Mobius

This story is about John.

Two weeks after almost complete helplessness, one month after moving into his apartment, John was yelling at George. 

"...the point was to experiment, not take away all control!"

"We need to take this slowly.  There's a lot at stake, here.  Giving you too much control, too soon, could be dangerous."

"Dangerous?  My cat had a better chance of survival!  What if it started raining?"

"We didn't know what would actually happen.  The goal was to leave everything the same as when we found it—to change nothing.  At least that worked."

"You set it up; why didn't you think of this?"

"No one has done this, before.  I can't tell you how everything will function.  That's why we're experimenting.  We were being cautious.  Neither of us thought that it would be unsafe.  Also, it worked.  That's never happened, as far as we know.  For one, I'm excited.  Sorry that it was dangerous, but I thought we knew that from the beginning."

He was right.

"How did you know I was there?"

"I'm working on it.  Do you still have the notes from your apartment?"

"Yes."

George took them, copied them down onto a notepad, and looked up.

"Actually..."

George finished writing something, then handed it to John.

Walking over to his desk, he asked, "Did you start from your apartment?"

"Yes."

"Good.  I wanted to make sure I have the right coordinates.  When you get back, let me know if it's the same as last time.  My calculations should be correct, but if they're slightly off, you might eventually wind up in space."

What.

"Earth's moving through space.  Sending you back one month, without changing your location in the universe; that would be bad.  Very bad."