Absolutely no paradox

In a cozy club of retired engineers and their ever‑present robots, a heated debate erupts over the very possibility of time travel. Lem Hardy bursts in with news that his grandson has actually built a working machine, having already sent a cat four days into the future and retrieved it unharmed. The seasoned members, especially the skeptical Ned Brussels, argue that paradoxes and the lack of any visitors from ahead should make such a device impossible.

As the conversation deepens, the young inventor Pete LeFranc joins the circle, eager to prove his mentor wrong. He offers a handful of strange demonstrations—a dog that barked weeks after being sent forward—while the club’s robotic attendants quietly enforce the order. The story balances witty banter, speculative science, and the charm of an old‑school science‑fiction club, inviting listeners to wonder whether the universe truly forbids a traveler’s return, or if the answer lies hidden in the mechanics of the machine itself.