 
A Glitch in Time – Act II

Published by Yathansh Sharma at Smashwords

Copyright 2020 Yathansh Sharma

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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# Prologue – Every story has an origin

We have all had our fair share of weird things. Sometimes things happen which were not supposed to be possible, and other times, something that had a probability of one hundred percent, just does not happen. Things like, talking to your future self, knowing what all life has planned for you. They do not happen to any normal human being. However, the same cannot be said for Alex Richardson.

This guy was born a genius, and at a very young age he realized the gift he had. However, being embarrassed at his inability to find people he can interact with on his level, and therefore unable to make friends, he started acting normal. All he wanted was acceptance. But there was another part of this story that he never realized, the part where he was destined to achieve greatness.

A funny thing about destiny is that, contrary to common believe, you do not choose your destiny. It has been chosen and pre-determined for you. Who does it? It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you will keep walking towards your destiny and then one day, you'll be there, and then you'll be at peace. For Alex, that destiny was really far away. This was just the beginning for him. **Every story has an origin** , and this was his.

The very first part of Alex's origin story happened a while ago, when he was in his office, working as a Software Developer and suddenly a flash happened. The next thing he saw was a person standing in front of him, who seemed a little bit older version of himself. The elder Alex completely ignored our young hero and walked towards Hope, the girl Alex liked. The elder Alex explained that Hope's life is in danger and that she needs to hide somewhere. An assassin is coming to kill her and he will stop at nothing to fulfill his mission. Our Alex was a bit reluctant to let this happen first, however upon confirming that this time traveler is indeed he himself from the future, Alex became a bit more cooperative.

While this was happening, the assassin from the future, Damian, arrived there and started firing bullets at our main characters. Future Alex, after a few hit and trials, managed to devise a strategy to stop Damian for a while. He later left with Hope to hide somewhere. While future Alex explained to Hope that she was destined to destroy half of the world, Damian bonded with our Alex and told him the same thing. Neither of the two parties took the news lightly. Alex hell-bent on doing the right thing, devices a plan to lure Hope in. While Hope left future Alex in order to fix everything in her own way, two of their co-workers, Sean and Sasha had their own plans set in motion. They both had some leverage on Hope which they were using in order to blackmail her. Extorting money and getting her to be involved into sexual activities were a few things that she was forced to do.

Now afraid that things might get exposed, Sean and Sasha joined forces with Damian and Alex, while future Alex came back for Hope. With his friend, and co-worker, Ashley's help future Alex was able to find Hope and was able to uncover the truth about Sean and Sasha. Seeing all this Alex was able to realize the errors of his path and reconciled with Hope. They both expressed their feelings for each other. However, Damian stood his ground and started using a certain time stopping ability to get an edge on all three of our main characters. The problem was that this ability backfired, and his body deteriorate and turned into ash, and then further into atoms, and then even those split up to completely remove him out of existence.

Future Alex, realizing that something severe has changed in timeline, returned to his time. His parting words to Alex were that whenever he'll find Damian, help him and take him in as a brother, because deep within they both are kindred spirits. He also gave Alex all his research on the time machine, so that Alex can easily create one without suffering the consequences of failed time related experiments. And this concludes the first part of Alex's origin story.

# Chapter 1 – Three years after

Ever since that fateful day Alex and Hope have been in a relationship. She has been showing improvement in her thought process, by being much more optimistic and Alex has been a lot more accepting of himself. He had left his worries, of being normal and accepted, in the past and is focusing much more on the future. He had quit his job as a software developer and has been studying a lot of research papers on space, time and black holes. He wanted to use his own skills to discover equations that'll help him create a time machine.

However, unlike other mad scientists, he has been taking care of his family as well. He has been close to his parents, even though he is living with Hope now, and visits his parents once a week. Hope has been leading a small team of testers in a different company and has been the main earning member out of the two.

Then one day when she came back from office and looked at the front door of their house open, she became a bit skeptical. She started walking on the lawn slowly towards the door, while being really careful. She used to look at the growing grass on the lawn and get a bit irritated at Alex for not being much careful towards the household chores. But today she completely missed out on that. Upon reaching the front door she saw that the door was unlocked and there was no sign of a forced entry.

"Is Alex home?" she said to herself while slowly opening the door. The truth is that the entire ordeal with future Alex and Damian has left some sort of trauma in her mind. Mostly she is dealing with it well, however sometimes, when she is alone, she gets a little scared and hence never prefers to stay away from people, specially Alex, for long.

She slowly walked towards the stairs right in front of the door, after taking a quick peep in the drawing room towards her right.

"Alex, are you up there?" She said after climbing a few stairs.

"Yeah! I am up here. Just doing some important calculations. Do not come up here, I am not wearing anything." He replied to her which gave her a sense of relief and then another wave of excitement upon hearing the other part of the sentence. "That won't work..." he continued "... I am wearing too much clothes and it might upset your stomach, big time."

"What are you saying dummy?" she said upon reaching the second floor and then she turned towards the room on her left. It was supposed to be a second bedroom, however as of now it was serving as Alex's lab ever since they moved in.

"Tell me something, why didn't you go for your evening walk today?" she asked after opening the door. Alex was sitting on his chair, with his desk in front of him, in the middle of the room. A Van de Graff generator was on his right and a miniature particle accelerator was on his left. He had a lot of papers on his desk, kept in an unorderly fashion.

"I was doing some important work." He replied upon seeing Hope.

"What kind of work? If you tell me it is some other stupid kinky toy that you have made by yourself, I swear to God, that I'll rip it into two pieces, shove one in the toilet and throw another in the garbage."

"It was one time, and no I have not created anything, extraordinary." He said while making air quotes with his fingers in order to put emphasis on extraordinary. "Rather it is something really small."

"What is it?"

"Aaaa...... It is... one... two... three..."

"I know how the numbers work. Is it supposed to explain what are you hiding?"

"A stone. It is a stone. A very normal looking stone. Which will shine too much, and can potentially hurt your eyes if you are not careful enough."

"Can I carefully look at it?"

"No. It is pure carbon and can really be dangerous. Just imagine, what if it's radioactive?"

"Can carbon be radioactive? I though it is supposed to be uranium or something in order to be radioactive. Also, if it can be, 'radioactive', then please get rid of it safely so that no one starts having radioactive sickness." Hope replied and then turned towards the door taking off her brown leather jacket. "I am going to take a shower, and really don't want to deal with all this nerd talk."

"I'll be joining you, it's been 3 days since I had taken a bath."

"Quite some incentive for you it is then?" she asked flirtatiously while looking back towards him.

"What can I say, to men of science like myself all these mundane activities are useless unless I get something out of it. Be there in 5 min"

"Don't make me wait, hero." She said while walking out of the room.

"Man, am I glad she hasn't seen Chernobyl." Alex said to himself. Then he turned towards his desk and looked at the pile of papers that he was working on. He slowly moved them aside to reveal a diamond ring, shining enough to blind someone if held at a certain angle. Made of pure carbon, and could be radioactive if the right isotope is taken to make the ring. "After all these years, I am ready to take the next step in our relationship. I hope that Hope feels the same." He said and then kept the ring in his desk then turned around taking off his shirt to reveal his not so much in shape back, and left the room. **Three years after** getting in a relationship, Alex has finally got the confidence to propose to Hope. There was nothing that he would allow to get in his way. The next day would be their anniversary and also a week off. They had planned to go on a day long outing and he had it all planned out leading up to the proposal. All that is left was popping the question.

# Chapter 2 – Ghosts of my past

Alex was on his knees holding the ring in his hands, in front of Hope and waiting for her response. Her face started showing a little bit of excitement followed by a long blushed pause, and then she slowly opened her lips to speak.

"It would definitely be yes. But I don't feel good." She replied.

At first Alex was puzzled as to what her response means, and then he looked at a giant hole in her abdomen. Her insides were about to slide out of the hole and she started falling towards Alex. He quickly grabbed her in his arms and started screaming for help, but no one was around to help them.

"Finally the bitch is dead. Our mission is a success." A voice said from behind.

Alex turned around to look at the person, who turned out to be Damian.

"What the fuck, you bastard? What have you done? You insane, obnoxious, selfish, ignorant bastard. I am going to kill you." Alex said with tears in his eyes.

"Relax champ. Have you already forgotten? You're the one who pulled the trigger." And then Alex realized that there was no ring in his hands, but a shotgun. The same shotgun that Sean used to threaten these people back when the Alex from future was with them.

"Well, since you are so much devastated, I would like to console you by saying, you did a good job. The world will always remember you for the Hero you are."

"Shut Up! Just SHUT UP!" Alex said while aiming the gun towards Damian.

"You won't kill me. Want to know why? Because you are just a wimp who can only hurt other weaklings."

"I said SHUT UP!" screaming, Alex pulled the trigger, only to realize that it was all a dream.

He woke up in his bed, with Hope by his side. Seeing her he remembered how much better she is holding up. While he has been stalling all this time, by saying that he is trying to figure out all the time travelling equations on his own. He is actually reluctant to create the time machine himself. He even hid the data that future Alex had given him, somewhere where no one would be able to find it.

Alex turned towards his left towards the lamp, which was turned off and picked up his mobile phone. It had a notification of a message he received from Ashley, his old co-worker, some time ago.

"What is with this girl and staying up late?" he muttered to himself. He opened the message to read its contents, which said 'Just be sure to do everything as we planned and there is no way she could say no' followed by a thumbs up emoji.

Alex willing to talk to her, started writing a message, hoping Ashley would be awake at 2 in the morning. 'Do you sleep at all? I have no idea how you can be up so late and still not be sleep deprived?' He looked at the text and then pressed send.

After that he just kept looking at the screen, waiting for her reply. Then suddenly the screen showed typing text, followed by her reply 'Unlike you, I am not a dork and I like to enjoy my life. If I need to be up for a few hours for that, fine by me. BTW you tell, what's bothering you?'

'I had the same dream. Again. But this time, the situation was different. I was proposing her and then the rest of the dream remains same. Hoping it is nothing.' Alex sent a follow up message.

'Just focus on the positive. I mean that's what you were planning when you said that you don't need to go to any psychiatrist'

'I am, but I had no idea that this could be so much difficult. These **Ghosts of my past** are still stuck with me.'

'You are making the situation worse for yourself. If you can't handle it all then go to a professional. It could be a serious case of PTSD.'

'Hope had a worse experience, she is not suffering a PTSD'

'People handle situations differently. If you can handle it then good. Else seek professional help. And if I knew any better I would say that you are blaming yourself too much. If you would just stop that, then everything will be fine. Now focus on tomorrow and forget about the past. Best of luck'

Alex upon looking at the last message locked his phone and got out of the bed. He went out to the refrigerator and picked a water bottle. The leftover chicken was still in the fridge. Seeing it reminded him how great a cook Hope is. In his eyes she is just perfect. Able to pull both their weight for the last 2 years, since he left his job. She has done enough. Alex thought to himself, pulling out his mobile phone and opening his email.

The e-mail on the top of the list read, 'Congratulations on getting a job opportunity...'. He has recently accepted a job opportunity with a big firm, and bought the diamond ring for Hope out of the joining bonus that he got. He was planning to reveal this secret to her tomorrow before proposing to her.

He kept the phone back in his pocket and went in the bedroom back to his place beside her on the bed. "Tomorrow..." he said to himself.

"Tomorrow what?" Hope said while turning towards him, still asleep.

"Babe, you are talking in your sleep" he replied.

"Good boy" she replied.

"Tomorrow is going to be a big day." Alex replied and went back to sleep.

# Chapter 3 – Big Day

The next day Hope woke up to the sound of her alarm sharp at 7 in the morning. She turned towards the mobile phone and turned off the alarm. Then she climbed out of her bed and started walking towards the door. All of a sudden she started hearing a sound, like Alex was setting up breakfast. He works really loudly. Then she remembered that today is the day they confessed their feeling to each other. The very same day when the entire future Alex, future Damian debacle happened. The very same day when she got justice and Sean and Sasha were arrested for their sins. She never realized how to feel on this day, since a lot happened, both good and bad, on this day. Until she opened the door and saw Alex setting up the dining table with his signature hot waffles with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream dipped in hot chocolate syrup. It was something that they both liked a lot and somehow Alex managed to make it better than she did.

"Good morning" He said looking at her.

"What? How? Why? What's gotten into you?" she said in surprise since he never was excited for anniversaries.

"The correct response is supposed to be, Good morning to you too my love. Well I am willing to overlook this for today" He said while coming close to her and kissing her. "As for your other questions, these are waffles, because today is a special day, and wait I answered the last question in second place, so as for how? What am I supposed to answer for that?"

"Something nerdy. Anything nerdy. And I would love it."

"I got nothing. What I do have is three surprises for you. Well this was the first, so there are two left. And it'll be given it to you throughout the day, as per my planning."

"Why all of a sudden? You have never liked this particular day, for a very specific reason. How come you are fine now?"

"For the last three years, we have just pretended that nothing happened on this day. I no longer wanted to pretend. Some things happened. Some good, some bad. But at the end of the day all of this brought us together. And I am thankful of that. So from now on, we are going to remember today in a happy spirit." Alex said, while cutting a piece of waffle and giving it to Hope.

"What can I say? This waffle makes a pretty strong argument." She replied and then started eating her breakfast.

As the day progressed Alex and Hope went out on a date, starting with an amusement park, and then they had lunch at a fancy restaurant followed by a ride on a cruise, which was the second surprise. It was almost evening and they were standing at the front deck, and Alex was holding her from behind.

"The sun looks beautiful. Isn't it?" She said to him while looking at the sunset.

"Diffraction really is an amazing phenomenon."

She gave him a look from her left side and said "English, man."

"That'll be a problem once I bring up the third surprise, since you might have to suffer these scientific expressions forever."

"Wait! What?" Hope said this in a little bit of shock while turning towards Alex.

Alex on the other hand took a deep breath, pushed his hand in his right pocket, and pulled out the box in which he had kept the ring. Then he sat on his knees and prepared to pop out the biggest question of his life.

However, before he can start talking Hope started freaking out, "No! Oh my god, Oh my God, Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" She said while covering her mouth with her hand.

"Hope will you at least let me say it?" Alex replied.

"Go on" She said with small tears of happiness in her eyes.

"Hope Summers..."

"Yes! Yes!" she replied again.

"Would you let me??" he said again. "Hope Summers, will you..."

"Yes! Sorry. I cannot control myself. Yes! Go on."

"Hope Summer, will you marry me?" Alex said really fast since she was not allowing him to finish.

"Yes." She said again, while tears were running down her eyes to her lips which just cannot stop smiling. She gave her hand to Alex so that he can put the ring on her finger, and he did the same. Then he stood up and kissed her, which was one of the most passionate kiss they had. Hope felt as if today, she was able to finally get everything that she has ever wanted. Alex on the other hand knew that he can be the person that he has always wanted to be, and would be able to live on his life without the nightmares. It was a **big day** for them both.

Right at this moment the last rays of sun went out and it was dark, the lights on the cruise ship were keeping all the lighting. It was time for the couple's dance and they both went to the floor with the other people. They both gazed in each other's eyes and kept dancing.

"I just realized, we missed an event while we were outside, discussing something." Hope playfully said.

