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"The Figure" is a 2000-word short story by Edward Grendon, about scientists who use a time machine to retrieve an object from the distant future. The story was first published in the July, 1947 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.

Spoiler Warning: Plot details and/or information about the ending follow. If you wish to enjoy the work first, stop reading here and return at another time.

Plot

The government recruits three scientists with different specialties to investigate, among other things, why cockroaches seem to thrive after nearby atomic blasts. The experiment done by these scientists involves electrical currents and time travel. They set up their apparatus, and use it to bring back an object from the future—how far into the future they don’t know. The object is a small statue, about 3 feet high. It is a globe with a figure standing on top of it, his gaze looking outward in a kind of religious awe. But what shocks them is that the figure is that of a beetle.

Additional Notes

This story has been reprinted in, among other places, Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories 9 (1947).