Tom’s journey was about to begin. The cold air of the lab biting at his skin within the military facility. He stood in nothing but his underwear. Around him, a team of ten worked in silence- neuroscientists, physicists and soldiers, all absorbed in their tasks. A woman with a strict low bun , dressed in a white lab coat approached him.


<< Put this on >> she said firmly, handing him a suit. Tom dressed quickly, slipping into a black, tight – fitting bodysuit that clung to him like the wetsuits divers wear before plunging into the ocean’s abyss.


<< It’s designed to maintain your body temperature at normal levels >> the woman explained.


Having been on several time- travel missions before, Tom understood the gravity of this one more than ever as he was seeing the attention to detail from the team around him and sensing the quiet tension that hung in the air.


Tom lay down on the bed, letting the specialists take over. Needles pierced his skin, connencting him to IV drips, and electrodes were attached to his body, all wired to a central machine that monitored his neurological and brain functions. Lancer approached placing a pack under Tom’s arm. Anything he touched could travel with him- except for other humans.


<< If we detect anything unusual, only then will we wake you up. Otherwise, we wait until you return on your own. Always keep your mind on the alarm>> Lancer advised, almost like a father figure. Ah, yes. The alarm. It would sound when the machine received signals that his unconscious body was failing- a immediate stabilization or his urgent return.


<< Worried about me, Captain? >> Tom asked with a faint smile curling at the edge of his lips.


<< Good luck>> Lancer replied bluntly before stepping away. It was time.


Darian, the neuroscientist who specialized in time travel, injected an anesthetic into Tom’s body. Then, he raised a second syringe filled with a shimmering silver liquid that moved as though alive. He added it to the IV, sending it straight into Tom’s bloodstream.

This was the time machine- a concoction of cosmic, earthly and human elements that plunged the body into a deep sleep while sending the soul into the astral plane, giving it a singular precise destination. In the reality where travelers ventured , they retained their physical form, feeling pain, anger, and all sensations as if it were their true body. Meanwhile, their physical self remained intact, only experiencing minor neurological disturbances or muscle spasms. It was a process both simple and complex, fraught with the danger of death through starvation or deliberate annihilation.


Eagerness for the battle to come consumed Tom. He drew a slow, deep breath. As he exhaled, everything went black. He was lost in the darkness. For a moment, he felt weightless. His sight was gone but his hearing sharpened, picking up whispers and noises that didn’t belong to any earthly environment. The deep voice repeating “ October 2030” vanished into the deep.


Silence, interrupted only by the howl of a windstorm followed. A tornado of wind tossed him like a feather, dropping him onto something both rough and soft. A short grunt of pain escaped him, and the blur lifted revealing spinning sky. Face down in the snow, Tom slowly raised his head breathing deeply to stave off the nausea. Once his sense returned and his body functioned properly again, he grinned at the sight before him.


Endless ice. He was in Antarctica.