18th August 2035.
"So we should get appointments to meet you, right?", Raghav asked Aditya as he sat beside him and patted on his back.
"Marriages are cryptic. Thank God I don't have to do one.", Aditya said as he turned his chair towards Raghav.
Aditya moved into a one bedroom house after completing his doctorate in record time. The irony was that his lab - his actual living room - was bigger than his whole house.
Aditya never went to a job. It seemed like he wanted to maintain the thread of dependence that connected him with Raghav.
"You don't understand the happiness in it, unless you do it.", Raghav replied with a smirk.
"You would have barely left her and your bedroom once in 30 days of married life.", Aditya replied with a sarcastic smile.
Raghav playfully punched Aditya's stomach.
"So, what are you doing in that damn lab, dude?", asked Raghav, driving away sarcasm and humour from his tone.
"You'll be the only person to know after I complete.", Aditya said, "For the time being, tell me about your project."
"For the time being", Raghav asked, "That's what you say?"
Aditya smiled.
Raghav started explaining sincerely, "SARaNG keeps the victim awake for 120 hours by attacking the victim's pineal gland. After that, it records their thought-history while they're on a psychological trance. A new thought can also be induced in that state of mind."
Aditya gulped and sighed, processing the huge chunk of information presented to him.
Aditya said, "So basically, it is Nolan's Inception in Avengers: Age of Ultron."
Raghav laughed and seeing him, Aditya gave an awkward laugh.
"Remember Raghav, you won't get hearty laughs this easily after marriage.", said Aditya as he stood up to get them some coffee.
18th August 2055.
Raghav sipped from his mug as he asked, "Tell me now, na?"
Aditya placed a heavy metal box the size of a rubix cube in between them.
"This is my invention - my child. I call it 'goTANT - Time Accelerator & Non-linear Traveller go '" Raghav interrupted, "So you've built a cube in twenty three years of research?"
"First hear me out", Aditya continued, "This can take you to any point of time you specify. But there are three rules. First, nothing related to birth or death can be altered directly. Second, you can't influence a person's inborn character or destined love. Third, only the traveller has the knowledge about both the timelines."
Raghav asked, "What is the use if you can't do what you specified as Rule one and two? What happens if you break the rules?"
Aditya moved his chair closer to Raghav's. "You'll get to know its use eventually. But for your second question, the universe would regulate birth and death at their respective destined time, no matter whatever you do. If you wanted to prevent as death, the universe will go to the extreme of destroying itself to stop you."
Raghav's face turned pale. He then asked, "Then you can go into the future and get to know about everything that is to happen, right?"
Aditya cleared his throat and replied, "Trust the universe. The best future is always natural. Also, if I knew what happens next, it won't happen."
Raghav was too absorbed in his thoughts to reply. He emptied his mug in a gulp.
Raghav asked, "Now, when are you going to announce this marvel to the world?"
Aditya replied, "Seriously? Some inventions are not meant for fame. I don't need a Janu to stop me from destroying the universe."
Both of them laughed at his joke as Raghav placed his mug on the table.
He said, "Tomorrow, let's meet at Draupadi's house at Arjun's memorial service."
Aditya chuckled,"Don't ever dare to drive again."