The Man Who Changed The World

Little Sophie, a 7 year old girl, left her Aunt Jemima baking an apple and rhubarb pie in the kitchen and, entering the lab in the cellar where her Uncle Chiswick spent most of his time, she saw him sitting in the drivers seat of some strange wheelless vehicle.
"What is that?", asked Sophie coming down the cellar steps.
"This is my Form machine", he said,looking up from the dials upon the control panel infront of him.
"Form Machine?", asked Sophie, "Is that like a Time Machine?".
"Well yes", said her Uncle, "A little bit. In order to understand it you have to imagine that you could transform the entire planet whilst inside a protective bubble. Now if you could do that, would it not seem as if you had travelled to a different planet or a different time?".
"Umm? I suppose so", said Sophie, not really understanding, "You mean your machine can change everything? The whole world?".
"Yes", said her Uncle, "My machine changes the world temporarily into a different world. I do things in that changed world and then, to come home, I simply change the world back again to the way it was".
"Wow", said Sophie.
But then, suddenly, Sophies expression became confused again.
"But Uncle?", she asked, "How did you build this machine? You're not a scientist, you're just an artist aren't you?".
Her uncle lowered his voice and motioned for her to come closer.
"I'll let you into a little secret Sophie", he said bringing his mouth close to her ear, "I didn't come from this planet or, at least, not from this version of it. I came from a different form of it with more advanced technology. I was a Royal scientist then, in the service of an Imperial dictator, in a country called Zeldana but he was trying to destroy the world with a stable-atom splitter; a horrible device that could turn anything, even a lump of wood, into an atomic bomb and so I invented my Form machine to change everything and escape. Unfortunately I changed it too much and it became the planet Earth as you know it now".
"Well can I travel on your machine?", asked Sophie, "Please?".
"Okay", said her Uncle, "Just get in the passenger seat and fasten your seatbelt".
Quickly, she did as her Uncle had said and then, looking down at what he was doing, she saw him dialling some numbers into somekind of computer.
"What are you doing now?", she asked.
"Entering the number of a predesigned form", said her Uncle, "A world known by some of its people as Thera that has a human like species on it but that I haven't explored fully".
Then suddenly, round about them a protective, transparent dome began to materialise just like an unbursting bubble and then, in a blur of glowing light and colours, Sophie saw the world around her begin to change.
"Its beautiful", said Sophie as she looked at all the colours.
But then the abstract blur began to turn into an impressionistic landscape and then a realistic one with solid edges and, as their protective bubble disappeared, Sophie realised that they were in the middle of a hot, barren desert full of stone human like statues and ruins of old buildings.
Sweat poured down from Sophies brow and she wiped it away.
But then one of the statues moved and, looking at them and the machine, spoke.
"Stop", it said, "Who are you and what do you want?".
"We are travellers", said Uncle Chiswick, "Explorers. From another world. Who may I ask are you? Some kind of stone Robot?".
"No. I am an artificial animus", said the statue, "A programme that enters inanimate objects and animates them so they may be used as machines of burden".
Then Sophie saw a glowing ball of energy leave the statue and enter another one that was nearby and suddenly it began to move instead.
"Well may we look around?", said Uncle Chiswick, "We just want to see this strange new world?".
"No", said the Statue.
"But why?", asked Uncle Chiswick.
"You might be Scientocrat spies", said the Statue.
"Scientocrat?", asked Uncle Chiswick.
"Yes. The government of this world is run by scientists", said the Statue, "And they have outlawed all religions except the secular state philosophy. Their robot armies round up all people of faith and imprison them in psychiatric hospitals for scientific reeducation".
"And you are a soldier of some religious army?", asked Uncle Chiswick.
"I am an artificial sentry of the Interfaith Alliance", said the Statue.
"I see", said Uncle Chiswick, "Well you have noting to fear from us. I and my niece are merely peaceful observers".
In the distance, on a flat desert plane, Sophie saw matchstick like robotic men appearing, one by one, in flame shaped flashes of light until there was a large ant swarm of them and then the ant army started to advance.
"Who are they?", asked Sophie pointing towards the men.
The statue looked over towards them.
"Teletroopers", said the Statue, "Teleporting soldiers. You better get back in your machine and leave. This is no place for an old man and a child".
But then suddenly, they saw the artificial animus inside him jump to a giant statue, almost as tall as a towerblock, that looked like the idol of some ancient god and, picking up a boulder from the ground, the idol hurled it towards the advancing teletroopers.

Then, some how alerted by the body-swapping sentry, other soldiers of the Interfaith Alliance started to pour out of old stone buildings round about and, raising strange looking rifles, fire bolts of bright energy at their enemy.
"I think the animus is right. We ought to be leaving", said Uncle Chiswick, taking hold of Sophies hand and helping her into the passenger seat of the Form Machine, fastening a seatbelt across her waist.
But then, getting back into the drivers seat and activating the protective bubble, Uncle Chiswick paused.
"Wait. I can change this", he said, "I created this world. I can reprogramme it".
But then, looking out through the protective bubble, Sophie saw something else teleporting into position behind the advancing teletroopers, some kind of war cyborg with the head of a tank but the body of a dinosaur.
Then the tank head started to bombard the living, stone idol with glowing fireballs.
"I'm starting to get scared", said Sophie, looking at the cybersaur.
"Don't worry", said Uncle Chiswick, typing in something into the computer on his control panel, "I'll stop them".
Then, suddenly, to her amazement there was a blur of colour, just as she'd seen outside the Form Machine earlier and then the Cybersaur and the Teletroopers seemed to disappear.
"Thats got them", said Uncle Chiswick.
But then he saw Sophie start to yawn and, stroking her mop of red hair, he said,
"I think its time we put the world back to normal".
Then he started to type something else into his machine and, after going through that bright rainbow blur again, Sophie, to her relief, saw her uncles old cellar.
Then the protective bubble burst and Sophie, undoing her seatbelt, hopped out of the machine.
"That was fun", she said.
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself", said Uncle Chiswick smiling, "Perhaps we can have other adventures together".
But then they heard Aunt Jemima calling them. Her apple and rhubarb pie was ready.
And looking at his neices happy, smiling little face, her uncle said,
"Of all the worlds I've created. This is the best".