"Never mind. I have never been a fan of Shrimps. The Shrimp eating contest would have been a bummer."

"I heard that everyone participates in that. Even the crew."

"Like I said. Not a fan. Besides we got some privacy due to that. It all went according to plan." Alex replied.

"So I have a request to make" Hope said while looking at him in the eyes.

"You want to keep you last name? That's fine."

"Nah. I would like Richardson. Hope Summers Richardson. Kind of has a ring to it. Besides keeping the last name, in my opinion, is just a way to make sure that a lot of trouble can be avoided if the marriage does not sustain. We are going to be forever."

"We are." Alex replied.

"I just wanted to say, now that you have taken a job and your pay is going to be pretty good, I was wondering if I can take some time off and I don't know, follow my passion of painting?"

"Ma'am, you can do whatever you want. I will always support you."

"It's a bit hot in here. Don't you feel it?" Hope pointed out.

"Yeah, let's go to our room" Alex replied and they both started walking towards the room.

Upon entering the room, they both just started kissing each other, without turning on the lights, and then they stopped to look into each other's eyes. They were both looking at each other and smiling, when suddenly Alex heard a gunshot. Right after that Hope started slipping from his arms and she fell down on the floor.

# Chapter 4 – Alex Richardson, come with me if you want to live

Alex quickly turned around and switched on the lights to realize that Damian was sitting on the chair right in front of him. He had a gun in his hands which was pointed directly towards Alex. Alex then shifted his focus to Hope who was lying down in a puddle of her own blood, due to the bloodshot she just suffered.

He quickly fell down to his knees and grabbed Hope. "Hope! Hope! Open your eyes. Babe, open your eyes. What have you done? You insane, obnoxious, selfish, ignorant bastard. Why did you do this?"

"I'll cut to the chase, Alex." Damian said in his cold voice.

"This is just a dream. This is a dream. This is a dream. Wake up Alex, Wake up. Wake up, you idiot. WAKE UP!" Alex screamed at himself.

Damian stood up and started walking towards Alex with the gun still pointed towards him. "Oh please don't tell me that I broke you? That would be a big problem in my plan."

"Damian, let me tell you something. I don't know what time you are from, but I will kill you, mark my words. You are a dead man." Alex replied with all his pain and anger filled in his voice.

"Interesting, you know my name. Now that would be a wonderful story to listen. Unfortunately, you don't have enough time, otherwise you won't get to attend her funeral."

Alex kept quiet and did not respond to any of his words.

"Now to pop the question of this century, like literally it is the question of this century. Where is the drive?"

"You'll never find it" Alex replied again.

"Really Alex? How are you so much consistent?" Damian said this and then grabbed Alex from his collar and pulled him up. "I have been hearing this very same answer from you for the past 3 years, and now I have come back 10 years in time just to hear this very same answer, again. Why do you insist to be so much stubborn? Just tell me where is the drive with information on the time machine and we can get over with this. I'll make a common grave for the two of you so that you may live together, forever."

"Go to hell" Alex replied.

"Yet again, wrong answer Alex." Damian replied and proceeded to shoot Alex in the leg. However, at that very moment there was another gunshot aimed towards Damian, which sent his gun flying away from him, and Alex fell down on his knees, near Hope's lifeless body. Damian on the other hand quickly jumped behind the bed so that he would not be in the direct line of sight of the door.

"What do we have here? The leader of that stupid human rights group? Tell me something, how are you still here?" Damian screamed from behind the bed.

"Someone once said to me that I am way too stubborn, and it kind of is proving to be true." A voice replied from outside the door. However, at this point Alex was way too much distracted to listen to voices of strangers. He quickly grabbed a lamp that was near him and jumped towards the edge of the bed throwing the lamp at Damian. Damian, due to his quick reflexes was able to grab the lamp, however in the meanwhile Alex quickly picking up his gun.

"Hasta la vista asshole." He said pulling the trigger, just to realize that he was unable to pull the trigger.

"Weapon security authorization not found" there was a voice in the gun.

"What?" Alex said while looking at the weapon.

"Only authorized people can wield a gun and use it." The strange voice said while coming inside the room only for Alex to realize that it was Hope, holding a gun. She looked a little bit older and had shorter, arm length hair. Apart from that she was exactly identical to the corpse lying in front of them.

"How?" Alex said.

"I had a special gift which helped me." Hope said while showing him a bracelet. It was the same bracelet that Alex quietly took from Damian three years ago, after his body disintegrated. Future Alex completely forgot about this bracelet when he decided to set everything right before returning to his time. It was the one which allowed the user to only travel back in time, that too only 10 years. Things were becoming a lot complicated for Alex as he was trying to make sense of everything that was going on.

"Well guys, it was really nice talking to you all, but since I don't have the upper hand here, I would like to take my leave for now. See you later." Damian said and then quickly jumped out of a window taking a dive in the cold water.

Hope on the other hand started moving towards the dead body of her past self, saying "No! No! No! No! No! I am not too late. I am not too late." She said while falling down to her knees and then quickly pulling out a small device out of her pocket. It was round, like a ring, and little bit thick. It was about the size of Hope's hand and had four thick outlets. She quickly put in on the dead body lying near them and then activated.

"What is that?"

"This, Alex, is something you have created in the future. We don't exactly know it's purpose, but it prevents tachyons from interacting with the body it is in contact with. Hence it will prevent me from being erased from existence, now that Damian has killed me in the past. However, it's effects last for 36 hours only. During that time there is no way to pull it out of the host's body, and after that it automatically comes out. So in a way, I just have 36 hours to live. And in that time I just have one job." She said while standing up.

"What is it?"

**"Alex Richardson, come with me if you want to live**." Hope said this while her hand reached out to Alex, who was still on his knees and looking at her. He had no idea what was going on, but he realized one thing, which was that if he wants to kill Damian, again, then he'll need Hope.

# Chapter 5 – Right after that the ship exploded

Alex was looking towards Hope, with no hope in his eyes, since all he saw was a dead person walking, with a sword hanging on her head. This madness was driving him crazy. She is not the same person that he just proposed to, Alex thought. The same person that he just saw pass away in his arms. The same person who was willing to spend her entire life with him. She just looks like her. Just like earlier in his life he met a future version of himself, who was nothing like him.

"You will help me?" he said in a very deep voice. Then he gave a pause and started laughing maniacally "You are going to save me?" he continued. Then he slowly got back on his feet and stood right in front of Hope. "You have no plan. No exit strategy. No way to turn this around. All you have is an incomplete replica of the greatest gadget that a Japanese robot has pulled out from his pocket. You, madam fail to see how badly we are trapped here." Alex finished his monolog with a look of anger mixed with disgust. His emotions were purely manifesting for Damian, but he was unable to channel it properly.

"Then I am trapped with one of the most genius person who has ever existed. I believe I am going to be just fine." Hope replied, with, well hope in her eyes. Upon seeing this Alex started to realize that it is not the time for him to lose his calm. This girl in front of him, needs him to put his mind to use. Because she believed that even with this limited knowledge he would be able to find a solution to whatever problem she is facing.

"You fail to realize something. Gun shots were fired here just now. Why didn't you think that everybody started panicking, and someone came to our door in order to question, what is happening?"

"Now that you mention it, it feels kind of odd."

"Everyone's dead Hope. And soon we will be too if we stay here." Alex replied.

"How do you know that?" She questioned further. However, Alex was busy picking up the dead body of his Hope. The one who fell victim to Damian's psychotic mind. Then he grabbed future Hope's hand and said "No time to explain. Now you'll come with me if you want to live." And they both stared running.

"The shrimp eating contest, it has to be it." Alex said while running.

"What are you talking about?" Hope replied.

"You might not remember, on this cruise, there was a shrimp eating contest that was going to happen. Every single person attended that. Damian must have added something in the shrimps in order to kill everyone on this cruise, so that he can easily confront me, and make me spill where is the data on the time machine. Now that so many people are killed, he needs a cover up story. Which could mean that he must have rigged the entire ship with some explosives or something. The way he jumped out of the window showed that he had has an escape strategy planned. Which brings us here." Alex said while stopping near a small life boat docked on the cruise ship. "Quick get on."

"Why would he leave this boat intact?" Hope asked to Alex while stepping inside the life boat.

"For one reason, this variable was never important, and hence not worth wasting his time over." Alex replied while climbing inside the boat after future Hope was in and he kept his Hope's dead body inside as well. "In ideal scenario Damian is smart enough to take out this variable as well. I was just counting on the fact that he didn't, because we wouldn't have had any other way to escape then." Alex replied while lowering the boat with a pulley.

Alex started the motor of the boat in order to create distance from the ship and then sat on the seat near the motor. Then he started looking at Hope and asked "Tell me everything you know about this Damian. He came from your time, didn't he?"

"I will tell everything, in time. First priority is to get you to safety." She replied while moving her head in the opposite direction.

"No Hope. First priority is to make sure that the Data is secured. Right now, it isn't. You realize that I was never too big of a factor. He needs me for that data only. If he gets that data, then he will be able to perfect his time machine. Now I don't exactly know the flaws that it has right now, but I just know that he cannot use it instantaneously. I can't let him use that data. It is way too precious right now."

"Alex, you don't understand. You are the data. We know that you have destroyed the chip. There is no physical drive, or memory chip. How big of a fool do you think I am?" Hope replied, and **right after that the ship exploded** behind them sending shockwaves of water towards them. It was enough to shake the boat a little but not enough to do some major damage.

Upon being hit with the shockwaves Hope grabbed the side of the boat to maintain her balance. However, Alex stood still, looking at her in shock. He was a lot more confused by what he just heard. "Hope, why do you think that I have the data? And that it is all in my mind?" He asked in a confused tone.

"Because you created that time machine for him." She replied, and then kept looking at Alex. He was still in shock and then he slowly brought his right hand close to his face and grabbed it with his palm.

"We are going at Ashley's. That would be the only safe place for a while." Alex replied.

"Alex let's not get her involved into all this, and think this through."

"Hope! We are... going... at Ashley's. And if you are not in favor of the plan, then you can go save some other lost soul somewhere else. I have more important matters to attend to." Alex replied to her.

She did nothing after hearing this, since she was way too confused to make any decision. Then she remembered Alex's sense of judgement and his survival skills, which made her say "Fine! We are going at Ashley's. You'll tell me your plan. And I'll tell you everything that happened in the future."

# Chapter 6 – In health and sickness

The ship was burning at the middle of the sea, and its flames could be seen from the shore itself. Alex had docked his boat at the harbor and then took Hope's body, wrapped her in a cloth that he found nearby and started walking out. People had gathered all around so they slipped past them. Things could get dicey if people found out that only the two of them have survived. They reached the place where his car was parked and then drove it away.

"I remember the time when a different version of you came back in time to save me. We drove far away in this very car" Hope tried to break the ice. Alex, on the other hand was not willing to answer to anything. He has not spoken a word since they discussed that they will go to Ashley's house.

It took them some time but once they reached there, Alex took no time in pulling out the covered body of Hope and then quickly going to the door to ring the bell. He rang the bell once and then rang it again in a matter of a few seconds when no one opened.

"Coming..." Ashley's voice said from inside, while she opened the door. Alex took a strangely confused look at the Ashley who was wearing a yellow skirt and red shirt. The color on her hair was gone and her natural brunette waist length hair could be seen. She was not wearing the mascara like she always did and seemed as if she has had a few drinks. "What are you doing here?" She said upon seeing Alex's face.

"Something went wrong." He replied while coming in with Hope's covered body in his hands. There were some people sitting inside eating chicken and drinking alcohol. Alex saw them and then quickly said "Everybody out".

"What the hell dude?" one of the guy said.

"I said, OUT NOW!" He screamed again.

"Hey hotshot, they are my college friends. You will not talk to them like that." Ashley said while coming in front of Alex. Then she quickly turned in fear and told her friends "Guys, I am afraid that we will have to continue this party some other time. I really apologize for this. Please make your way out in an orderly manner, and I will see you all soon. Sorry again." Everybody started walking out upon seeing her scared so much. While this was happening Hope entered the house as well.

"Alex!" Ashley said in the same trembling voice "I have seen those mad, psychotic eyes once before. It didn't scare me enough then. It does now." She said while turning back towards him. Then she saw Hope and her hair, and realized that they were not the same length.

"Hey Ashley" Hope greeted her.

"Whatever happened to you, girl? You look weak. And something's wrong with your skin. It seems like old age is catching up with you way too fast. I mean you are just 28 right now. And what's wrong with that guy? He looks like Damian and future Alex came back and are trying to murder you together." She replied.

"Ashley, look" Hope pointed towards the corpse of the Hope from this time, who Alex had kept down and uncovered. Upon seeing that Ashley went into shock and turned towards future Hope to ask.

"What the bloody hell is going on?"

"Damian, a new Damian came back in time." Alex replied to Ashley. "Three years ago, when we changed history with the help of future Alex, we created a new timeline which somehow, once again put Damian in my path. He came back in time to find the information that future Alex gave me on the time machine. To catch me off guard, and make me emotionally weak, he shot Hope. I was able to escape just because she came back from the future to help me."

"Guys, even by your standards, this is next level creepy. Also, how come you are alive if you died in the past?" Ashley asked future Hope.

"I attached a device to her body which will delay the after effects by a margin of 36 hours. But that's just about all I have." Hope replied.

"So Hope. I believe that we have some catching up to do. Why do you think I destroyed the data chip?" Alex asked.

"Because you never gave it to him. No matter how worse things got, you always said, it is somewhere no one could find it. I figured it means that it does not exists."

"It literally is somewhere no one can find it." Alex replied, "but be sure that it exists, and I do not have seen the contents yet. Now on to the next question. Why did I create a time machine for Damian?" Alex further interrogated her.

"They kidnapped you. Kept you somewhere undercover. It's like you never existed. All the databases, the records about you, were wiped clean. I tried asking for help, to anyone and everyone who would listen. But I was not able to prove it that you were real. They even sent me to a psychiatrist saying that I am crazy. That I have created a persona of a strong savior to help me out of the Sean and Sasha situation. I just had one goal to find out where you are and..."

"Stop with your bullshit. Why did I create a time machine? Do you know, or do you not? If all the information that you are going to give me is that I was tortured, then it is something that I have already speculated. And if that is the scenario, then you are useless to me." Alex replied.

"Hey mister. That is no way to talk to a girl that you were going to ask for marriage today." Ashley scolded Alex and then continued, "Also, since I am a drunk and it might be me seeing in a lot of exaggerated mode but, she is still the same person. And she has suffered a lot. You need to support your fiancé."

"Actually, I am his wife." Hope replied slowly.

"Oh wow, seriously, congratulation." Ashley said in all excitement. Then she turned towards Alex and said "Do you see, she is your wife. And you have taken an oath to stay by her side **in health and sickness**. So what if she might have changed a little bit. I mean sure, her hair looks a bit shorter. But that's all to it. You, sir have no right treating her like this."

Upon hearing this Alex slowly turned his head towards Ashley, since he was facing against her all this time, and stared at her.

"Oh my god, the devil has returned to collect his payment. I don't know why I was being so righteous" Ashley said quickly jumping behind Hope.

# Chapter 7 – The plan

"Where is the book, Ashley?" Alex asked.

