of Blackwood has turned a blind eye to the unfairness, the events don’t sit right with Laurence. Laurence is a curious child who likes to read fantastical stories about adventure and amazing inventions. He’s a scientist at heart, and constantly questions the reality set forth by the adults around him, which often causes him to be scolded or punished. One example of his scientific nature was when he set a nickel on a train track to see what would happen to it. He kept that flattened nickel with him always. But when no one would satisfy his curiosity about the lynching, Laurence and his brother Walter skip school to go see the execution. They’re noticed by the white mob as soon as they arrive, and are almost forced to watch the lynching. However, just as their victim is lifted from the ground by the rope around his neck, mysterious figures appear out of nowhere. A Black man and several “giants” run through the mob and save the dangling teenager, and in the process killed some of the white citizens in the mob. Laurence and his brother run back to Blackwood and tell everyone what happened. Word spreads, and a town meeting was called. No one understands what happened, but they realize that Blackwood will be blamed for it, as the man leading the giants was Black. They decide to send their apologies, and to separate themselves from the event so the town is not punished. But Laurence is confused and upset by this- the mob was about to lynch an innocent teenager (it was clear to everyone that he hadn’t actually done nothing wrong), and it didn’t make sense to him to beg for their forgiveness. When he voiced this confusion, Laurence’s father, the leader of the meeting, explained to Laurence and reminded the town how they survived and prospered for so long- they avoided the wrath of the white population and did not fight battles for pride or for what was technically right. The agreed upon wisdom was that it was better to be alive than dead and right.  Though the meeting is suddenly interrupted by the stranger making an entrance. After introducing himself as Dr. Vernon, he explains that their efforts to make peace are no use- the white mob of Whitewood would come and burn Blackwood to the ground. He proves it with a newspaper clipping from the future with images of murdered townsfolk and the church they were currently gathered in being burnt down. This unsettles the meeting, but the reverend calms everyone by deeming it to be fake. When someone else asks what could be done even if it was true, Dr. Vernon introduces one of his giants. It’s a massive machine robot. Dr. Vernon explains that he came from the future with this technology to protect them. At this, the people begin to believe him, and to realize the danger that they are in. But Dr. Vernon promises that his robots not only will save them, but will usher in even more prosperity to Blackwood with the technology they could help develop.  After this, Dr. Vernon is accepted by the town, by all except the reverend. The reverend was fiercely faithful in his love of God, believing that it was against God to travel through time to change the past. He felt that if God would allow Blackwood to be destroyed, it was meant to be. Dr. Vernon does not accept this. That night, Laurence finds Dr. Vernon in their barn where they were keeping the robots, being curious and wanting to know more about him. Dr. Vernon shows Laurence a device that controls the robots. But Laurence is told to go to bed. In the middle of the night as everyone is sleeping, Laurence hears something and wakes up. He goes outside to see his father lingering around the barn. The reverend notices him, and tells him to go back inside, but suddenly a boy comes running to the reverend to tell him that a mob had arrived and already murdered a citizen of Blackwood. They were coming to destroy the town. Laurence is sent to wake up his family, and Dr. Vernon also awakes, and goes to his robots to prepare them. But as everyone is gathered outside to go to the church, Dr. Vernon cries out as he realizes they had been destroyed in the night. Laurence realizes that his father the reverend had destroyed them. But he is pulled away to flee to the church with his family. But when they arrive to the church, it’s already burning. The mob is running through the town, shooting and murdering Blackwood citizens and burning buildings to the ground.  While the townsfolk scream and panic, the reverend is calm as he is shot by a white man on horseback. As he falls, he murmurs, “God’s will.” Dr. Vernon arrives to retrieve Laurence, saying that he had failed the town but would not fail him. He brings him back to his house where the broken machines are, but some white men were already there. They shoot Dr. Vernon. As he is dying, he gives Laurence the device to control the machines. He uses it to awaken them and use what little power they had left to burn away the white men.  He explains that Laurence was the only survivor of Blackwood in the future. He went on to live a hard life in an orphanage and eventually make something of himself despite no one having hope for him. He shows him the same flattened nickel that Laurence keeps, and young Laurence realizes that Dr. Vernon is himself from the future. Dr. Vernon, who is really Laurence Johns, uses the last of the device’s energy to send young Laurence to the future so that he won’t have such a hard time as he did in “Dr. Vernon”’s reality. He had planned for this possibly failure and had accommodations set for young Laurence to live in the future, to survive and grow up in better circumstances, to have all of his future inventions, his dreams and plans.  Years later, Laurence goes back in time again, but this time he goes all the way back to the beginning of the Atlantic slave trade. He finds a boy named Chimezie who is still resistant to being captured by European slavers. He introduces himself as Anyi, which means “friend” in Chimezie’s language, and promises to change the outcome of their situation.