The whiteboard was covered in chaotic scribbles—equations, half-baked theories, and sketches of audacious theory many would even consider impossibility..
The scientist, hunched over, gripped a red marker between his teeth while feverishly adjusting components of his machine.
His lab was a disaster zone of tangled wires, stacks of notes, and a ridiculous number of empty coffee cups. The smell of burnt circuits hung in the air.
His fingers were stained with ink and grease, his mind a chaotic whirlwind of ideas, calculations, and insane possibilities.
"Alright, focus, focus… If the displacement factor is maintained while the consciousness transfer aligns with the harmonic frequency—" The raggedy man muttered. "Should i add conductor here and there?"
Suddenly, he stopped and readjust while furrowing his brow. "No, no, that would kill me."
He scribbled furiously on the board, gritting his teeth. His hair were messy and his eyebag makes it apparent that he had faced multiple sleepless night.
Equations came together, fell apart, were rewritten. His mind was a hurricane, his hands a blur. He wiped sweat from his forehead, eyes darting between the machine and his notes. His heartbeat pounded in his ears.
He had been at this for days. No, weeks. Maybe longer. He had lost track of time. His food supply consisted of half-eaten granola bars, and his sleep cycle had been completely obliterated. But it didn't matter. Because he was close. So damn close.
"C'mon, baby, work with me here," he coaxed the machine, tapping a panel with the wrench.
He flipped a switch. A small spark. The hum of a capacitor charging.
Something shifted.
Hues of blue light oozed out of the machine like plasma, followed by an unholy sound of the machine breaking down. The tremor looked like someone threw brick in a washing machine. He hurriedly grab his wrench to take off some part of the mechanism, putting a stop to it- forcibly. Taking deep breath, he pulled his note book out from the robe and grabbed a pencil to write. "that's failure 277, noted."
The man kept working on the machine, when the door creaked open. Spilling light into the room, stretching some shadows across the room. The man did not react, knowing full well, whom did it.
"i'm tired, so i'm going to sleep. could you buy us some grocery? the curry is halfway done but i ran out of ingredient. besides, you hadn't gone outside in quite a while and i don't think spending all day working on some hypothetical machine would be a good idea." His wife spoke.
"you might be doing a Fool's errand." She continued her word.
The man kept going on whatever he was doing. She knocked the wall and coughed. "ehem- humans need to take a break to be productive. if you're still human that is.."
He responded this time. "I heard you, just working on this. give me a sec."
She left immediateky after.
Midways in his work, the man thought about what she said and realized. The work WAS getting close to finishing, but that could very well be another month, he might as well just touch some grass and buy grocery along the way. "she was right. i need to take a breath."
He turned towards the door and found the list of grocery she wanted him to buy.
He walked closer and thought to himself. "i'm gonna finish this time machine tho. even if it's a foolish goal- i have to see the end of it."
Taking steps toward the bathroom thinking of cleaning himself, the man didn't forgot to bring a rubber duck to play around with on the bathtub.
SHSHSHSHSH
Splashing sound of water filling the bath, a step taken in and the clear thing turned murky. Face contorted as thought arose. «just how long have it been since i last took a bath!?» the color transformation gave him a well deserved reality check. «it turned brown in an instant!» just then did he realised he was way too immersed in the act of building time machine. Even water became brown within contact. «i heard jesus in religion turned water to wine... what am i, dirty version? the antichrist?»
He sighed and smiled a moment after. «only leah really tolerate my mess... if i came outside like this, someone would think i'm a hobo. i might have to try look normal for once.»
Moments after he was done cleansing himself, the man got ready, grabbed his keys and went looking for his clothes. Speaking to himself "science fit would look weird, i'm not a cosplayer."
Inside the closet were full of outfit, his? white coat and some dark academia casual styled fit. As for leah? bunch of dress. "mine looks boring." he commented, «i might have to buy more on black friday sale.» he took a mental note before grabbing some shirt and storming off.
When he walked around the hall and went to his garage, a mechanism turned on a music while instantly opening the garage.
he went over to his car, getting it started. Thinking about his wife's comment «i knew making these automated stuff in house was convenient. maybe i should make my own car next. leah is wrong, all inventions are good intentions!» Feeling pretty good as he drove the car. Their house sat on the outer edge of a quiet county in Michigan—far from the city noise, but quite close to farms.
Everytime he went out, he would be met with fresh air. «i guess going out once in a while IS pretty nice» His mind wandered as he took the morning sunlight's warmth. He looked to the left and see a field of wheat, shining, gentle, golden shine- stretching across the field. Swaying like a slow waves.
---
The drive to city was decently long and he had to make sure to buy much of the very needed things, as driving back and forth would be tiresome. The view was nice but sooner or later, he might grew tired of it.
«alright let's see... what is listed here» Making sure he checked everything on the list.
He parked the car, went in the mart and brought all the things needed. Went back to drive home when he remembered his progress with the machine.. suddenly, equations started falling in place and he had an idea. «maybe if i replaced that part with another...»
There was finally progress with his equation, he hurriedly drive back home, eager to test it out.
He coursed throu the same way he went here from, but he did not take a look to the view like before. Too focused with his current inspiration.
While waiting... his mind began recalling what inspired him to start making time machine.