"Sorry, which book?" Ashley replied.

"The one that I have given to you, two years ago. The one with a weirdly thick hardbound cover."

"The one which seemed like Leonardo da Vinci's auto biography?" She replied.

"Wait, the Da Vinci Code?" Hope relied.

"It's Dante's inferno." Alex replied.

"In her defense they all sound the same." Ashley intervened.

"Wait, what? Why? How? The Da Vinci Code is a very modern book written 20 years ago by a writer who is still probably alive, and might be alive in your time as well, Hope. Secondly, just because the book I gave you was written in Italian does not mean it automatically connects to Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo was born a century after the book was written. And third is it one of the oldest surviving copies of the original divine comedy." Alex replied.

"But it's in Italian. What was I supposed to do with it? By the way, I have read the Da Vinci code, and it was awesome. As a matter of fact, I have a copy inside my bag. Use that one." Ashley replied while pointing at her weirdly huge bag hanging from one of the chair on the dining table.

"Ashley, I specifically remember that I asked you to hide the book somewhere safe, and make a story of how your father gave you the book, and that I was in no way related to it. And because your father gave it to you, before he passed away, is why you have kept it so safely. Do you not remember?"

"I was pretty drunk that day, and there is actually a book with that story." She said while pointing at her bag containing the Da Vinci Code.

"You are always fucking drunk. What in the shit is going on here? Am I supposed to get anything that I want in order to make sure everyone's safe? Is it too much to ask that you guys just shut your god darn mouth and use your brain power for one purpose only, to understand and do whatever I am telling you to?" Alex screamed in agony.

"In my defense..."

"No more defense or offence. Get the god damn book."

"Ok. It's alright. I'll get the book." She said and started walking towards the stairs. Then she stopped and slowly told Alex "I don't understand all your science mumbo jumbo, but I'll tell you one thing. You will find a way to save her, and everyone else. Now and in the future." Then she kept walking on.

Hope who was standing there watching the both of them slowly came close to Alex and asked, "So what is **the plan**?"

"Chances are that I must be getting a phone call from my parents soon. Damian must have gone to our place to search for the drive, and when he won't find it there he must have gone to my parent's house. Considering the fact that they have met one version of Damian, from the other timeline, they would be welcoming to him. I know that he cannot use rewind, so once I get a phone call from my parents that will act as a sign that we need to leave. I will intentionally tell him that I am at Ashley's house, and I'll leave your corpse here" He said pointing at the corpse of the present timeline's Hope. "When he arrives here we would have left by then, all three of us. I'll tip the police that something is wrong here and they will walk in on him red handed with the murder weapon still on him." Alex replied while taking Hope's lifeless body in the basement. Then he came back up and cleaned the floor which had some blood there now.

"How are you planning to make sure that the two co-inside? That he is still here when the police arrive."

"I'll use that." He replied while pointing towards the landline at the far end of the room.

"Who the hell keeps a landline these days? I didn't realize that 10 years was so much back in time" Hope replied.

"It helps you stay connected when your mobile battery goes down. Ever heard about that?" Ashley replied while coming down the stairs with Dante's inferno in her hands.

"Can't you talk while charging the phone?" Hope asked.

"And call for trouble? No thank you. Chances are that the battery might explode." Ashley replied.

"Stop screwing around. Tell me your landline number." Alex asked.

"202-555-0108" Ashley replied while handing Alex the book. He went ahead and saved the number in his mobile phone, and then looked at the book. He slowly moved his hand over the hardbound cover of the book, and then looked at Ashley.

"Keep it in your bag." Alex said. Just then the landline started ringing and everybody started looking in that direction.

"Who might be calling you at this point?" Alex asked.

"I don't know. One of my ex, maybe." She replied while picking up the phone. "You have reached Ashley's residence; I am out of house. Please leave your message after the beep. Beep!" She replied in order to avoid the phone call. Then she suddenly got all scared and looked towards Alex. "This one is for you." She said. Alex moved towards her and grabbed the phone.

"Who is it?"

"Forgot me already. We just met on the cruise about 2 hours ago." The voice on the phone said.

"Damian. I thought that you would be willing to go to my parent's house first in order to find the data."

"I figured that asking you again politely would be a better option." Damian replied in a creepy voice. Then suddenly there was a knock in the door. Hope slowly moved towards the door to in order to open it, just to see that Damian is standing there with his gun in his hands. Hope was also quick to pull out her gun and aimed it at Damian.

"Be a good girl and don't fire it. If people hear the sound of gunshots, then they will gather here. Considering that my time machine can take me back, I can definitely get out of this. But not your friends here." Damian replied while disconnecting the call.

# Chapter 8 – The Da Vinci Code

"Dude! I just have two questions" Ashley intervened. "First of all, how did you get a phone and a number without any form of identification? And secondly, what's with the dramatic entry?"

"Third. How long have you been hearing us?" Alex followed up.

"One question at a time, fellas. So Ashley, I have a SSN, and right now, my young self does not have a record so I can easily get a phone." Damian said while walking in. "Secondly... I won't bother to answer that one." Then he turned towards Alex and said "Third, long enough to figure out that a book is somehow related to the data that I am after."

"Follow up question" Ashley intervened. "How do you know me? Am I famous in the future? Did my lifestyle blog finally pick up?"

"Alex's parents told me about it." Damian replied and then turned towards Alex and threatened them "Now give me the book and no one has to get hurt."

"You are not getting anything here Damian. And I know you won't fire at any of us without taking the book since you will risk exposure." Alex replied.

"Let's test that" Damian said while aiming the gun at Ashley. He was about to fire when she suddenly said.

"It's Dante's inferno. It is a useless book and I do not want to keep it. Please take it from my hands and do not kill me" Ashley replied.

"See, that wasn't so hard. Hand it over." Damian said.

"Yes Ashley. Hand it over. It's not like he can decode anything. The hints are all written in Italian, and he will never be able to find anything in it." Alex quickly intervened.

"Mocking me now are you?" Damian said in a very excited voice, and then suddenly got serious "Wait, why would you give it to me now? For eight years have been telling everyone that you won't give the book to them. Then why now all of a sudden. It's not Dante's inferno now, is it?" He said.

"Hate to burst your bubble but it is the one buddy." Ashley said.

"You stay out of this bitch." Damian said while holding his gun firmly towards Ashley. "Empty the contents of your bag" Damian said.

Ashley followed his instructions and Dante's inferno fell out with **the Da Vinci Code**.

"The Da Vinci code is it then?" Damian said while giving a smirk, while Alex was looking at him with all his hatred. "Toss it over girl. And I might consider killing you in just one bullet."

"The Da Vinci code? The book that my father gave me, before he passed away. The very book that I read every single day just to remember him? No sir. You are not getting that book. Here is the one you want 'Dante's Inferno' take it" Ashley said while throwing the book towards Damian.

"Let's try that again, shall we? Toss over the Da Vinci code or I will make sure that I break every single bone in your body, one after the other, and you will be willing to scream but no one will be able to hear your voice. And I will do that right after I kill these two." Damian said while pointing towards Hope and Alex.

"Aren't you a little bit afraid that you are outnumbered?" Hope said.

"Sweetheart, you know me. If needed I would kill a hundred thousand people alone just to get my objective completed. Or have you already forgotten?" Damian replied, and it made Hope's hand tremble a bit.

Ashley in the meantime looked towards Alex and he blinked his eyes slowly to tell her that she must follow Damian's orders. She slowly picked up the book and tossed it towards Damian, and he caught it.

"Can you please let us go now? We have nothing else to help you with." Ashley said.

"Not so fast. I can't let you guys be prepared for our arrival in 10 years. So I'll need to take you out of the equation." Damian said while getting ready to shoot her, but Hope jumped towards him and pushed him away. He however pulled the trigger and alerted the entire neighborhood.

"We need to get out of here" Alex said while grabbing Ashley's hand. But Hope and Damian were busy fighting each other. Alex realized that he needs to do something in order to help Hope run away as soon as possible, so he grabbed a chair and hit Damian with it. He then quickly grabbed Damian's gun and kicked him away towards the dining table. They all ran away as Damian was trying to recover.

They got in Alex's car and he quickly drove away as people were starting to gather. Alex was looking really pissed off as they left Dante's Inferno back at Ashely's home, and also the corpse of Hope was lying in her basement now. Ashley who was sitting in the back seat slowly tapped on Alex's shoulder in order to get his attention.

"What is it?" Alex asked.

"You owe me my book" She replied.

"You own me mine. And my book right now holds the fate of the universe in the balance." He replied.

"You mean this book" Hope said while pulling out the copy of Dante's Inferno.

"How do you have it?" Alex asked.

"I picked it up when we started running away from Damian." She replied with a smirk on her face.

"Looks like you were useful after all." Alex said.

"You still owe me my book" Ashley poked him again.

"Shut it Ashley. I need time to think now."

# Chapter 9 – Is there something else that you want to tell me

Alex drove for a while, and then he pulled over his car on an empty road. There were no signs of anyone for miles. He looked at Hope and instantly realized that she was feeling a bit down. They have been keeping quiet for a while now. Even Ashley, who has been the most talkative her entire life, has not spoken a word in a while. Alex realized that he needs to break the ice here.

"You alright? Seems like something is on your mind." He said while looking towards Hope.

"Just that, your plan. You said that you would be getting a call from your parents and that will mark as a sign that Damian is coming. But..." Hope was saying when suddenly she was interrupted by Alex.

"It didn't happen. I know. I have been thinking about that as well." Alex said. "I have theories. He could have had this knowledge when he came from the future. Maybe in the future he could have had an entire file on me and the people close to me. Another explanation is that he might have gone to my parents and then used rewind. However, my earlier hypothesis states that he cannot use rewind. I just don't have enough data here to derive a sensible conclusion. The information from future theory seems much more plausible. However, why didn't he came directly to Ashley's house in that case. Did he go to my house first in order to search? And how accurate information on me can get in the future. Knowing that at a certain point in time who I trust and where I would go first if I need a safe place. That still is a long shot. But it means that I am already under observation." Alex said while pulling out his mobile phone and started dialing a number.

"You can figure it out. If not, then I have no idea who can." Hope replied, and Alex gave him a nod.

"Ashley," Alex said while turning towards her, "Before I make this phone call, I would ask you to leave. Once I have contacted this person, there is no way out. Even if you don't meet him, you still are involved in everything. So you may as well walk away before I start a chain of events."

"The last time I left you on your own to deal with Damian and save Hope, you went ahead and joined his little teenage tantrum. So I would know better that to leave you alone with these two. Besides, you still owe me my book." She replied.

"Are you sure? This isn't a movie. Things can get really bad." He continued.

"Like I said, I am not leaving your side." She replied.

"Your call." He replied and then dialed the number on his phone, and put it on loudspeaker.

"You have reached the automated helpline of the government. Please press 1 for..." While the IVR was saying this, Alex pressed #7.

"... You have selected an incorrect code. Please select from the available options." Upon hearing this message, he started pressing another set of numbers. He first pressed # followed by 222 444 888 0 2 555 33 99 0 7777.

"You have selected an incorrect option. Please select an option from the given four options." The IVR gave a different message from the previous one this time.

Upon Hearing this one Alex once again pressed # and then followed by 4673.

"Please wait while we connect you to your supervising officer." The IVR responded and then the phone started ringing.

"Supervising officer? Who exactly are you Alex?" Ashley said.

"I am just a normal civilian. He is more like a handler for someone who is in witness protection." Alex replied while turning off the loud speaker, and then he started speaking to the person he had dialed the phone to. "It's time to meet... Yes, it happened... Just the three of us... I understand... I understand." And then he hung up the phone.

"Who did you call? And how does he know that there were three people in the car?" Hope asked while looking at Alex.

"He is a government agent, Hope. They have eyes and ears everywhere. They might not be watching each and every single person all the time, but once we get their attention they just don't let you go out of their sight." Alex replied.

"So we are going to work with a government agent now? The government, they make us pay taxes, and then makes our lives miserable, no matter how much we give them. And now we will be working with them? No! thank you, sir." Ashley said while opening the door of the car.

"Be warned, the moment you step out they will erase your data and make it so that you never existed. Like I said you are a part of this now. And nothing can change that fact. You should have walked when you had the chance." Alex replied.

Hearing this Ashley quickly shut the door and gave Alex an angry look "You should have told me that before. Now you owe me two books. A compromise can be made for one and a half if the guy is cute and you can set us up." She replied.

"Like I care about any of your damn books." He replied. Then he turned towards Hope and asked her " **Is there something else that you want to tell me** before we reach there?"

"What exactly do you want me to tell you?" She asked.

"Everything." He answered her.

"In about two years from now, they will kidnap you and force you to make a time machine. That is all I know."

"Nothing else?"

"That's it." She replied while looking down. She was not making eye contact and it was making Alex a bit unsettling.

"So where are we going to meet this Agent?" Ashley asked.

"At the airport. They have a safe house there just for these kinds of meetings. He is about to send me an email in order to give us access to that safe house." Just as Alex said this his phone showed a notification informing him that he has received an email. "Got it." He said and then started driving.

# Chapter 10 – Agent Grey Walker

Alex drove the car to the nearby airport and parked it there. He showed the email to a guard and they guided him to a hanger. The three of them went in and a man was waiting for them. He was wearing a black suit and tie, and was looking straight at them.

**"Agent Grey Walker**." Alex said while walking towards the man in black.

"Alex Richardson. I was not expecting to hear from you." He replied.

"I would like to say that 'it is nice to meet you', unfortunately it is not." Alex replied, and then he turned towards Hope, "This is my..."

"I am Hope. Hope Ri..." Hope was about to say Richardson but then suddenly corrected herself, "...Summers. Just Summers."

"Well Nice to meet you Miss. Hope Just Summers, and..." Grey turned towards Ashley and continued "... who might be this beautiful lady?"

"Ashley Bennet, nice to meet you Agent" Ashley said in a flirtatious tone.

"Now that we are done with the introductions, let's get back to business, shall we? I need to talk to you, in private." Alex said.

"Ladies, would you mind moving to the far side of the room. We need to talk some stuff which, I would have to kill you, if you heard." Grey replied. Upon hearing this Hope and Ashley moved to the far side of the shelter.

"So, you blew up an entire cruise ship today?" Grey asked Alex.

"You knew about that?"

"What do you think Alex? You were at that ship. The ship blew up. No one made out, but you and your time travelling girlfriend."

"Exactly what I would expect from a government Agent. What else do you know?"

"I want to know what happened to the ship, and Ashley's entire neighborhood?"

"I am sorry, am I missing something? Did they all end up..." Alex was saying when he was interrupted by the Grey.

"Yes Alex. They are all dead. That entire area is contaminated. The authorities are cleaning up the mess you have created. And while we are on the subject, who is that guy who entered Ashley's house right before you all left and ran from there."

"You have a match on him?" Alex asked.

"His only match is a 13-year-old kid who is completely hooked onto drugs. Even his face would look like that man in about six to seven years from now."

"I'll be straight with you. He is a time traveler as well."

"I figured that much." Grey replied.

"His name is Damian. And he is here because he believes that I have the data on time machine. He is the one who killed all those people on the ship and must have killed everyone in the neighborhood to hide himself."

