The time builders are an unnamed humanoid species who live in the timestream, and literally construct each minute of time.
Biology[]
The time builder foreman
Time builders are humanoid beings, with an overall very Human-like build. However, their bodies are featureless and entirely blue. While they are faceless, they appear to have a nose-like protrusion, although lacking nostrils, and are somehow able to see. The lack of a mouth implies that they do not need sustenance, or have an alternate form of acquiring energy. Time builders are mute, but are capable of comprehending English. Their most notable ability is their ability to travel through various points in time. While not showing any other supernatural abilities, they have displayed enhanced strength and durability, enough to overpower an adult Human male wielding a baseball bat with only one arm, while showing no visible pain or injuries from catching the bat mid-swing. Their builds appear masculine, and no females of this species have been sighted, leaving it unknown if they have genders or a method of reproduction. It is possible that their bodies would be destroyed by being caught in actual time, but this is unconfirmed.
Despite their emotionless method of working, time builders are capable of understanding and following orders, and have been seen hesitating when ordered to abandon a chase, presumably assessing the risks of remaining in the minute while actual time was approaching. It is unknown if the time builder foreman is a member of the same species, as he resembled a regular Human with facial hair rather than a featureless blue-skinned humanoid. If he is a member of the same species, it is possible that the time builders have a biological caste system, with those higher in a higher caste being Human-like. The foreman was fully sapient and capable of speech and emotions, and his position as the leader could be tied into a biological impulse for the blue-skinned builders to be subservient to him. He also appeared to be the most adept among the time builders at time travel, easily stepping into different minutes by creating temporal doorways and tunnels between two points in time with mere hand movements. Any limit to how far the time builders can move in time is unknown, and they have been seen moving several months ahead of the present.
Culture and society[]
The purpose of the time builders is to construct time for the inhabitants of the present. Time is like an infinitely stretching train, with every boxcar representing one minute, each minute functioning like its own world, although each world is nothing more than a white void. The time builders, directed by an unknown force, possibly a ruling caste or another entity, literally build time from raw materials. Masses of workers work under time builders designated as foremen, who direct them where and when to build, working well in advance. The workers are clad in all-blue uniforms, resembling construction workers, while the foremen are dressed in an orange-yellow version of the same uniform. While most time builders wear a simple soft cap with a bill projecting from its front, those that operate vehicles wear blue hard hats.
On rare occasions, time builders make minor mistakes, such as leaving items in the wrong place or forgetting to place them, although these mistakes are often rectified the next minute. Workers are known to be emotionless and work tirelessly. Whenever any Humans get caught in the so-called "backstage" of time, the time builders are known to hold the Humans in the timestream, not allowing them to return to regular time to preserve the secrets of time. Time builders are known to wrap up work and vacate the area well before actual time approaches. Additionally, any areas of the world that would not be used or even seen during a given minute are often not built, leaving a white void in their place for said minute. If attacked while working, they will briefly stop to defend themselves, then go back to work as if nothing had happened, only deviating from their work if ordered to by a foreman.
Technology[]
A bulldozer used by the time builders
The time builders are known to utilize construction equipment not unlike those seen on Earth in the late 20th century, although painted entirely blue like their tools and uniforms, save the tires on vehicles such as vans and bulldozers. Their equipment can presumably also travel through time, or are possibly transported by the time builders' own time-traveling abilities. In addition, it is possible that the time builder's equipment is capable of generating reality itself in the form of raw materials, which the time builders assemble into the minute with their other tools. The foreman was seen using computers resembling contemporary models and a technologically advanced watch, displaying the current minute and actual time. Due to the nature of their work, the time builders appear to posses no weapons, all their technology being meant for construction or managing construction.
History[]
The time builders constructing 11:37 A.M.
The time builders have been building time itself, since presumably the beginning of existence. One day, two Humans, Michael and Maureen Wright, somehow crossed outside of time, arriving at 11:37 a.m. of the day, although actual time was still at 9:33 a.m. Time builders were all over the house, reconstructing it around the Wrights. When Michael attempted to talk to one of the workers, the worker only gave him a look before turning away to keep working. Michael then tried to attack the worker with a baseball bat, only for the worker to catch the bat and take it. The Wrights attempt to flee the house, seeing more workers building the entire neighborhood, and attempt to take refuge in a house whose occupants were out on vacation. However, an attempt to enter a room only reveals a white void in its place, presumably not built because it would not be used nor seen during that minute. Frightened, they flee to downtown, only seeing more workers. They attempt to enter an alleyway as the foreman comes out of a building and calls out to them, but they ignore him as they run into the alleyway, which is also a white void, as it too would not be seen or used during 11:37 a.m.. The foreman pulls them out and takes them to an office, where he utilizes a computer to explain to them the true nature of time, even taking them to a minute in the early morning of next Christmas, where work was only just beginning.
After returning them to their house, the Wrights want to return to their time, and tell a friend of theirs about the workings of time, but the foreman refuses to let them go, saying that they must remain. The Wrights flee, prompting the foreman and some workers to chase them. The Wrights hide in the ticket booth of a theatre, waiting for actual time to approach, as Michael's watch still functioned and still read actual time. Eventually, actual time was getting closer, and the workers finished their job, packing up and leaving. The Wrights exit the booth, only to be confronted by the foreman and two other time builders, but actual time was almost upon them. The foreman, seeing that it was too dangerous to stay in the minute, ordered the two time builders with him to escape, as actual time grew closer and closer, creating a deafening train-like sound. The foreman withdrew to another point in time, letting actual time arrive, which phased the Wrights back into it. When the Wrights see that they remain in actual time after another minute passes, they rejoice and go to head home, but not before Michael notices an all-blue wrench accidentally left behind by the time builders, taking it as proof of their experience.
Appearances[]
- "Yesterday was Monday", by Theodore Sturgeon (1941)
- The Twilight Zone, s01e15c, "A Matter of Minutes" (1986)
Notes[]
- In the original story by Theodore Sturgeon, the time builders were described as human-like men about a meter tall, wearing leather coats and peaked caps. In addition, they were capable of speech and responded to the main character, named Harry rather than Michael, when questioned.
- It can be assumed that either the time builders have access to incredibly advanced technology not seen on-screen, or that their numbers are incredibly vast and working far in advance on years worth of minutes simultaneously, as they have to create an entire universe per minute.
- Assuming that only Earth is inhabited, this could imply that only the inhabited and viewed parts of Earth are constructed per minute, with the rest of the universe possibly being a massive façade.
- It is unknown where the time builders acquired their technology or materials, although it is possible that they were provided by an unseen superior.
- While they claim it may not be possible to return to actual time, one can return by waiting for actual time to approach. While that statement could have been a lie meant to keep Humans within the backstage of time, it is possible that the strategy of returning to actual time doesn't always work, and it failed the last time it was tried. Alternatively, it is possible that the time builders are destroyed by actual time, and assume the same would happen to any other being, and thus never attempted it.
- The reason for the time builders being entirely blue in the episode is unclear, possibly just to give a surreal appearance.