The First State of Being

Sixteen-year-old Ridge Sabio has much in common with protagonist Michael, though he comes from a different world. He is a mixed-race Filipino American like Michael, and he lives in the same geographical location, but 200 years in the future. Although inexperienced—he is the world’s first time traveler (43)—his knowledge of the future grants him extraordinary abilities in Michael’s world. Michael initially believes that Ridge has all the answers, and he is disappointed that Ridge could not predict Mr. Mosley’s death. Though Ridge’s status as a time-traveler grants him seemingly superhuman knowledge of major events, it also makes him naïve about the texture of daily life. His innocent wonder about the mall and bumbling attempts at 1990s slang charm and amuse his new friends.

Ridge is far from perfect. Although he tries to look after Michael, he makes mistakes too: becoming irritated when Michael asks too much about Y2K, failing to protect Michael from Beejee, and losing the sumbook. His impulsive decision to travel through time also comes with consequences: He has no immunity to any 1999 diseases, so the common cold is deadly to him, and he cannot seek medical care for fear of exposing the future technology embedded in his body. His time travel was not cleared by the 2199 scientists, so his trip could also cost his mother her prestigious career, assuming he is able to return safely to 2199 at all.

Ridge must also be extremely careful to maintain the timeline to ensure his own future remains intact, but he breaks the carefully set spatial transportation rules almost immediately: interacting with and befriending 1999 citizens like Michael and Gibby, revealing that he is from the future, and telling them (albeit vaguely) information about the future (146). This highlights his flawed, human characteristics, but also allows the novel to explore The Power and Responsibility of Knowledge. As an adolescent engaged in his own coming-of-age journey, Ridge is not always as responsible with his future knowledge as he should be, but he is learning to weigh the consequences of his actions as he makes mistakes. Most importantly for Ridge himself, however, are the (positive) consequences of his actions: He unwittingly names himself by signing the RIDGE document, and he also ensures his timeline by revealing it, thereby ensuring that Gibby establishes the scientific field that allows him to time travel in the first place. While Ridge is not a perfect hero, he remains a heroic protagonist because even his mistakes result in positive consequences for him.

Gibby is the most complex supporting character in the novel. Although her white, middle-class family has treated the working-class, Filipino American Rosario family poorly—her older brother, Billy “Beejee” Gibson, bullies Michael and her father, Mr. Gibson, fired Michael’s mother for no valid reason—Gibby has a more positive role in Michael’s life. As his babysitter, she is like an older sister/caretaker, but she is also Michael’s first crush (10), though she views him more as a younger brother/friend. She is very smart and independent, and very much a first-state thinker (someone who lives in the present rather than worrying about the future).

Gibby’s home life is more complicated. After her mother leaves the family, Gibby’s misogynistic brother and father foist the housework on her because she is a girl (79-80), much to her resentment. However, meeting Ridge is a turning point in her life: after meeting him, she learns that time travel is possible and goes on to establish the field of spatial transportation, essentially ensuring the future timeline that allows him to travel back to 1999 in the first place (229). Although Gibby is not a protagonist of the novel, she is the glue that connects all the elements together and remains an integral character to the structure and plot of the novel.