2688, humanity exists as a utopian society due to the inspiration of the music and philosophy of the Two Great Ones, Bill S. Preston, Esq., and "Ted" Theodore Logan. One of the citizens, Rufus, is tasked by the leaders to travel back to San Dimas, California, in 1988 using a phone booth-shaped time machine to ensure that the young Bill and Ted, two dim-witted high school students, successfully pass history class. If they fail, Ted's father, police Captain Logan, plans to ship Ted to a military school in Alaska, ending Bill & Ted's fledgling band, Wyld Stallyns, and altering history.
Rufus finds the two teens at a Circle K convenience store, struggling to finish their history report, in which they must describe how historical figures would view the present San Dimas. Rufus offers his help before another phone-booth time machine arrives and future versions of Bill and Ted step out. After assuring the present-day Bill and Ted that Rufus's claims are true and that they can trust him, they disappear in the time booth.
