Time Lord[]
1st Place | Infinity Labs Community Short Fiction Writing Track (Solana Scribes Hackathon)
They thought it was impossible. They laughed at me when I spoke of traveling through time. But they aren't laughing now because I did it. I, Adin of the house of solon invented time travel. While everyone was busy trying to further explore the realms in the Solverse, I invested my time, money and energy into cracking the code to time travel.
“Sir, your agents are ready and they await your orders”. I turned towards the tall slender man in a black coat who bowed after speaking. Lark was his name and he has worked for my family for decades. I took one last look at my reflection in the mirror where I was having my internal monologue (Don't judge me, you do it too) and I looked pristine. Clad in a white shirt, blue pants and dark blue coat I really looked like the master of the house. Which i was since both my parents died in an unfortunate accident 2 years ago.
As one of the most powerful infinite families in the Solverse their death created a power vacuum which the others exploited causing us to lose our status on Aetheria Island. Like many other infinites or explorers my parents entered the Solverse from earth to be a part of this breathtaking universe.
But they ended up dead on one of their explorations. I was 15 at the time and I wasn't given the full details. All I was told was that they encountered the Novai, warriors formed from the Nova that see us infinites as viruses. Till this day I still believe that they never told me the whole truth.
Anyway everything will soon change as I have devised a plan to literally conquer the world through time travel. What? You thought I was going to use my discovery of time travel to save the world? Why save the world when I can rule it.
I followed Lark across the hall passing a few windows that showed the colorful beauty of the Island. It was truly breathtaking, from the light blue of the Ethereal sea to the lush greens of the plants that filled the island. It truly was a place you would normally only see in dreams. But I found it hard to see the beauty these days, it only reminded me that my parents were no longer here to see it with me.
We got to a door leading to another section of the house where my lab was. My parents were scientists so I ended up becoming one. And this was where they worked.
Lark opened the door and went down the flight of stairs and I followed . As we approached the end, light began to filter in from the wide room. And there it was, my time machine. At the center of the room hooked on multiple wires was ‘Citrus’ my time machine. I know that Citrus is a weird name for a time machine but who cares its my machine so I can name it whatever i want.
My agents and a few other members of my science team were already there running last minute calibrations “Are we ready?” I turned to my men. “ Of course sir we've been waiting a while for this day” Agon the leader responded on their behalf.
My plan was simple: send a few people back in time to remove certain obstacles from my path so that I can become the ruler of both Earth and the solverse.
“Alright, let's begin. Mark turn it on!” Mark, another scientist quickly flipped some switches and Citrus came on with a soft buzz sending out subtle energy pulses. After a few minutes a portal appeared besides the machine warping the space around it.
“Don't fail me” I said turning to Agon “I would never” he replied with a salute before turning to rile his men up as they stepped into the portal one by one. Then the portal closed. Mark turned off Citrus and the room fell silent. I stood there staring at where the portal once was, my excitement building as I imagined myself ruling over everything.
“Lark, why don't we go celebrate my victory in advance?” With that i turned and walked towards the stairs. “Of course sir” Lark replied and followed me. But then Citrus turned on again, startling me. “What's happening?” I asked. “I don't know sir,” Mark replied. Before I could move towards the machine a portal ripped open the space in front of me, violently warping the space around it and sending a shockwave that nearly knocked me down.
And then the bodies of my men were thrown out, as I looked at them I knew they were dead. Their lifeless eyes and twisted bodies informed me that their death wasn't pretty. I looked towards the still opened portal and saw a figure watching me. I felt chills go through my spine. I had seen powerful people before but no one as powerful as whoever was staring at me right now.
As my hands trembled and my breathing became irregular I knew that what stood before me was an anomaly, a powerful one at that. Anomalies have been known to destroy realms on a whim with Hakon also known as "The broken” being the most famous.
The being stared at me then dropped a piece of paper before stretching out its hands and the portal closed. I stood there in silence, my heart beating fast. Lark was deathly pale and a few of my staff had fainted or were cowering in the corner. I steadied myself and walked towards the piece of paper and picked it up.
On it in bold handwriting were the words: NEVER TRY THAT AGAIN!
End.
Writing prompt:
"After inventing time travel, you send agents back in time to change the future and conquer the world. Instead you get back several dead agents and a note saying “Never try that again”."