In the year 2281, there was a corporation that focused on scientific research to benefit the health and longevity of its clients. Their main research focused on cures for incurable diseases. There was one thing that this company did that the other companies did not, and that was hidden research. A hidden team of four worked in the large shadow left by the multi-billion dollar company. 

These four were very smart individuals who were tasked to understand the concept of time travel and to create a way to travel through it. This team worked together for a little over 20 years. They knew each other like they were raised together and trusted each other more than any other person. Their lives were devoted to completing the mission bestowed upon them and what inspired them is the dream of helping others overcome disease.

During a late-night, the four scientists were working on the time machine and running tests to send a large board with a note one minute into the future and see if they received it. Miraculously, the machine worked and they received their note. On the note, there was a message saying “attempt 4,356”. They were all completely shocked as to what they achieved.

“John, go get Matt this instant,” said Sofie with such enthusiasm

“But he is upstairs in the bathroom”

“I didn’t ask where he is, I said to get him now”

“Ok, ok, calm down, I’ll go get him”

“Alex, prepare yourself for testing the machine unless you want to wait until tomorrow”

“No no, I’ll do it today. If I go home now I won’t be able to sleep.”

Once John got back with Matt, the four prepare themselves to test the machine. They wanted to send Alex and Sofie through it. Alex protested because he thought that it was dangerous to go through something so unknown. Sofie instantly shut him up and continued her preparations.

20 minutes later, Sofie and Alex were ready to go through the machine and let John and Matt know. Matt adjusted the software to be able to manage movement in the machine, but it was limited and if it exceeded a specific amount, it could go wrong and shut down the power supply on the block. There was a theory that if the machine malfunctioned, there could be a second effect other than a power outage. This second effect was dangerous because the scientists believe that the machine sends the subjects to the past rather than the future and it is unknown how much time back they are sent.

John gave the two the last warning before they initiated the sequence. “Whatever you do, make sure to limit your movement to less than 7 steps and breath slowly to have less effect on the movement on your chest.” John gave Matt the green light to turn on the machine. 

The process of transporting things through time takes around one minute to finish which makes that one minute very stressful. Alex and Sofie did an amazing job of keeping their movement minimal. There were 24 seconds before the sequence was completed when a sudden earth tremor occurred. This made the entire building rumble and cause a lot of movement in the machine.

John looked up, and his face went completely blank.

“John, what’s wrong?” asked Matt

“Matt, look at the machine and tell me I am dreaming”

Matt looked at the machine and he too went blank. Alex and Sofie were nowhere to be seen.

“Sofie? Alex? You guys there?”

“Matt, calm down a little, maybe they’re in the future and all we have to do is wait for them to suddenly appear.”

“How can you ask me to calm down! They are not here!”

“Remember the board with the note, it took it a minute to arrive so the safest thing to do at the moment is to wait at least 5 minutes for them to arrive.”

“Fine, but what if they aren’t here by that time?”

“Then we could possibly confirm our theory of them being sent to the past.”

Chapter 2

Alex woke up, dazed and confused without any knowledge of where he is. He looked around searching for Sofie but he couldn’t see her anywhere. Alex in fact couldn’t see anything anywhere. He thought he might have gone blind and started to panic. That’s when he started to get a very sharp pain in his chest: almost as if he was drowning.

Alex couldn’t feel anything, hear anything, and felt like he was suffocating. The only thing he could see was a small bright dot. He held his hand out to it and held it on his palm. Suddenly, the dot burst, and in a flash, Alex lost consciousness. He had just witnessed the creation of the universe.

Suddenly, Alex woke up once again. He instantly began to feel the sharp pain in his chest. He looked around and this time, he could see Earth and the sun. 

“Am I in the future? Is this some sort of delicate machine that I landed in? Thought Alex

Alex then realized that he was falling straight into the earth, he felt relieved when he realized he was headed to a place that is familiar to him. Once he entered the atmosphere, he caught on fire and felt it all over his body for what felt like hours and suddenly SPLASH! His mind went blank again.

Alex washed up on a shore gasping for air. When he came back to his senses, he looked around for a second and admired the ocean. He played around in the sand since he hadn’t since he has a kid.

“It’s too quiet, does no one come to the beach?” thought Alex 

Alex climbed the slope that was above him and noticed there were no buildings in sight. Everything was grassy and full of life. He began to walk inland to look for people and have himself settled. He began to panic a little once he found a single human being. He was thirsty and hungry but he continued to walk in hopes of finding somebody.

Alex ended up wandering into a forest where he found some wild berries. He picked them up and began eating as he continued walking. “Man, I really gotta find someone. I need shelter and clothes.” 

Alex saw a beautiful blue glow coming from past a couple of trees and could hear the continuous splashing of water on rock. He walked past the trees and saw the most beautiful lake he had ever seen. It was as if he stepped into a world of wonders. He could feel the fresh mist of the water flow onto his face and helped himself to a splash. In the lake, he found much fish and luckily caught a couple of them. When he took them out, he looked for things to make a fire. “How do I make a fire? I usually had a lighter on me but now I don’t even have shoes.” 

Alex gathered rocks and sticks that weren’t wet and set them in place to make a fire. He struck the rocks against each other to make sparks and hoped that the twigs would catch on fire and to his surprise, it did. He put the fish over the fire and kept it alive while they cooked. “Finally, something normal. A simple fish dinner from a camping trip. I should have let Matt show me how to make a campfire.”

Alex gladly feasted on his quick meal and went to wash his hands on the lake. He took some time to stare at his reflection and drank some water. When he turned back around, he saw a lion with huge fangs. The beast gashed him on the stomach and dug its fangs into his leg so Alex couldn’t run away. In no time, his mind went blank again. Alex was dead. 

Weeks passed and Alex lay dead next to the water, but instead of decomposing, his body began to regenerate slowly. The process of healing was just like a normal cut, except it took longer due to all the damage sustained. After three months of Alex laying there dead, he woke up. He was scared and confused and he held his stomach. He had no idea what had happened but he could feel the scars left on his stomach and his leg. He ran away from the lake and looked for a place to hide.

“I thought those things went extinct ages ago!” exclaimed Alex in surprise fearing it could come back again. “Am I living in the past? Or did they resurrect them in the future?” Alex had been killed by a sabretooth tiger.