Time Zones: Fantasy

[penthius]

"Time is what you make it. Never feel like you're going to break it, because if you feel that you might--well, then you might. But if you don't feel that you might, then you never will. And we hate having to go in and clean up after broken time. It's inevitable, I suppose, with us teaching you young ones how to take care of it, but that doesn't mean it's any fun. Sometimes there are human casualties, and there are *always* causality casualties. All of you will be volunteered to help with a time collapse before you're passed through. It's important to learn what we're trying to avoid, here. And yes, there are natural time collapses, and yes, they can be real buggers about it because they're not as naturally limited in scope as ones caused by kids screwing up something minor. Yes, I'm talking about you. Yes, I know that most of you have degrees and all of you are over the age of majority--like any responsible parent would sign off on a minor--and--yes, you have a question?" "More of a statement, really," he said calmly. "I'm fifteen. Just thought you'd like to know." "Well, yes--what?!--who passed you thorough?" "It was less of a passing and more of a necessity. I was found in one of these disaster zones, and my parents--don't exist anymore. I can hardly remember them, since I was only a toddler. I've been in a special exclusion zone ever since, but they decided that was no longer safe enough for those around me. So they decided to train me instead of kill me." He hesitated. "I think. I suppose it's possible I'll die here or that the killing will still end up being the only option, but they decided to give me a chance first."

Inspiration: "Until the Morning" - Thievery Corporation
Story potential: High.
Notes: I'm giving this story bonus points because it's a possible time-travel/paradox-related story that I actually like. Though I think I'd probably treat it as fantasy instead of SF, if only because time travel is...not very much S, really.