“Are you ready, Dr. Lee?” asked Dr. Kim, looking at his colleague through the glass window of the control room.
Dr. Lee nodded, adjusting his helmet and gloves. He was sitting inside a metal capsule, surrounded by wires and sensors. He was about to test the prototype of a device that could change the course of history: a time machine.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” he said, trying to sound confident.
Dr. Kim smiled and gave him a thumbs up. He turned to the console and typed in some commands. A screen displayed the target date and time: July 22, 2023, 12:55 p.m.
“That’s five minutes from now,” Dr. Lee said, checking his watch.
“Yes, we’re going to send you five minutes into the future,” Dr. Kim explained. “It’s a short jump, but enough to prove that the device works.”
Dr. Lee swallowed hard. He knew the risks involved in this experiment. There was no guarantee that he would return safely, or that he would not encounter any paradoxes or anomalies in the future. He also knew that this was his chance to make history, to be the first human to travel through time.
He took a deep breath and said, “Let’s do this.”
Dr. Kim nodded and pressed a button. A loud hum filled the room as the capsule began to vibrate. Dr. Lee felt a surge of electricity running through his body. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the unknown.
A few seconds later, he opened his eyes again. He looked around and saw that nothing had changed. He was still in the capsule, still in the same room.
He checked his watch. It showed 12:55 p.m.
“Did it work?” he asked, speaking into his helmet microphone.
There was no answer.
He repeated his question, louder.
Still no answer.
He frowned and pressed a button on his helmet to activate the external camera. He looked at the screen and saw that the control room was empty.
“Dr. Kim? Anyone?” he called out.
No response.
He felt a pang of fear in his chest. Where was everyone? What had happened?
He tried to open the capsule door, but it was locked.
He banged on the door, shouting for help.
No one came.
He realized that he was trapped in the capsule, alone.
He wondered if he had really traveled five minutes into the future, or if something had gone wrong with the device.
He hoped it was the former, and that Dr. Kim and the others would soon appear to rescue him.
He hoped he was not stuck in a time loop, doomed to repeat the same five minutes forever.