YEAR 3025
In this year of the new era, the world as we knew it had completely changed. Artificial intelligence, for example, had reached unprecedented levels—levels that were once visible only in science fiction. Today, robots had become indispensable in human life: the economy, politics, food supply, even the education of children. Humanity had made leaps forward in multiple fields. One of the major advances was time travel.
This concept, which was still only a dream during the 21st century, had finally been realized by a company affiliated with the former American government. From this emerged an entirely new profession: time explorers. These were groups, or rather people, whose mission was to repair or prevent errors that had been—or would be—committed by a person, a group, or even an entire nation.
…
We are in the heart of downtown in the city of Zenith, and it is 6 a.m.
Suddenly, a noise began to make itself heard. Driiiiiing, Driiiing, drinnnnnng… The noise was coming from one of the apartments in a building. It was apartment No. 8. It was enough to chill anyone's blood. Strangely enough, the noise persisted without stopping.
It was in all this commotion that one of the doors, door No. 9, opened. A rather old man came out, looking furious. He was half-naked. You could tell he had just woken up. He dragged himself heavily to room 8, then raised his hand and delivered a bone-chilling knock on the door.
Knock knock knock.
"Peter, you son of a bitch! Turn off your alarm. You're disturbing the whole building. Can you hear me? Peter, Peter, do it now!"
A few moments later, the alarm stopped. Silence. The door creaked open with a loud groan, and a man about thirty years old stepped out.
"What do you want, Mr. Albert? Why are you knocking so hard on my door? You just woke me up in the middle of restorative sleep, and now my whole body aches."
"Your alarm started bothering us again. And yet we already talked to you about this during the tenants' meetings."
"I set it for 8 o'clock, I'm sure of it. It must be a technical error. I'll be more careful next time."
"Always the same excuse. You gave us that one yesterday, the day before, and you're still doing it. Figure out how to fix this so-called technical problem, because next time, we're telling the landlords."
After that, the man went back to his room.
Peter, meanwhile, was already awake. It was impossible for him to fall back asleep. So he headed to the shower. He grabbed his toothbrush and started brushing his teeth. Then he took a bath. He stepped out of the shower and made himself a small breakfast. He was finally ready for work.
He had barely left his building when he saw people standing everywhere. They were holding dusty, suspicious-looking books. These people were proclaiming loudly:
"The end of the world is near. The signs are here. Men who befriend robots, others who dare to interfere with the flow of time. Come listen to the words of the Lord—perhaps He will take pity on you."
Peter, listening to the words of these fanatics, reached into his pocket and pulled out a small coin, which he tossed on the ground. One of the zealots picked it up while shouting:
"You devil's apostle! Do you think we do all this for money?"
Peter smirked and continued on his way. Levitating vehicles zipped silently around him, leaving glowing trails in their wake. Peter climbed into one of them. It was an individual capsule that immediately adapted to his DNA. The synthetic voice of the onboard AI activated:
"Destination: Time Explorer Center. Estimated time: 3 minutes."
He sank into his seat. Three minutes—just enough time to wonder if this job was really a good idea. He could have become a cybernetics engineer, a virtual reality tester, or even stayed home collecting artifacts from the past. But no… he had wanted adventure.
The AI interrupted him:
"Approaching destination. Have a good day, Explorer Peter."
The explorer center was a building of glass and futuristic alloys, topped with the T.S.E. logo (Temporal Science & Exploration). As he walked through the entrance, Peter was immediately greeted by Mira, his colleague and mission supervisor.
"You're 42 seconds late, Peter."
"Ah, I see you're making progress in patience," he replied with a smile.
"I'm joking. But the Boss isn't. He wants to see you. Now."
Peter grimaced. The Boss, also known as Director Lorn, was a living legend. The first man to have jumped through time and returned without apparent side effects. Officially, at least.
In his office, Lorn watched him for a moment before placing a file in front of him.
"Your first mission of the day, Peter. Year 2463. A temporal anomaly has been detected. A group of people has traveled to that era. Their intentions are still unclear to us at the moment. But we have some information that will be useful to you."
At these words, a chill ran through Peter's entire body. This kind of situation always happened, but it was impossible to get used to it.
"Where was I? Right, I was saying we have some information that will be useful to you. First, the leader of this group is named Malos. You've probably heard of him. He's the guy who attempted to assassinate our leader two years ago. He escaped from prison, along with his accomplices, and on the way out, they took energy prototypes with them before jumping to 2463."
"What? Energy prototypes? The very heart of time travel! But those tools are supposed to be under maximum protection! What on earth happened?"
"Calm down, Peter. Keep your cool. Right now, we have absolutely no idea how they managed to get them, but one thing is certain: they definitely plan to use them to fulfill their desires. We need to retrieve them and stop these people from causing harm. An agent has already been sent there. We sent him one year before your destination date to assess the situation. Find him—he'll be a great help. And come back victorious."
Peter nodded. His heart was beating faster.
"You know the procedure?" Lorn asked.
"Yes, sir."
"Good. The AI in your module will regulate the transfer. If all goes well, you'll be back in under 20 minutes. Otherwise…"
Lorn didn't finish his sentence. He didn't need to. Peter knew that missing explorers never reappeared.
In the transfer room, he put on his suit and settled onto the central platform. Around him, screens displayed cascades of data. Mira made a final adjustment and winked at him.
"Don't worry, Peter."
Peter took a deep breath.
The AI announced:
"Coordinates aligned. Phase shift in progress. Transfer in 3… 2… 1…"
An energy discharge exploded around him.
Then… nothingness.
And finally… Peter's time travel had begun.