"Couldn't he just time travel. Why kill the entire neighborhood?" Grey asked.

"I don't clearly understand yet, but I'll lay down the facts. He can time travel, that is basic. Then he tried to attack me on the ship. Hope from our time, she was caught in the crossfire. However, we managed to fend him off. Ideally speaking, he could have used a time rewind to change everything, he didn't. Also, there is something else. He said that he found out I was at Ashley's because my parents told him that. On my way to the airport, I called my parents and they said Damian never came to meet them."

"Alex. Look, tell me everything that has happened till now. And what is your perception of this. Because I have to report to people higher up in the ladder, and I don't want to go there with half-baked theories."

"I believe he has some restrictions on how he can use his time machine. Like it needs some recharging time or something. Because he never used the time machine instantaneously."

"But he is from the future. I mean we got his prints from your house and they match with the kid's."

"Exactly. You came to me three years ago, with a proposition that you'll keep me, my family and my friends out of trouble if I managed to make the time machine for you. I need you to hold your end of the bargain."

"Alex, this is already out of control. Yes, we can catch him, and yes we can keep you out of trouble. But you haven't kept your end of the deal. Three years later, where are we? You have accepted a job as a software developer once again. Your research is going nowhere. And we could, at any time reverse engineer the time machine we get from Damian, once we catch him. So tell me, why shouldn't I just use the three of you as bait? Damian is coming to get you. I could use Damian very well for our own purposes. Using you guys as a bait is my best bet." Grey replied.

"I'll give you the fully completed time machine, by tomorrow evening. I have the data on how to create the time machine. I can create one and give it to you guys." Alex said.

"Took the words right out of my mouth."

"I didn't tell you about the drive earlier, since hiding it from you was my best bet. But now, showing it is."

"Good. I'll make arrangements." Grey said and then picked up his phone. Alex returned to Hope and Ashley in order to wait.

"Do you trust him?" Hope asked.

"More than I trust you right now." He replied.

"Dude, could you be any more insensitive?" Ashley intervened.

"All that alcohol is making you look fat." Alex replied.

"You insensitive, son of a bitch. I am not fat."

"You guys" Grey called from behind, and the three of them started walking towards him.

"I need you to pull out my gun and run away." Grey said while looking towards Hope. "The government is not ready to cooperate with your request and they are asking me to apprehend you." He continued while turning his head towards Alex.

"You want us to become fugitive?" Alex replied.

"Take it or leave this offer Alex. Either way I have been given orders to apprehend you, and I will do it. I am just giving you guys a head start. If you can actually create a time machine by tomorrow evening, then it is best that you escape here." Grey replied.

"And I have to just assume that you are not lying to us?" Hope questioned him. "What if it is a trap?"

"It is not" Alex replied. "If he wanted to trap me then he would have done it by now. There was no point having that long conversation."

"Look, people. There will be a swarm of soldiers entering this hanger in less than 60 sec. Right now your capture serves me no purpose. Having that time machine does help me with something. If you fail to create one by tomorrow evening, then I'll arrest you. Till then, just forget about Damian and my colleagues." Grey said that to the three of them. Hearing this Hope followed his directions and pulled Grey's gun out and ran away with Alex and Ashley.

# Chapter 11 – Cool Protagonist

Those guys ran away from the hanger to their car and then left, before anyone can come after them. Agent Walker must have misdirected the soldiers because they did not start following the three of them in 60 seconds. Alex drove the car to another empty road, and then hid it off road.

"Tell me again, why are we ditching the car?" Ashley asked.

"They won't be able to easily track us this way." Hope replied.

"Why not burn it then? And let it go out in a massive explosion." Ashley asked again.

"First of all, take it from someone who has seen a lot of cars burned down, they do not explode when they catch fire. Secondly, ..." Hope was saying this when suddenly Alex interrupted her.

"I would like to know more about the circumstances around those cars burning." To this Hope did not reply anything but just looked away in order to avoid Alex.

Ashley, deciding to calm down the environment a bit, took out her phone and showed it to them, while still locked.

"How about these? They..." Ashley was speaking when all of a sudden she saw another mobile phone flying right in front of her and it crashed on the tree near them. She turned around to see that Alex had thrown his phone.

"I believe that you won't be having one on you?" Alex asked Hope.

"I do not." She replied.

"Guess I'll have to take your word for it. Ashley, use your phone to call a cab, and be quick. This is the government we are talking about. The only time they are fast enough is when they have to make a few people disappear for personal gain."

"Couldn't they just track me? I mean if Hope had gotten a phone from future, that could have been untraceable, not mine." Ashley replied.

"Stop fooling around. I did not bring you into all this because I wanted to owe you a book. You and I both know how much you like to play around. Like you have no idea what is going on, and that you too are just a bimbo like every other girl around you." Alex said, to which Hope objected by clearing her throat.

"I find that offensive." Hope said. Alex looked towards her and then turned back towards Ashley like nothing happened.

"So I was saying, use that little brain of yours and book a cab. I know that you created a small application, which makes your phone untraceable on the click of a button. That is why I gave you the book, because you can hide, if needed."

"That application can very well put someone else at risk. It bounces off of multiple various cell phones before actually sending a packet data over the network. It also means essentially hacking a number of devices. You do not want me to do something that unethical." Ashley said. Hope had already walked away because she felt insulted.

"You should have thought about ethics before you uploaded it to the app store. Now anyone who has that app, will piggyback our messages. Use it Ashley, I need a cab to arrive, before the government does."

"Fine activating functionality one of my app, the bouncer." Ashley said.

"Get a better name for it. And activate fake GPS as well, it will surely be helpful right now."

"Alex, now that you want the wise version of me to take control, I have something to ask of you." Ashley said, while activating both the functionalities of her app, "Drop the charade. You are not fooling anyone. You are not a sexist, you are not skeptical of Hope, and you are not a dick. You are just pretending to be one. I don't clearly understand why, but whatever it is, you need to tone it down."

"Well congratulations, you just peaked. I don't think you have any better contributions for the rest of our adventure." Alex replied.

"I'll need a destination." Ashley replied. Alex took the phone from her hands and entered a destination in the cab booking app. "A very wise and genius gentleman once said to me. 'The past Alex, your Alex, thinks that this is a movie and he will do anything to make himself the **cool protagonist**.' I see that much more clearly now. I also see the potential you have and what you can become." Ashley continued talking.

"Who said that? Future me from another timeline. Who came to save our Hope?" Alex replied.

"He did."

"When did that happen?" Alex replied. "There was no possible time for the two of you to meet up and talk. Hope told me everything, and when he followed her back to the city, he must have had directly came to us, in order for everything to add up."

"See, that's the thing. It actually didn't happen. But it is in my mind. I don't know the exact context, or why he was there, like a dream."

"Probably a remnant memory fragment. That's it. That is how he found us. He went to you and then asked for your help. You probably would have called me, and I being myself, gave you my exact location. I am such an idiot. I should have anticipated that he would go to you. I really am too self-centered. He then used rewind and found us. Just like Damian did, and met my parents."

"Alex, what matters here is, something he told me afterwards."

"Did he tell you that I am going to be the president in this new timeline? Because that could help us a lot right now."

"No, Mr. Self-centered moron. I told him, he didn't use his signature catchphrase. You haven't used it either, up until now. Why are you holding yourself back? What is going on Alex? You are underselling yourself. I have seen you do this a lot of times. But every single time there was Hope to cheer you up. You can't make it by keeping her at an arm's distance. Go to her, talk to her. Figure out whatever dilemma you have. And save us all." Ashley said this to Alex. He on the other hand just stood there, feeling the gust of the wind that just flew past them.

Just then the cab, that Ashley booked, arrived for them.

"I'll take it under advisement, Ashley." Then he turned towards the Cab and said, "However, there is just one thing I want you to know. That you don't need to be afraid, nothing will go wrong. It's me we are talking about; how can anything go wrong?" Alex said while twisting his head a little towards his left to look towards Ashley and then started walking towards the cab. Hope was still standing a few steps away.

"Are you waiting for an invitation, woman? We still have to take care of a few things, and you like everyone else need a good night sleep. We are not going to walk to the motel I have in mind, but you may try if you want." Alex said to Hope. "Or you can join us in the cab that Ashley will be paying for?"

"Excuse me, mister? Why exactly am I paying for this?" Ashley replied.

"What? I toned down the sexist, you pay now miss girl power." He replied.

"Convenient, like always, Alex" Hope replied while walking towards them.

"Well, you know me well." Alex replied and then all of them sat in the cab and went away hidden from everyone, just for a while.

# Chapter 12 – Part of the puzzle

The cab reached a motel and Ashley was made to pay for the ride. She was a bit pissed at Alex and a little bit more pissed at Hope. Her argument being, that Hope betrayed her the moment Alex started being a little bit nicer to her. Alex went in to check if they had any empty rooms?

"Hope, can I ask you something?" Ashley asked.

"Sure, ask me anything."

"Is the future, all dark and grim. Like what we were told three years ago?"

"The future, Ashley, is sunshine and roses. At least for you guys. Just, not so much for us."

"If there is a reason you are hiding this from Alex, then don't. You know him more than me. And he doesn't like to be kept in the dark. You know he will pull us through, all of us. But you'll need to support him, only then he will stop doubting himself and work on what is important."

"I can't exactly do that if he is keeping me at an arm's distance. I don't know what you said to him, but it seems to work for now. The thing is, what if it is just a ruse? He might be being a little bit nicer, just to make you a little bit more bearable."

"He is not that person. He does not fake just to manipulate people."

"He does. He used to have nightmares for such a long time, and he didn't tell me. He didn't even tell me about those now. He believes that he can handle everything himself. That he does not need anyone. What he doesn't realizes is that he is not the regular genius. He needs moral support. He is monophobic, and he always needs someone to be around himself, only then he can make sensible decisions and get in touch with his inner self. Only then he is able to find the solutions that no one else can."

Just then Alex came out with two keys in his hands. "Lucky for us, they had two rooms empty. I thought that renting just one room might make it a little bit crowded, so two of them." Hearing this instantly turned Hope's face a little red, which Alex noticed. "Keep your dirty thoughts to yourself T-800, you'll be with Ashley. I need the entire room to myself, if I have to think and come up with a plan."

"That brings me to the point. What are we going to do next?" Ashley replied.

"First, Ashley, you guys will rest. Then we will go to the national bank. I have a safe there which I need to open." Alex replied while walking towards the room.

"Isn't the drive hidden in Dante's inferno?" Hope replied while entering the room with Alex and Ashley.

"Good question, Hope." Alex said while taking out the book. "It contains a **part of the puzzle**." He said while tearing out the front cover of the book.

"So much for one of the original copies." Hope replied. Alex ignored that comment and kept defiling the cover. Inside the hardbound cardboard, there was a small device which looked nothing like the drive that he got from future Alex.

"I have hidden the drive somewhere away from the prying eyes of men." Alex continued talking, while holding the device right in front of him. "The second part of this machine is kept inside the safe that I had rented in the national bank. We will go there tomorrow and open the box, get the second part of this small device and then it will lead us to the drive that contains the data to create a time machine."

"Two questions" Ashley said, "first, if you'll find the drive tomorrow morning then how will you complete the time machine in just a matter of hours? Secondly, how will you create a time machine without any of the required materials?"

"I have a good enough knowledge of this devious little machine, that Hope brought back with her. I have created Damian's time machine in the future. But for some reason it is not working properly. How do I know that? Well there are some events to piece together. First, why would he come back in time to find the data if he has the time machine. Because something is wrong with it. Now I know that he can both, leap and rewind time. How do I know that? Simple, he never should have known about Ashley's house. If there is a stupid file on me in the future, and for some reason it contains data on my friends, then why didn't he know about your father's actual book?" Alex said while looking at Ashley. "Because either he does not have such data, or it is very limited. Which means that the two places for him to find me and my said drive are, my house and my parent's house. I called my parents, and they said no one visited them."

"He could have rewind time, after asking your parents to call you just like you said that you'll get a call from your parents." Hope completed Alex's sentence.

"I did not get that call because he used a time rewind right after they called me and made it so that he never met my parents. If he can both rewind and leap through time, then what remains for him? What is missing in the time machine?"

Both the girls were looking towards Alex for the answer. "Any guesses you two?" he asked. The two of them looked at each other and then looked back towards Alex. "For god's sake... he either cannot go back to the future, or he cannot use the time machine on his will, or he cannot use a tachyon trap." Alex replied, to which Ashley quickly raised her hand.

"What is a tachyon trap?"

"The most dangerous of the time messing activities." Hope replied.

"Considering tachyon trap is the building block of time machine, I have to rule out that possibility. Either way, once I complete my time machine all this will be over." Alex continued talking.

"I have a question to that. Are you really giving the time machine to the government?" Hope asked.

"I am. Once all this is done, I intend to throw this piece of shit in their hands, then they can do whatever they want with it. I have no intention of keeping something so much troubling in my hands." Alex said this and then went out of the room.

# Chapter 13 – Glitchwork

Alex was standing outside the motel room looking up at the stars when Hope came towards him from behind.

"The sky's beautiful tonight." She said.

"I once heard a folk tale regarding the moon and the stars." Alex replied. "Once upon a time there was a star in the sky. She was so bright and beautiful, that she could be seen from any planet on any world. Her only rival was the moon. But the moon could be seen only from earth, and no other place. The star started to burn even brighter to rival our moon. And the moon, it just stood still. The star kept burning and burning in order to become brighter than the moon, but it failed to do so. Other stars kept warning her that you are burning too bright, you'll run out of your light. You'll never be bright enough for every single planet. But the star did not listen and kept doing what she believed was right. And then one day, she ran out of her light. On the other hand, our moon it stood still like always. For earth, the moon was the brightest object in the night sky, because it was closest to the earth, and no one will shine for earth more than the moon."

"The message being?" Hope replied.

"You can never be bright enough for people who you aren't close to you. You'll just keep trying, and trying, but you'll never be bright enough for them. In order to be the brightest one you need to be close first." After that Alex stood there and looked towards Hope for a while.

"What is your interpretation of this story? You don't have the same though process as other people." She replied.

"The star never wanted to get the attention of the planet. It wanted to get the attention of the moon. It was the moon's fault who didn't see her love for him. He was too rigid towards her and in the end, she just, disappeared. The moon will never know that someone loved him enough to die for him." Then he stood there again looking towards her, as if he wanted to say something but could not find the words. Then all of a sudden he broke the silence, "I am sorry Hope. I did not treat you the best, in the last few hours. You came back for me, and are living on borrowed time, for me. And I did not see that. But I have a request to make. Please don't burn out. Stay, if you can."

Hope's eyes got wet upon hearing this, and she quickly wiped them with her wrist. "I can't do that Alex. In about 30 hours, I'll be wiped out of existence. All I care about now is that you are safe and Damian does not get his hands on the drive. Then I can die in peace."

"You'll just keep doing whatever you believe is right." Alex said in a sad voice. "I promise you, I will find a way to get you back. You are not dying, not on my watch. Even if I have to burn half of the world, I'll do it just to get you back."

"Burning half the world was supposed to be my job. Wasn't it?" Hope chuckled in order to lighten the mood.

"That didn't happen now, did it?" Alex asked.

"It didn't. The world is safe. Thanks to you."