«a machine that utilise quantum computer's law-breaking data transfer and data storing, transitioning one's conscious onto data stored inside, and throu breaking boundary of dimension. leaps in the gap, after landing would send it's user's mind onto target within chosen time frame.»
At first it was a random idea, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. now, he knew just what he need to do to make it happen. a little adjustment in the machine and he would be holding a working machine.
When he arrived, his automated house system detected him and opened everything and he got his car inside the garrage. Parked in. Opened the door and rushed to put stuff on the table, before running down to the basement,
he walked over to the machine, puled some part and changed the structure.
It didn't took long as more idea came flowing. "woohoo, feel the power of a man who touched some grasses!" cleared from taking some drive around the street and county of detroit, his mind was fresh.
Then he tried a test run.
A reading on the monitor flickered to life. Numbers aligned in a way that actually made sense. His heart skipped a beat. He reached for his notepad, checking his calculations.
"Oh, oh, OOHHH, that's it. That's it!" He grinned wildly. "Yeahhh baby! OOOHH YEEESS!"
He practically vibrated with excitement, fists pumping in the air. He did it. It worked. He had cracked time travel!
Well, kind of. He wasn't entirely sure how smoothly it would function, but the theory was sound. It would work when he needed it. And that was the key.
But as the euphoria settled, another thought crept into his mind.
This was more than just a machine. This was history, power, absolute dominance over time itself.... The world has one time traveler and it would be 𝙝𝙞𝙢.
«all those awards, the recognition, the world falling at my feet in awe. The Nobel Prize? heck, with this. i can even do anything.. the world's my oyster!»
He lampooned over his thoughts as he comsiders each outcome. "maybe, i shouldn't even share this invention at all."
A slow grin spread across his face.
Why should he let anyone else in on this? He could rewrite the past, shape the future, become something more than just a scientist. He could be king of the world! He could topple empires before they rose, control the world in a way that even the illuminati would cry out of envy or even make it all fall down.
The alure of power was intoxicating.
"I could do anything…" he muttered to himself, eyes gleaming. "Anything."
He let out a slow, satisfied exhale.
Tired from the long work and finally having his work paid off, he decided to just go out the basement and rest in his room.
On the way, he was hopping, jumping in joy while imagining all the possible ways he would test the machine out—
And accidentally knocked over the simmering pot of curry his wife had been cooking.
The clatter of metal against the floor sent a chill down his spine. The scent of spices filled the air. Time seemed to slow as he frowned at the mess he had just created.
He had seconds before the consequences of his actions caught up with him. His wife hadn't been very happy with him ever since he prioritised the invention over her.
His eyes darted towards stairs leading to the basement.
"...i was just thinking of testing the machine out, guess it's now or nothin huh?" he muttered.
Without further thought, he walked back to it and started setting up the machine.
he clicked the commanding code on the machine, specifying this location and the number about a few minutes ago.
The machine stirred, shook, and then screamed. As he rest his hands on the machine, it began pulling from the dep of his body.
Electricity cracked through the air. A high-pitched whining filled the room as the machine trembled violently, bolts snapping free, circuits overloading. The air itself twisted, distorting as if reality itself had been punched in the gut.
The hum became a roar. His vision blurred. His breath caught in his throat. Then—
With a blinding flash.
He was gone.
---
He was floating. Or falling. Or both.
The concept of time felt distant, like a river he could see but never touch. Colors swirled around him in unnatural ways—brilliant, shifting hues that made no sense. Shapes formed and unformed, both abstract and hard to make sense of.
The machine swam through the stream of time, tumbling, sinking lower, lower than it should have. He reached out, but his hands—where were his hands? he could feel his consciousness attached to the machine.
He observed and came to a realization, that he had no eyes but could see things. «was this the 6th senses said to exist? my soul..»
It was machine made to break law of the world afterall, there was bound to be things he would have a hard time understanding.
As he remembered some theory he written, he noticed... «wait. if it's 10 minute time travel, shouldn't i have landed already?» he knew he couldn't be wrong, since the time travel first succeeded.
He tried controlling the machine but the tool was made to travel on it's own without driver. All because of his laziness
«wait. no, no, no, no- STOP!» He kept begging «STOP!» He tried calling out but his conscious was just a data now. and the machine kept going. his plies fallen to deaf ears... He quickly regreted his decision of making it autopilot.
Everything lurched.
His stomach flipped.
He crashed. it felt like he had woke up from a dream where he fell down from somewhere high.
He was… heavy. His breath rumbled in his chest. He blinked, trying to focus, but the world felt too big, too strange.
Something felt… wrong. Everything felt different..
He turned his head. His massive, birdlike physique.
«Oh no.»
His heart pounded. He lifted his arm—no, his clawed limb. His skin was thick, feathery, and 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙘 exactly like that of a Velociraptor.
«why do i have a tail???» He asked to himself in a panic, sensing the alien feeling of this body. «even my teeths feels weird. what on earth is this...» he panicked, trying to make sense of the situation.
Then he saw it. The machine, his brilliant, one-of-a-kind, miracle maker, moving through the sky like a firework. It spun, plummeting, then vanished beyond some mountain.
he was still processing the situation.
A deep exhale rattled from his chest as he stared blankly at the horizon.
«shit.»