"I am glad to hear that. You know, the reason I was being so much distant to you was because I had no idea what to interpret of the events happening around me. And then seeing you die in front of me, and knowing that you are like a dead girl walking. With a countdown on her head. I did not have a clear understanding of things. It made me paranoid, and I fell into despair. I knew that if I am not rigid and distant, I'll fall deeper and deeper. But right now, when I see you standing here, I know that I was wrong and I have a clear understanding of what I need to do. Earlier I was concerned that you might not be the same person that I have known for the last five years. That time might have changed you, that I would be in the wrong, feeling all fine that you are here when the girl I just proposed to, died in front of me mere hours ago in my hands. That concern does not hinder me anymore."

"Alex, know that, no matter what happens, I will always be with you. And yes, time might have changed me a little, but I am still that very same person who said yes to your question on the cruise, and that is still the... second best moment of my life." Hope replied in a playful voice.

"You have made a vow Mrs. Richardson, and you can't back down now." Alex replied. They both looked at each other, and then came closer and locked their lips in order to share a deep and passionate kiss with each other. They stood there for a while and then stopped.

"Tell me something, how did Damian force me to create a time machine?" Alex asked Hope.

"I don't exactly know the specific details, but they are going to kidnap you in two years. I fought a lot to prove that you are their hostage, but no one listened. After all they are a private organization, one of our world's biggest organization, **Glitchwork** private limited. Those bastards kept you underground for six years. I had to join a small terrorist group just to find out where you were. When we found you, you were completely broken, so much that you didn't even recognize me. Our contact told us that you had been in that state for three years before we found you. I believe that they somehow forced you to build that time machine, and you did make it. But a lot was missing in your own memory, and so even you were unable to complete it."

"You know what my biggest question is, how can they keep the company's name Glitchwork and still get contracts?" Alex replied.

"It escapes me. Before you were captured, you gave me this." Hope said while showing the bracelet she used to travel back in time. "When one of our informant found out about their plan to go back in time and find the drive containing the data on the time machine, I figured that I must follow them and stop them."

# Chapter 14 – Puppets

"The problem was that only one person can time travel with this time machine, and also that it can only go back 10 years in time, so I was the only one who could come to help you here." Hope told Alex.

"That's fine. Just having this information was help enough. However, why did Damian choose this particular time to come back as well. It's obvious that he didn't knew about the existence of your time machine, otherwise he would have had chosen another time. Unless, he was told that this is the best time to come back to if he wants the drive. It makes sense now, why all of you thought that the time drive was destroyed. They searched and searched, but did not find anything." Alex started connecting the dots.

"Alex, I am not following you." Hope replied.

"Think about this, that drive is one of the most crucial thing in existence. I must have spun up a tale that it is destroyed, in order to keep it from the hands of those idiots."

"That much is pretty straight forward."

"Right, but why would they believe me? Because they tried and found a piece of the drive. It would have definitely been the safe in National bank. Because Damian had no idea about the book that I gave Ashley. Are you following me till now?"

"That still does not explain, why he came back to this moment? Why not any further?"

"Because I told him that this is the very moment when I will destroy the drive. Then I stalled, and made the time machine for them exactly when I wanted to, so that your time leap would coincide with his."

"How? We found you two years ago in my time."

"Agreed, and I was their hostage for six years. During that time, they must have psychologically and physically tortured me in order to get what they wanted. I must have created the time machine for them within three years into my captivity. But they could not use it to go back in time. They waited 5 years, to take a leap five years into the past. You do realize what it means?"

"You have lost me once again."

"Hope, Damian's time machine can allow him to leap, or rewind, only a certain amount of time, then it would need to recharge and the amount of time it recharges would be equivalent to the amount of time you can leap. And why five years, let me tell you that as well. I must have laid down this entire plan so that I can figure out the weakness of the time machine here. Future me is still a genius I guess."

"So you mean to say that they did not break you?"

"They must have, and I would have predicted this. So I started acting that I have lost my mind at a very specific time. Anyone who would look at me would think that I cannot make further enhancements since I am not fine myself. Which brings us to the information you got from your contact. By the time you guys found me I was actually broken. And hence I was not able to help you, but you had all the information you needed."

"If you can do all that, then why not make a plan which would prevent us from coming back in time and solve everything then and there only."

"That is another message my future self is trying to give me. I need to let go of my fears and create the time machine. He must have seen every single outcome and have decided that this would be the best course of action."

"So you mean that even though you were the hostage, you had everything setup in a such a way that we all were your puppets and acting as per your will?"

"I wouldn't go as far as calling you puppets, but yes, in a manner of speaking you were working as per my expectation."

"Also tell me, why didn't he just used rewind against us when he had the chance at Ashley's house?" Hope asked.

"I don't know the specifics with time rewind, that is still out of my grasps. I need to study the data to find that out. I had a look at the circuits for leap, and a tachyon trap. However, I can tell you, rewind is the most complex technology that has come out of the time machine. The amount of energy required to perform a rewind would be way too much. You reverse the flow of time for the entire universe, in a manner of speaking. If he cannot leap at will using rewind is out of question."

"How much energy are we talking about?"

"Four, five times the energy it would take for a leap. Although he did use rewind very recently when he went to my parent's house. Must've had a reserve or something. There is still one part that I am missing. What am I supposed to do after creating the time machine? How am I supposed to kill Damian? Future me must have planned that as well. I mean, I cannot just go ahead and murder him. He needs to disappear, wiped out of existence. And why didn't the government help..." Alex stopped suddenly and stood there in shock.

"What's the matter Alex?"

"We are going to face government agents and Damian tomorrow at the bank."

"What makes you think that?"

"Think about it, why didn't Walker help me in the future? Obviously his hands must've been tied. Which means that the government was working with Glitchwork. You never met him in the future, otherwise you would have known him. Which means he never reached out to you. Why would he help us now then? He was either taken care of in the future, or something changed for him, since Damian came back."

"And how does Damian connect to the government now?" Hope asked again.

"He must be having some information which would make the government work with him now as well. That could be the only explanation why they turned on us all of a sudden."

"If what you are saying is true, then we need to be prepared tomorrow." Hope replied.

"Go back inside Hope, I'll take care of the rest. See you tomorrow morning." Alex instructed Hope and she followed.

# Chapter 15 – Money Heist

The next morning Hope woke up to see a car parked out of the motel. She quickly went to the inner wall which was dividing their room and Alex's room and knocked very hard. Since the walls were thin, Alex was able to hear the knock from the other side of the room.

"Alex, there is a black sedan parked outside our motel." Hope said.

"Don't worry. I have hired the car, through an app which lets us book cars for our travels." Alex replied from the other room.

"Whose identity did you use to book that car?" she asked.

"I have no idea love. I used Ashley's phone." He replied.

"Ashley's?" Hope replied in amusement.

Ashley who was still asleep on the bed slowly said, "Not now mommy. Let me sleep 5 more minutes".

"Where did you get money for the car?" Hope asked.

Alex, who had now walked out of the room, opened the door to Hope's room and said "I took money from Ashley's bag"

"My bag," Ashley said while quickly sitting up straight, then she looked at Alex and quickly jumped towards him screaming, "You, son of a bitch, how dare you touch my bag?"

Alex, in retaliation pulled out a gun and aimed it towards Ashley.

"Cool down buddy, you can return my money later... with interest." Ashley replied. Alex twisted the gun quickly for Ashley to grab the handle and said, "This is Walker's gun, the safety is on. Take it, it might be useful today."

"Are we planning a **money heist**? To be fair I never felt like I was up to the challenge." Ashley replied.

"No dummy, the government agents could be following us, so we can use this for protection" Hope replied.

"Also, we might need to use a plan B which would be equivalent to a Money Heist." Alex replied.

"I am sorry, plan what now?" Hope said while looking towards Alex.

"I need absolute silence while building a time machine. What better place to do that but the vault of a bank? About 5-inch-thick walls of reinforced steel and a sealing mechanism. That is a heaven for a mad scientist like me."

"That's what you were doing last night?" Hope asked.

"A little bit of this, a little bit of that. I'll show you if I get a chance. Come on let's go, it's 7 AM. The bank opens in 2 hours. The earlier we go, the better since there won't be many people in the morning."

"You forgot about one thing genius." Ashley intervened, "Today is Sunday. Banks are closed."

"Not today. Most of the banks are working due to a certain campaign. They want people to take more loans, and hence a special campaign is being hosted today." Alex replied.

"Let's go then have a money heist." Ashley replied in excitement. Alex walked out of the room and picked up a black duffel bag.

"What is that?" Hope asked.

"Just some stuff I bought in order to make the said time machine. It was a bit costly, but I am glad that Ashley had stocked enough cash on her." Alex replied.

"You bastard, I need my money back in full, otherwise I'll be shooting you with this gun." After that they all sat in the car and Alex drove it towards the bank. Those guys reached the bank at around 9 AM. The doors were about to open when Alex parked his car right outside.

"Everyone be prepared, Damian and the government agents would be here any minute now." He said while opening the gate of the Car.

"Tell me something, what is our exit strategy?" Ashley replied.

"I don't have one. If everything goes right, I'll use the time machine to go back in time and reverse everything else." Alex replied.

"That is your entire plan?" Hope asked.

"No Hope. The plan is up here." Alex said while pointing towards his head, "I am just telling you everything on a need to know basis."

"Well it doesn't matter now that we are fugitives." Ashley replied. While this conversation was going on, Alex pulled out his duffel bag from the trunk of his car.

"Let's go in" Alex said while facing towards the bank.

"Not so fast", a voice said from behind. Alex and gang turned behind to see that Damian was standing there. "You see; I was a bit jealous that you guys left me standing last night. Now it's time for payback." And Damian pulled out a gun.

"A standard government issues handgun, sir, you just had a demotion." Alex replied.

"Drop the charade Alex. You want me to believe that you haven't noticed all the government agents around you?" Damian replied.

"I have. I also know that they would have asked you, politely, to being me in unharmed. So you won't fire the gun, or will you?" Alex replied. Just then he noticed that there is a laser pointer on his shirt. He looked up to see that in the building right in front of them, up through the window, a sniper is aiming towards him.

"You see Alex, my orders are to bring those two alive, since you are less than willing to give the data, and you would have told them about everything, otherwise they wouldn't be carrying guns to a bank."

"I don't follow you, Damian" Alex replied.

"Cut the crap Alex, we know that you have the drive on you and you are about to destroy it and hide the pieces inside the bank. We have searched the bank in the future."

"Just one question Damian, do you have any idea what the drive looked like before I destroyed it?"

"Why does that matter?" he replied.

"Thought so. You have no idea what is going on, now do you." Alex said.

"The government agents, are not going to kill me, because I am telling you the truth, I do not have the drive and you'll never find it if you kill me now. As a matter of fact, what is inside the bank is just a piece of the puzzle. Now, I know you don't believe me, and are willing to shoot, but please ask your friends, are they on board with your plan?" Alex said. Soon after that Damian realized that the sniper was no longer pointing towards Alex. Damian quickly twisted back to see towards the sniper and Alex jumped towards him and knocked his gun out of Damian's hands.

"You two go inside the bank." Alex screamed towards Ashley and Hope, and they ran in while the government agents started firing guns.

# Chapter 16 – Well-wisher

Ashley was able to make her way inside the bank but Hope was left outside and was taking cover behind a pillar. Alex was busy in a fist fight with Damian and Ashley had already started the heist inside the bank.

Alex had pushed Damian away during the flight when suddenly Damian was able to grab his gun that Alex knocked out of his hands. He quickly started firing towards Alex while Alex took cover behind a car.

Hope on the other hand was holding herself pretty good. She had good enough accuracy and had already taken down a couple of agents. However, when she was about to fire another bullet when she got shot in her leg. An agent came close to her to shoot her while she was helpless and aimed his gun at her. When suddenly, that agent was shot down. Hope was not able to see who took down the agent but she was able to get in cover due to that.

Alex was still behind the car and his eye caught Hope's wound. He quickly threw a pebble towards Damian and tackled him to knock the gun out of his hands, which this time flew towards Hope and she quickly grabbed it. Then she looked towards Alex, and they both nodded at each other. What Alex did not realize was that the gun that he was carrying, the one which Damian brought back in time, just fell down and Damian quickly grabbed it and pulled the trigger to fire a few shots at Alex.

"Weapon security authorization not found" there was a voice in the gun.

"What?" Damian replied while looking at the gun. Alex quickly jumped towards him and grabbed the gun.

"You do realize that I had this gun for an entire night, the authorization parameters could be changed. Now it works only in my hands." Alex replied.

Damian quickly jumped back and took cover behind the car, and government agents started shooting towards Alex, who ran towards Hope.

"I think this was a bad idea." Hope said to Alex.

"Now you think?" Alex replied.

"Who is taking out the agents?" Hope asked again.

"He is our **well-wisher** , isn't that right Agent Walker?" Alex said then waited for a while to hear a response, but he didn't get any. "Maybe it is a simplex device." Alex continued.

"I don't understand Alex, who are you talking to?" Hope replied.

"I was talking to Walker, he must've planted a bug on one of us, since the two of us are the only one who came in contact with him." Alex replied. Then he looked up towards the other building, which was right in front of the other building with the sniper, and Agent Walker was standing on the roof with the sniper rifle in his hands. Alex pulled out the mobile phone of the agent was lying dead near them and dialed the same number which he did earlier in order to get in contact with Walker.

"The two of you talk a lot" Walked said on the phone.

"Yeah, maybe we bored you enough to not have you eavesdrop on other people anymore." Alex replied.

"Can't avoid eavesdropping, that is a part of the job." Walker replied on the phone, while talking out another one of the government agents.

"So, is this work or, something personal?" Alex asked.

"Alex, this is purely personal. Otherwise I would have never let you run away in the first place."

"Anyways, can you make an opening for us, we need to get inside the bank." Alex asked.

"You'll have your opening Alex, but you too need to keep your promise and make that time machine."

"Give me 6 hours after I have entered the bank. You'll have your time machine."

"Good, then give me 6 minutes, you'll have your opening." Walker replied and then took out another couple of Agents.

"Is the signal green?" Alex asked Walker.

"Not yet, one last remains right in the building opposite to you, fourth floor third window from the right."

"Quick, take him out before reinforcement arrives. I need to get into the vault in order to start working on the time machine." Alex replied.

"Quiet, this one is a bit tricky. He is not getting up at all. He must've figured that I am talking people out." Walker replied.

"Can you shoot him through the wall?" Hope asked.

"This gun isn't strong enough for that. I can see the scalp of his head, but odds are stacked against me right now." Walker replied.

"They are indeed against you Agent walker." Another voice said on the phone. Alex looked up to see that another man in black is standing right behind Agent Walker and had his gun aimed at Grey. Alex aimed his gun at that man in black and fired the shot, however the recoil was way too much to get a clear shot, and that man walked a little back to get off of Alex's visible range.

"Walker," Alex said on the phone, "Third window from your right?"

"Yes" Walker replied over his headphones, and then stood up to turn around and face the other agent, and they walked away.

"Alright Zero One, you can come out of the cover now." The other agent said on his comms, however Alex heard it over his call.

"Hope, wish me luck." Alex said while disconnecting his call with Walker. Then Alex quickly turned around and faced the other sniper in the building. Although the world was seeing everything normally, but it was not the case for Alex, he can think five times faster than any normal human. An ability he has demonstrated time after time, and something that he was about to demonstrate now. What exactly was going in the minds of everyone else was, that shot is impossible, while what was going in Alex's head was, 'mass of the gun, 500 grams, average velocity of the bullet when it leaves the barrel, about 820 meters per second. Weight of the bullet about 20 grams, which means the average velocity of the recoil after firing the bullet would be around 33 meter per second. Time taken is about 0.5 sec, which means counter force required to prevent recoil comes out to be 66 Newton. No signs of wind which prevents deviation in trajectory of the bullet. Maximum deviation after accounting for error comes out to be 1-degree upward shift. Need to aim for his neck to hit his head'. And right after that Alex fired the gun at that person's neck while holding the gun with enough force and the bullet left the barrel exactly as per the calculations Alex had made and hit the sniper right in his head.

"It takes care of that." Alex said and then helped Hope go inside the bank where Ashley was having a gun pointed at herself by the guard of the bank.

# Chapter 17 – The Key

Alex quickly pulled out his gun and shot the guard in head, and kicked Ashley's gun towards her. He then helped Hope sit down on a chair, and after that turned towards the bank employees.

"All of you are hostages. If anyone tries to do anything funny, I'll put a bullet in their head." Then he walked towards the bank manager and showed her his key, "I would like to open my locker."

"Mr. Richardson, what is the meaning of this? Why are you pulling a heist to take something that actually belongs to you?" the manger asked.

"That is because the people out there framed me, and would not allow me to call my lawyer. So in the most iconic fashion, which is like in the movies, I am pulling this nonsense act just to get to my locker, and fetch what belongs to me. Now be a dear and take me to my locker." Alex said, and the manger followed his instructions. He then turned back towards Ashley, who was scared out of her skin, and Hope who was still suffering from her bullet would. "Can you two take care of things here for a while?" Alex asked.

"I think" Hope said. After that Alex went to the basement with the manager. Alex went inside the vault and opened his safe. There was another small machine which seemed like a pen drive with an empty slot at its rear end. He pulled out the component he took from Ashley and plugged it in the pen drive.

"If you don't mind me asking Mr. Richardson, what is that?" The manager asked.

"This is **the key**. Now I wouldn't want to stress your puny little mind much so, just think about it this way. I wanted to keep something safe, so I locked it in a safe, and broke the key in two pieces, and hid one of the piece here. Consider this an honor." He replied to the manager and then went back upstairs.

"All right everyone. You are allowed to do whatever the fuck you want, except, you cannot use your phones, and you cannot bother me. Either of the two will buy you guys a direct ticket to heaven, or hell, based on your actions." Alex said after coming up. Then he went to Ashley and asked her to give him her cell number and he saved it in the phone he took from the dead agent outside.

"I am going downstairs, see to it that no one disturbs me" Alex said and then went downstairs again.

The manager had also gone upstairs so there was no one here now except for Alex. He pulled out the key from his pocket and then plugged it in the mobile phone using an OTG cable that he had bought recently. The pen drive's light turned red showing that it has got power. Now he aimed the drive towards a wall and pressed the button to open a portal on the wall. It looked like waves of blue light were flowing towards inside the portal. Alex approached the portal and put his hand inside to grab something. Then he pulled it out to reveal a small cube like structure which was given to him by his future self.

This small machine had all the information on how to create a time machine. But he also remembers that it would disappear in 5 minutes after opening and looking at the content inside the drive.

"Never understood the concept behind the 5 minutes' theory. I call bullshit on that." Alex said to himself. Then he took a long look at the drive, and right after that he kept the drive on the table and pressed the top of the drive in order to boot it up and revel the contents inside.

It suddenly glowed and shot up a holographic projection of multiple equations, design modals, pieces of code written in native C++ and electronic circuits. It was way too much to be remembered in just 5 minutes.

Alex turned around to see a journal hanging behind him as part of the hologram. He moved his hand to interact with the journal and he was able to flip the pages with his hand.

"Day 1: I am starting something completely absurd, and it will push science into new dominion. Think about it, warp drives will be in our grasps. Worm holes will be under our control. Interstellar travel will be within reach, and above all, time will become just another component which we would be able to manipulate ourselves." Alex then turned to page 300.

"Day 300: I have hit a blockade in the warp drive process. I don't think that it is possible to complete it in my lifespan. Today I am about to do another experiment which might release some Cherenkov radiation. Needless to say, it is dangerous, and might even disturb my body on a cellular level, but I cannot let the government get their hands on this. I'll have to do this myself."

"Day 343: The experiment I did six weeks ago left some strange sensation in my body. Also it seems like my furniture is being eaten by some parasite. Further analysis reveal that it is not some parasite. The furniture is deteriorating, and being crumbled into dust. I better move further experimentations in my basement."

"Day 400: My research has taken a completely new turn. I am no longer focused on creating warp drives. Instead I have found that I was able to trap the particles which were earlier releasing Cherenkov radiation. When a particle moves in a medium faster than the phase velocity of light in that medium then this radiation is released. This is a breakthrough, because I believe that I have discovered tachyons. The hypothesized particle which can travel faster than light."

"Day 6117: I have finally harvested the tachyons for long term. It has been almost fifteen years since I started my research. All that remains now is to create a small machine which can regulate the flow of tachyons. I believe in next 30 more days I can create an automated process to rearrange the tachyons such that I would be easily able to travel in time. However, I have wasted my entire life to do this."

Alex started wondering, who is this guy. He has fifteen years' worth of entries, yet the other Alex came from only 10 years into the future.

"Day 6312: I have created the time machine. It can take leaps in time, I can rewind time itself, I can even stop time. There is another thing that I wanted to try, but the experiments have left me weak. All I care about now is living the rest of my life alone, in peace. I have got a rare cellular degeneration disease due to which I am getting old faster, and nothing will stop it. Not even a rewind. My only option is to go back in time and give myself this data in order to prevent my condition. If a new timeline writes over the current one then I would be fine with the time machine in my possession, and hopefully..."

"This is the last entry. What are the equations then?" Alex said to himself and turned around to look at the equations and started reading everything that was written in the air. Then he opened his duffel bag and pulled out his equipment to start working on the time machine.

# Chapter 18 – One question

Alex was inside the bank's vault studying the time machine, while all the other people were kept hostages in the main hall. In the meantime, Agent Walker was held inside a van, handcuffed and guarded by two other Agents. Both of them were in their black uniform and wearing gas masks which covered their faces.

"What's with the masks?" Walker asked.

"None of your business traitor." The Agent sitting on Walker's right replied.

"They believe that Alex might spread gas in the bank as well." The Agent sitting in front of them replied.

"Shut your mouth. Don't you know about Agent Grey Walker. The moment you start engaging him he'll get an opening to get in your head." The first Agent replied.

"I wonder who gave you that idea?" Walker replied.

"No one did. I just found out about you." He replied.

"Hey buddy, you seem to have did your research on Walker." The second Agent replied.

"Shut it Lewis. Like I said, we do not need to talk to this traitor." The first agent said.

"Don't you have too much emotions pent up against me now Agent..." Walker replied.

"Reed. Agent Reed it is." The first agent replied.

"Agent Reed. Mind telling me what have I done to offend you?" Walker replied.

"I do not have to answer anything to you." Reed replied.

"Come on man" Walker replied, "I am in cuffs. What can I possibly do to hurt you? I mean unless I was your idol and my betrayal somehow left you way too, disturbed..."

"Shut up, just shut up." Reed burst out suddenly, "When I joined the organization I found out about you, Walker. I looked at your work and I thought that I can someday be like you. But today I saw how much of vermin you are. I hope I will never be like you." Reed said and then put his gun at Walker's throat.

"Stop it man." Lewis intervened. "Boss man said to keep him alive. He is actually in your head. I believe that you need to walk out and get some fresh air."

"I guess you are right." Reed replied and then stepped out of the van for a while.

Right after that Walker turned back to Lewis and said, "Seriously, boss man? Agent Lewis, mind telling me what was that all about?"

"What was what about?" Lewis replied.

"Don't play games, spit it." Walker countered Lewis's question.

"Just a small skit to make sure that we are both alone." Lewis replied while removing his masks to reveal himself as Alex.

"What are you doing here? And, how did you get here? I thought that the bank is completely under surveillance." Walker replied.

"I have my options. Now listen, in less than 5 minutes your senior, Connor Hook will be arriving here."

"Alex, I know who my higher up is. Besides he is the one who put me in cuffs." Walker replied.

"Right. He'll offer you a deal. Take it."

"Why?"

"I can't exactly explain since I won't have much time. Just hear me out, take the deal, no matter how absurd it might sound like, or how much complicated things might get, you take the deal."

"Fine, if you say so. How did you find out about all this? Also, why aren't you in the bank making the time machine?"

"Time machine is on automatic constructions right now. Again, complicated, cannot explain. And I know all this because I heard it from them when I came out here."

"Alex, this plan of yours. You have brought people into this. Are you sure that it will work? Because if it doesn't then you will be playing with all of their lives." Walker questioned Alex.

"You are right. Lives are in danger. However, I would like to point out that in an alternate timeline I was the leader of a resistance which took down a major army, with just our wit and will. And maybe some good weapons as well." Alex said in a playful voice.

"I like your optimism Alex."

"A friend of mine reminded me yesterday that there are people who believe in me. They don't have a plan, or the proper equipment, but still they are willing to risk everything just because they know that I'll somehow find a way. How can I let them down by being weak myself?"

"Just make sure that it does work out in our favor."

"I have **one question** for you, and you don't have to answer that, but I want to ask. Why did you turn against our government? I mean you obviously knew that they will catch you. Then what makes your personal matter so much personal that you took an even greater risk than me?"

"You are right. I won't be answering that question." Walker replied.

"I thought so. Look, Grey, you gave me a chance to make it all work out. I am ready to do the same for you. All I am asking from you is to believe in me. And also, whatever happens do not let anyone enter the vault. Not even people who are on our side. Even you must not enter the vault." Alex replied and then looked straight towards Walker, while was still in deep thought.

"Why do you want to know about my personal motive?"

"I don't have a reason."

"My parents lived in Ashley's neighborhood. Damian's poison gas killed them. It was just a weird co-incidence."

"I am sorry for your loss Grey." Alex replied. Then he gave a weird smirk and replied, "Do you believe in God?"

"Yes, why do you ask?" Walker answered.

"Just think of it this way that God did this for a greater purpose, and their lives were not in vein. It gave you the motivation to walk the right path."

"Too big of a price for me to walk on the right path."

"It'll all be undone once I create the time machine."

"You better do it Alex. For all our sake." Walker replied and right after that there was a knock on the van door. Alex covered his face and opened the door. Agent Hook was standing outside looking straight at Lewis.

"Agent Lewis, give me a minute with the prisoner." Hook replied, and Alex followed his instructions stepping out of the Van.

# Chapter 19 – The Deal

Grey was sitting in the van, handcuffed, in front of Hook. Grey knew what Hook wanted, he wanted to know why Grey helped Alex and if he is willing to help the government bring Alex down.

"Do you want lunch? A beer perhaps?" Hook asked.

"So you are being the good cop. Offering me something in order to get under my skin." Grey replied.

"Grey, my boy. You have always been smart. And that is the reason I am here..."

"You want to offer me a deal where I help you guys and you let me go."

"Let you go? That is a bit presumptuous of you. Grey you killed almost a dozen of our Agents. Those were your people, and you didn't even blink before pulling the trigger. Do you think after that we can just, let you go?"

"Then what do you want? I know you aren't here for catch up."

"That is correct. Let me start by asking. Why?"

"Why did I betray you? Or why am I not going to accept your deal?"

"Grey, I understand that you lost your parents because of the poison gas that Damian spread. My question is why go so far as to killing your own people?"

"You trained me well."

"That is not the answer I am looking for."

"You are one to talk you bastard. I am not the one who is betraying anyone, you are. For such a long time, you asked me to keep an eye on Alex and let him work in peace. As if you never wanted to alert anyone of the time machine. Now you are, all of a sudden, leading an entire force to get that time machine no matter who gets notified. What is going on Conner?"

"Like I said, you have always been a smart one. Yes, I have my own reasons. Yes, I wanted the time machine for myself. And once I get my hands on that I would be able to go back in time and prevent all of this from ever happening."

"You are way over your head Conner. Alex is not a fool you see. He has already calculated everything that is about to happen. Every move that you are about to play, he has seen it. I know that because he went in this suicidal mess knowing the consequences. Now that is the sign, of either a complete fool or an absolute genius. And I believe he isn't the former."

"We will see about what he is, once I get my hands on him. However, I do have a deal for you. I just want you to go inside the building as our negotiator and then we will handle the rest."

"You are planning to blow up the entire building, aren't you?"

"In return, I'll make sure that Agent Grey Walker dies here and you walk out as a free man, with a new name and identity. You know I can do that, right?"

"And if I am willing to refuse?"

"Agent Grey Walker is a dead man either way."

"How can I walk out alive, if I am the bomb?"

"Would you say yes to **the deal** if I told you that we have a perfect strategy?"

"I might consider it."

"We have a plan for that. The bank is in-penetrable and the only way in or out is the door. No windows, no basement parking lots, nothing. Except the sewage line. Getting in there normally would be impossible, so we have another plan for that. We will be having a few agents blow a hole in the floor of the toilet. You go inside, then strategically place the bombs in there when you get the chance. Then you'll walk to the toilet and escape from the hole on the floor. The trigger to detonate the bombs will be with you so you won't have to worry for us interfering with the plan and changing it on run time."

"And you'll let me walk free, while Agent Walker dies here for everyone else?"

"That is part of the deal."

"Make sure that you fulfill your end without any exceptions."

"I cross my heart and swear to die." Conner replied and then made a gesture over his chest in the shape of a cross.

"I just have one question. Why are you working with Damian?"

"He has found out about some stuff that I would like to kept secret. He has proof on me, so I made another deal with him." Then he came close to Grey's ear and continued, "By the way, the cameras inside the van, let's just say that they are a bit fried. So don't even think about double crossing me with this info. You won't be able to prove it."

After that Conner walked out of the van and Agent Reed entered, while Lewis was not with him.

"I have no idea what happened in here, but Agent Hook asked me to let you go." Reed said while un-cuffing Grey.

"Well isn't that a shame" he replied while stepping out of the van.

"Let me tell you something Grey, you'll face justice..."

"Heard that a lot" Grey replied while walking away from the van towards Conner.

"So where is the package?" Grey asked Conner.

"It is being prepped. Now, listen to me, we'll make announcement that we are sending one of our Agent inside and you'll walk straight in without any weapons, and the C4 charges hidden inside your bulletproof vest."

"Won't it be a problem if they shoot me?"

"They won't. We both know that Alex trusts you now that you have helped him so much. Then you'll just pretend to help him keep the hostages, while silently plant the C4 on the four main pillars of the bank. All 4 pillars are in the main hall of the bank so it won't be a problem finding your targets. After that you'll simply go to the escape spot and we would have dug a hole in there for you to escape. Detonate the bombs only when you feel comfortable to press the button."

"How are you supposed to get the time machine if bank is blown to pieces."

"That vault of the bank, it is thick enough to withstand a collapsing building. Once that is done the exit will be sealed for Alex to run anywhere. He will run out of air before he can complete the time machine. Tomorrow we will use some special equipment to dig a hole in the bank vault and get the drive that contains the information for creating a time machine."

"What if he decides to just destroy the drive while the building collapses?"

"That won't be a problem, since he won't be able to burn the drive and we can fix bits and pieces. Do you have any more questions?"

"Nope, give me the vest, let's just get this over with." Grey replied while taking the vest from Conner, which was not fully prepared.

# Chapter 20 – Get to work hack

The main hall of the bank was having all the hostages, which turned out to be a handful of people including the bank manager. Ashley was scared to death, she kind of agreed to help Alex in any way possible but this is not what she signed up for. Hope on the other hand was feeling useless, now that she cannot walk and could be a liability for everyone else. Just then Alex comes out of the basement where the vault was and walks up to Ashley. He had his right hand inside the pocket as if he was hiding something.

"You called me?" He asked.

"Yes they are sending in a negotiator." She replied.

"What the fuck am I going to do with a negotiator. It is a waste of my time. I am going back in." Alex replied.

"It is Agent Walker." Ashley replied.

"Is it time already?" Alex said to himself, "Fine, ask them to send him in." He replied.

"You can send him in, unarmed." Ashley replied. Just then Grey arrived from the front door slowly walking in. He walked past Ashley straight towards Alex, while noticing the handful of bank employees that were kept hostages.

"You come bearing gifts Walker?" Alex said from afar.

"The only gift I have is some Composition of words." Grey replied, while still walking towards Alex.

"Stop right there" Alex shouted at Grey, while pulling out his right hand, containing a small mobile shaped box, which he aimed towards Grey and quickly touched the screen. A beam of white light emerged from the mobile and struck Grey who suddenly started feeling little warm. That beam was still there and people can see blue light around the origin of the white beam.

"What is going on?" Grey asked, and then looked down at his west which had started to explode. Fire was stopped around Grey's body emerging from the west. He quickly pulled it off and threw it out of the door.

"That son of a bitch, Hook. I knew he was lying to me. He had the control in his hands all this time." Grey replied.

"What were they planning, to blow up the entire building?" Hope said.

"They were," Grey answered Hope's question. "and they used me as bait. If I hadn't known that Alex was prepared for this, then I would have never agreed to their stupid plan."

People, who were inside the bank started to get restless now. They were thinking that the government has betrayed them and is willing to sacrifice everyone just to make sure that the terrorists die.

"Everyone, quiet." Alex screamed. "Yes, what you saw just now is true. But the government is not doing this, a rogue agent is. I am in the process of exposing him, but I need you to calm down, all of you. No harm will come to anyone as long as you all stay calm and let us do our work."

"What if they decide to drop another bomb on us?" one of the employee replied.

"They can't" Grey replied softly.

"What does that mean?" that man counter questioned.

Grey who was not looking towards Alex continued "... to pull off something like this, high level approvals are needed. I on the other hand have already been branded as a traitor. I can easily waltz into the bank and detonate the bomb and they will have to just make up a story. The government will never allow a bombing on civilians. I wonder if you knew all this when you came to me?"

"This, and a whole lot." Alex replied.

"This man killed the guard." The crowd started revolting now against Alex. In response he fired a bullet in the air. He was still holding the same gun he took from Damian.

"Next one will be in your head." Alex replied while aiming the gun at the employees. In response everyone sat down back where they were sitting earlier. "Ashley, give your gun to Grey, he'll take care of the hostages. Meanwhile you come with me to the server room," then Alex turned his attention towards the branch manager and rhetorically asked "Which I believe is on the first floor?"

"That's right" she replied.

"I already knew that." Alex said, and then started walking towards the first floor with Ashley.

"So, what do you need me to do now? Please tell me that it is not to keep an eye on other people." Ashley asked as both of them reached the first floor.

"You don't need to keep an eye on the hostages"

"Thank God, I am so much relieved."

"I need you to hack into the federal surveillance system." Alex replied.

"The fuck?"

"Yes, don't worry, I'll help you. Get into the federal surveillance system and find any video evidence of Grey talking to someone regarding this non-sense plan of blowing up the bank." Alex replied.

"You do realize that it would take me at least two hours to break their encryption, and that is considering that I already have a secure connection, without anyone trying to stop me." Ashley replied.

"Make it one hour" Alex replied, as the two of them entered the bank's server room. Upon entering Alex pulled out his gun and shot down the Cameras inside.

"Alex, how will we do it? You know how many instructions are needed to be executed per second in order to hack such a huge system."

"Do you know how much powerful bank servers need to be? Even with a distributed system, these servers have to make thousands to secured encrypted transactions every second. Think about how much processing power you can get if you used the entire network of this distributed system." Alex replied.

"But how about an initial connection to the federal system. Also, won't they counter hack me?"

"The bank server is already hacked by government. Think about it, they sent in a rogue agent. What if he said something which can act as a proof? They must have had the cameras turned off. For that purpose,"

"...they would have hacked the bank servers." Ashley replied and then quickly sat on the chair in front of the main system and entered a command. "Fuck, we have a secure connection" She continued in excitement.

"Exactly. As for the counter hack, this'll help" Alex said while ripping open the network cable and starting the same beam of light on the download cable. "Now, I have slowed the incoming traffic by a factor of 1 by hundred. They'll be running commands at their end at the same speed, but it will be executed in the system after a delay of 100 seconds."

"Won't they just unplug their network?"

"Ashley! there is a reason I do not ask you to use your head for planning everything. They cannot just unplug the central server. Their entire operations will go down in an instant." Alex replied. " **Get to work hack**. Phase 2 of my plan has started."

# Chapter 21 – A Glitch in Time

Hope and Grey were in the main hall, with the hostages creating a little bit of problem for them. People have become really restless after seeing the bomb, and they seemed to be planning something in order to take their captors down. As Alex came down walking from the stairs he saw one of them holding a small brass statue which when hit could do some serious damage.

Grey was trying to calm down all the shouting hostages, to no avail. Alex aimed his gun from where he was standing and shot the man, who was holding the statue, in his hands. Upon the impact of the bullet that man screamed and everyone turned their attention towards him.

"Agent Walker, I want you to shoot anyone who is trying to create a nuisance. I don't care, why, how or what? No one moves. No one talks. And no one disturbs me for the next three hours." Alex said then moved towards the basement stairs and said to Grey, "Whatever happens, nobody enters..."

"... the vault. I know." Grey completed his sentence. "Alex" Grey called him and then walked towards him, "what you used earlier, to stop the bomb from going off, is that the time machine?"

"It is a work in progress. Give me 3 more hours, it'll be done." Alex replied and then started walking downwards.

Grey turned towards Hope now and tried to break the ice, "So, who exactly do you become in the future?"

"Why do you ask?" Hope replied.

"Just, the way you handle a gun. It seems as if you have been trained to... kill."

"My history is inconsequential to this mission."

"Then mind telling me why you haven't disappeared yet? I saw your dead body. Even if by a long shot the timeline does a self-correction, and everything falls back into place, you should still disappear."

"I used a ripple inhibitor on my old self. It is supposed to give me another 16 hours before my existence comes to an end. Why do you want to know about all this?"

"Just curious." Grey replied and then turned around to look at the hostages.

They looked out for another hour or so and then Alex returned from the vault.

"What is the progress?" Grey asked Alex.

"Working on it." Alex replied and then walked straight towards Hope. "I want to talk to you about something, in private."

"Alright." She replied and then stood up while taking some support from Alex. They both walked towards a cabin in the corner. They spent some time inside the cabin and then Alex came out with Hope by her side. He reached back to the same chair Hope was sitting earlier on and helped her sit back.

It's almost been 4 hours since they had started the entire heist. Around now Ashley should have had hacked into the federal system. However, Alex was not concerned about that right now, instead he was looking at his watch and counting seconds.

"How is everything out here?" Alex asked Grey, while looking at his watch.

"Better than it look. People are afraid and it has kept them from making any move." Grey replied.

"Good." Alex said while looking towards Grey and then back at his watch.

"It is a good thing that this hall has so many televisions mounted on the wall." Alex said while pointing towards all the TV mounted in the wall and then turned his attention back to his watch.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Grey replied.

"Nothing, anyways we are mere moments away from the completion of the time machine." He said and then once again looked towards Grey, "Once that is done, we would be able to fix everything."

"Quite frankly, I am surprised that we managed to survive this long" Grey said.

"It is not a miracle. I have been giving them the illusion that the situation was under their control." Alex said while again looking towards his watch.

"How exactly? And why do you keep looking towards you watch?"

"Don't ask me, I won't be able to explain. Just think of this as..." Alex looked at his watch again and then pulled out a remote from his pocket and replied "... **A Glitch in Time** ". All the televisions came to life, showing the video footage of Agent Conner blackmailing Grey on the news. The news was also showing a lot of proof against Hook being a traitor to the entire nation.

"We just got confirmation that Agent Conner Hook, who was living under the guise of a real estate agent, is a double agent working for multiple other nations. He also managed to get one of his rogue operatives to call an air strike on the bank in order to hide some secret in there which he does not want the government to find out." The news anchor dictated the news.

"You are off the case, Agent Hook" Alex replied.

"What purpose does it serve us?" Grey asked.

"First, it is like a thank you gift for your help, Agent Walker. Secondly, if I hadn't pulled this little shenanigan then he would have blown us up to bits and pieces. Third, a new Agent will be assigned to this case now, which gives me the rest of the time required to build the time machine." Alex replied.

"You could have had used other ways to buy time, why such a complex method?"

"Like I said Agent Walker, it is a thank you gift, for you." Alex replied while he started to walk towards the vault.

"Alex, I think you should stick with Grey, Agent Walker looks way too formal." Grey replied from afar. Alex twisted, gave him a smile and then walked back in.

Just then Ashley came running down from first floor, screaming "I did it, I did it. I hacked into the federal surveillance system, and exposed a rogue agent. Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"Easy ma'am. You were the one who hacked in the federal system?" Grey asked.

"I did, I did." She replied with the biggest smile on her face.

"Thanks. How did you do it?"

"Alex helped me with his silly machine, and then he..." she turned around to find Alex but he was nowhere to be found "... Where did he go?"

"He just went back into the vault, to work on his time machine." Grey replied.

# Chapter 22 – A Million thoughts

Grey told Ashley that Alex was inside the vault working on the time machine, right after she hacked the federal system and came cheering down from the first floor. Hearing that Alex had already left, Ashley gave a quick smirk, "Classic Alex. Always taking responsibility, never waiting to celebrate the victory."

"He does this a lot?"

"Ever since we encountered time travel for the first time. Agent Walker, Grey, you might have heard two terms, bug and glitch. Do you know the difference between them?"

"Computer fault."

"One is replicable; another is not" Hope replied from behind the two. "It is Alex's favorite question."

"Which one is what?" Grey asked.

"When the first Alex came back in time, from the war torn timeline, our Alex, he aligned himself with the wrong person. He just took a wrong turn that day. But all of that, it was going to lead him down to a darker path. Am I right Hope?" Ashley replied.

"Dead right, like always." Hope replied. "He would have had killed me, and then in madness, destroyed the world."

"But we all know that didn't happen."

"It was a bug, and the steps to replicate it were, him seeing my death. It would always drive him mad." Hope continued her explanation, "However, this one time, Alex from future, he saved everything. And it all happened by accident. He had seen millions of future, and none of them were any better. However, his interference made a new timeline, a better one. It just happened, no steps to replicate, no way to make it happen all over again. A chance, that's all it was. Ever since then he has been acting way too cautious. Like he can never make anything go wrong. Like everything is his responsibility. Like he has the weight of this entire world on his shoulders."

"That is the sign of a true hero." Walker replied while looking towards the vault entrance. "I wonder, if his bug has been fixed by this glitch?" he then murmured this to himself.

"I should check on him." Ashley said while walking towards the vault.

"Don't," Grey stopped her, "he asked no one should disturb him while he is in there."

"Again, typical Alex." Ashley replied and then turned around.

Another two hours passed by, and by now, there has been too much negotiation between Grey and the new Agent on the case. Grey has been misleading everyone with fake demands and threats of killing the hostages. This time, things were actually happening. The government agents were properly taking initiative to save people, and Grey knew that Alex has finally got all the time he needs. Any moment now, he must come up with the time machine in his hands, but the wait was killing him. Finally running out of patience Grey walked towards the vault in order to get a status update.

However, upon reaching the vault he was completely confused. There were not one, not two, but three Alex standing there working on the time machine.

"What's going on?" Grey said. All three of the Alex looked behind and started staring at Grey.

"You couldn't follow one simple order, Agent Walker?" The Alex in the middle answered.

"I? You? Which one of you is the real one?" Grey asked in confusion.

"Grey, buddy, I can explain." The one on the right replied.

"You better, or else I'll put a bullet in all of your head."

"That's the thing you won't, us being here is the proof." The Alex on the right explained.

"Unless, we are messing around on a quantum scale, and any one iteration of him can kill us, thus becoming the first iteration to actually break the cycle." Alex on the left countered the point.

"Like Schrodinger's cat?" Alex in the middle replied.

"Exactly." Alex on the left said.

"Then how am I here?" The one on the right replied. "Me being here is the proof that he won't shoot."

"Shut up. All of you. Which one of you is the current Alex?" Grey started interrogating them.

"I am." The one in the middle replied.

"How long ago did you complete the time machine?" Walker replied.

"Which one?" Alex on left said, "I completed mine seven hours ago."

"Mine was 13" The one on the right continued the answer.

"I completed just now." Middle Alex replied.

"Unless, what if we all completed the time machine just now, with the youngest Alex?" The one on the right questioned. "How else we will explain overlapping? It's not like we have a negative time scale."

"How hard could it be?" The one on left countered the point. "His past is part of our future, so we have already completed time machine as per our original time." Left Alex said.

"You guys are six hours apart, how can you have so much confusion among yourselves?" Grey said.

"Do you have any idea how many thoughts cross my mind in six hours?" Alex in the middle replied. "More than **a million thoughts**. Which is way more than what I can say about you regular humans."

"So, you both completed your time machine and then came back just to help him?" Grey continued his interrogation.

"You're getting it now." Right Alex replied.

"So, what are you waiting for now? And why didn't you create an army of Alex to make sure the plan works?" Walker replied.

"Because, Agent Walker, this is really complicated. A temporal image. I saw my alternate future self, do it once. I wasn't even sure that I would be able to create even a single copy, let alone fo... three. Also this entire thing is giving me a headache." Middle Alex replied.

"You'll get the hang of it." Right Alex said while putting his hand on middle Alex's shoulder.

"So what are you guys waiting for now?" Grey asked. Just after that there was sound of an explosion.

"That, is what we were waiting for." Left Alex answered. "Fine, I create a diversion," he continued, then looked towards right Alex and said "You make a run for it, and you," he continued while shifting his focus towards middle Alex, "Go back 6 hours into the past. You past self needs you."

"Yeah! Yeah! I know the plan." Middle Alex replied, and then stared working on his time machine.

# Chapter 23 – Alex 2.0

There were three Alex inside the vault currently and the middle one was about to take a leap for the first time. He had his time machine in his hands and while looking at the setting on the mobile phone like time machine. He looked at the screen and it had current date and time displayed in a holographic texture. The next thing was the mode selection which had two options, rewind and leap, out which leap was selected by Alex. Going down, there was the unit selection, which displayed hours and at last a slider like the unlock slider for any iPhone. He kept the index finger of his left hand on the slider and moved the slider six times which changed the time to six hours ago.

"May the force be with you guys" Middle Alex said and then clicked on the Time. There was a flash of light and he was teleported back to six hours ago. Another version of himself was reading the equations that were required create the time machine.

"Is that a hyper power equation. I don't have enough time to find and test that solution." Past Alex said to himself.

"You can always try and trust yourself." Alex replied.

"Is it root 2?" Past Alex replied while turning towards Alex.

"It could be. Who knows?"

"You are here, which means I am right. Root 2 is the solution." He said turning back towards the equations.

"You know; the most complicated questions usually have the simplest solutions." Alex replied.

"Are you saying that in reference to our mind or theirs?" Past Alex replied while mocking humans.

"Does it matter?" Alex replied.

"Anyways, **Alex 2.0** , anything important you want me to know about?" Past Alex replied.

"Nothing much, just that..." Alex looked at his watch and then continued, "Alex 3.0 is about to appear right about, now."

And suddenly there was another flash of light and another Alex appeared there.

"Damian is going to be one hell of a challenge." Alex 3.0 said.

"Shhh..." Alex 2.0 interrupted him. "Continuity."

"Right, let's get to work, shall we?" Alex 3.0 said and then started working with the other versions of himself.

The three of them were working on the time machine for another three hours when Alex 3.0 started looking at his watch.

"Is it time?" Past Alex replied.

"I believe Grey is about to enter the bank" Alex 2.0 said.

"That's right, he'll be really important for this entire plan." Alex 3.0 replied.

"I should probably get going." Alex 2.0 replied, while he was still looking at the circuit board of the time machine through a magnifying glass held by a stand in place.

"You seem to be a lot calm for a person whose past self is about to jump through time." Past Alex replied.

"You are over reacting Alex" Alex 3.0 replied, when suddenly the phone Past Alex had rang. It was the same phone, that Alex took from the dead Agent outside the bank. Past Alex pulled out the phone and looked that it was Ashley's call.

"Yes." He said on the phone after accepting the call.

"They want to talk to you." She replied on the phone.

"Be right there." He said and then hung up. "They are expecting you." He then said while looking at Alex 2.0.

"Just be careful that the transistor does not burn." He replied while looking away from the magnifying glass and then walked out of the vault.

What happened next was covered earlier. He came out, Grey walked in, he had a bomb, Alex uses his time machine to prevent it from exploding inside the bank. He then gives Walker Ashley's gun and took Ashley with him to the Server room. They had a discussion about hacking into the server and then Alex placed his time machine near the wire to prevent commands from coming in.

"What are you going to do in the meanwhile?" Ashley asked.

"I am going to sit here, on the other system, and make some more adjustments." Alex replied while opening a nearby laptop.

"Why do you need that?" She asked.

"Because, if we manage to find something we will require to download it, and now that I have slowed the download speed, I need to create a secure channel from where I can access files that you have uncovered. Since you are busy breaking into the system, you won't be able to do this. Hence, a new secure channel which won't be traced to the bank server." Alex replied and then kept working on the laptop.

There was silence for a moment and then Ashley spoke, "Alex, how much more complex things would get if they are not using any standard polyalphabetic cypher?"

"No change in plans. I expected them to do that." Then Alex turned around to look at the system, "Execute a command to list directories." Ashley did that, and Alex was able to see the encrypted list of directories on his system, which was having high download speed.

"Got it. Ok let me see, all the targets that I definitely know." Alex started talking to himself.

"Why are you seeing the results there? Why not here?" Ashley asked.

"Because Ashley, last I checked, the response to your command is also part of the current downstream network which we will be receiving very slowly." Alex replied.

"Right," she said looking at the screen. "hey look, these are the two default directories, self, and parent."

"That's correct, dot and dot-dot." Alex said while writing it down, "But that won't be enough to decrypt everything."

"Go ahead, make an incorrect command, I am hoping that they are using UNIX, and it would give us an incorrect message."

"Got it." Ashley did the same and Alex was able to see the results.

"Now, run a command to create a directory, called... Alex, the master of the dark arts."

"Don't tell me that is your handle for online gaming."

"Just run the darn command."

"Doing it. Nope did not work."

"I know. We do not have access to do that. You are running in read only access, that too in under privileges. Keep throwing random commands, I'll work on getting the encryption algorithm ready." Alex replied and then started looking at the data and working on the calculator.

# Chapter 24 – A Completely Idiotic Notion

"Are you really mapping the ASCII values and then performing calculations?" Ashley asked after a moment.

"That is correct."

There was silence for a moment and then Ashley asked Alex something, "Alex, I don't understand all this time travel stuff exactly, but, since Hope is dead in our time, does this means that future Hope will be wiped from existence as well?"

"She will. The only reason she is still here is because of a ripple effect inhibitor. But that too is running on battery. When that battery reaches zero, she'll be wiped out of existence."

"Will it change our time as well."

"It won't."

"Have you said goodbye to her then?"

"I haven't."

"Alex do you know why the book my father gave me was important to me?"

"Because he gave it to you before he died."

"Because, I never got a chance to say goodbye either. I was too scared, when he got sick, I used to go to the hospital every day, and talk to the doctors about his health, talk to my mother, tell her that things will be fine. However, I did not meet him, even a single day. Because I was angry at him, because we had a fight before he got sick. So I decided that I don't want to meet him. **A completely idiotic notion** , I know. Deep inside I really wanted him to get better. In time my anger cooled down a little and I thought that I'll reconcile with him when he'll get better. And for a while his condition started to improve. I decided that I'll meet him now, just to find out that all of a sudden he passed away. The very same day when I was going to meet him. From that day onwards I decided that I'll stop being immature, and see things the way they are. They do not last Alex, nothing does. So take any and every moment you have with everyone. Being a librarian he had read a lot of books, and he really liked that one book. So much that my last birthday gift I got from him was this book that you so happily gave up to Damian. And I was fine with it. Because I trust you that you'll make everything right."

"I will"

"That includes with Hope as well?"

"We already made our peace last night. Things are good now."

"No silly. I meant you'll say goodbye to her before she goes away for good."

"I will"

"Say it, 'Ashley, everything will be alright'"

"Ashley, everything will be alright" Alex replied and then stopped his hands and took a deep breath, "After all, it's me we are talking about. How can anything go wrong?" He said with a smile on his face.

"Good because I am running out of commands and they are slowly breaking into the system."

"How many hackers they have working on this thing?"

"Probably a hundred, who are thousand times better than me."

"Just give me a few more minutes, I am almost done with the cypher."

"What is it?"

"It seems to be a modified version of the RSA algorithm."

"I am sorry, the RSA algorithm. The one which is next to impossible to break without the correct keys." Ashley said in shock.

"Good to see that you have been doing your homework. Also it is a complex polyalphabetic variant of the said cypher. And to make things worse, they are using really large prime numbers."

"How many bits of encryption level have they reached."

"Normally, we have 256 bits, they just quadrupled down that number."

"What the hell? We will never be able to break the encryption." Alex however did not respond to her. "Alex, are you listening? Earth to Alex. Anybody there?"

"Got it." He replied. "Go ahead, apply this formula to get the plain text." Alex continued while looking at his screen.

"Will it work?"

"It has to." He said. Ashley went ahead and started entering the formula into the system.

"Is that a modulus?" She asked.

"That is indeed correct." Alex said and then turned around to see the formula.

"And done, go see on your laptop." Ashley replied.

"I can see the directory structure."

"Awesome, I'll start breaking the permissions now... and done... and done... and done. We now have admin access on the system."

"Find the footage" Alex asked Ashley.

"On it boss" she replied, and then started looking into the server. She looked around a little and then stumbled upon the footage of Grey talking to Agent Conner. They made a deal to blow up the entire bank.

"Good, I need this." Alex replied and then downloaded the file on his laptop. "I am making a local server to download the file, and then from there I can upload it to your app. Anyone and everyone who is anything in this country should watch it." He continued.

Ashley followed his orders and then jumped in joy of doing something which was almost impossible. She quickly ran down screaming in excitement "I did it, I did it..." She didn't even stop to see that Alex did not follow her. He just stopped outside the server room and opened the screen of his time machine. He swiped the slider once again to take another leap one hour into the past and arrived at the time right after Ashley and his past self, entered the server room.

He quickly walked down to see that a man is about to use a statue to hit Grey in order to revolt against his captors. Alex instantly aimed his gun at that man and took a shot.

"Agent Walker, I want you to shoot anyone who is trying to create a nuisance. I don't care, why, how or what? No one moves. No one talks. And no one disturbs me for the next three hours." Alex said then moved towards the basement stairs and said to Grey, "Whatever happens, nobody enters..."

"... the vault. I know." Grey completed his sentence. "Alex" Grey called him and then walked towards him, "what you used earlier, to stop the bomb from going off, is that the time machine?"

"It is a work in progress. Give me 3 more hours, it'll be done." Alex replied and then started walking downwards.

He went down into the vault and saw past Alex and Alex 3.0 working together, on the time machine. Alex 3.0 turned around to see that Alex 2.0 has returned from his little quest.

"I believe that the hack went successfully, two." He replied.

"That is correct, three. In about one hour we would be able to break into the federal system and get the information we need." Alex 2.0 replied.

"You know it is a bit creepy that the two of you are calling each other two and three."

"I guess you are right, I should be three and he must be four" Alex 2.0 replied.

# Chapter 25 – I'll be the distraction

All three of them worked on the time machine for another two hours and then when the time machine was just completed Grey walked into the room.

"What's going on?" Grey said. All three of the Alex looked behind and started staring at Grey.

"You couldn't follow one simple order, Agent Walker?" Past Alex answered.

"I? You? Which one of you is the real one." Grey replied in confusion.

"Grey, buddy, I can explain." Alex 3.0 replied.

"You better, or else I'll put a bullet in all of your head."

"That's the thing, you probably won't do that. Us, here is the proof." Alex 3.0 explained.

"Unless, we are messing on a quantum scale, and any iteration of him can be the first iteration to actually break the cycle." Alex 2.0 countered the point.

"Uncertainty principle, like Schrodinger's cat?" Past Alex replied.

"I am here." The one on the right replied. "That is enough proof that he won't shoot."

"Shut up. All of you. Which one of you is our current Alex?" Grey started interrogating them.

"I am." Past Alex replied.

"How long ago did you complete the time machine?" Walker replied.

.

.

.

"You guys are six hours apart, how can you have so much confusion among yourselves?" Grey said.

.

.

.

"Because, Agent Walker, this is really complicated." Past Alex said that.

.

.

.

"Yeah! Yeah! I know the plan." Middle Alex replied right before going back in time.

"Did he just... use the... time machine?" Grey asked while looking towards Alex 3.0.

"That would be correct. Now speaking of using the time machine." Alex 3.0 said while turning his attention from Grey to Alex 2.0, "I believe that I need to be somewhere else."

"How do we know that I won't mess this up?" Alex 2.0 asked 3.0.

"I being..."

"...not that. We will build this. How do I know that I won't mess something else up?" Alex 2.0 interrupted 3.0 and voiced his concerns.

"You won't. Just follow your gut. And third time is a charm." Alex 3.0.

**"I'll be the distraction** " Alex 2.0 replied to 3.0 and then everybody started walking out of the vault.

"So, what exactly happened here?" Grey asked Alex.

"I don't have much time, just think of this as the longest possible shot that I have managed to pull off. I learned this trick from someone who had much more knowledge of time travel and stuff. I can create copies of myself who coming back in time to help me with everything. But I have to calculate every event exactly the way it is going to happen, accurate to the very minutes." 2.0 replied.

"So which one of you guys talked to me in the van?" Walker asked.

"None, I'll be doing that now." 3.0 replied, and then stopped so that nobody sees him walk up the stairs.

Alex and Grey walked out to the ground floor of the building. Damian was standing there Holding Hope hostage. She was unable to fight back due to her injury.

"Give me the data Alex, or she dies" Damian threatened Alex.

Alex looked towards Grey and said "Shoot Damian when you get the chance."

"Where is your gun?" Grey asked.

"Disassembled" Alex replied.

"What are you guys talking about?" Damian screamed.

"Damian, you are so God damn predictable." Alex replied to him.

"What do you mean?" Damian replied. However, Alex was looking towards Hope and not paying attention to Damian's threats.

"It's okay. Like I said, I know what is going on." Hope replied.

"I am sorry that it has to be this way Hope"

"Alex, I took a blind jump to the past, because I believed in you. I still do."

"Would the two of you stop it and listen to me" Damian screamed in anger.

"For me, live on" She replied as she started to fade away into nothingness. Her body slowly started to break apart leaving light blue light at the end which was disintegrated, and then all of a sudden she faded away.

"What just happened?" Ashley asked.

"The timer, it ran out." Alex replied. Hearing this Damian jumped towards Alex with all his rage and started fighting him. Grey intervened in their fight and Alex was pushed away. Alex 3.0 however took the advantage of the situation and ran towards the men's toilet when no one was looking.

Alex 2.0 looked at his time machine, adjusted the parameters to take him back another six hours and then got up. However, Damian managed to push Grey away and then jumped towards Alex to get the time machine. He quickly grabbed the time machine and pressed the date.

"Weapon security authorization not found" the time machine alerted.

"You really thought that I would bring out the time machine and execute my entire plan without any security parameters? I thought about, what if someone else got their dirty hands on the time machine?" Alex replied to a confused Damian.

"You did not lose your gun. You integrated its system into the time machine." Grey replied.

"Exactly. And that is the reason that I needed a gun right now. From now on that time machine will work only and only in my hands."

"Let me guess, you did that an hour ago. After that hack." Damian replied.

"I needed you to see that gun in my hands. So this though won't cross your mind."

"Just one question, how exactly will you take this time machine back from me? I can travel into the future and get it fixed" Damian asked.

"Everyone, " Alex screamed and all the hostages started looking towards Alex, " you are free to run. No one is keeping you all hostage anymore."

Damian was a bit confused at Alex's words. How can letting everyone run help him get the time machine back, then all of a sudden he realized that he was standing right in front of the entry gate. The entire swarm of hostages ran towards him pushing him aside, and before he knew it he tripped and the time machine fell over to the side from where Alex quickly picked it up and ran back towards the vault.

Grey looked at Alex, and then looked back at Damian. He had realized by now what has happened. "I knew that Alex was smart, but so smart that he managed to plan every single event so precisely. He even managed to plan out how much time would it take for the approval of every action, and at around what time would Damian enter the building and how to take care of the situation if things went sideways. Perhaps having 3 Alex working together was also part of his plan, since he knew how many hands, or Alex he needed so that everything would exactly fall into place. Alex, you son of a bitch." Then Grey turned his attention towards the one who went into the men's toilet and said, "I leave the rest to you my friend."

Alex 2.0 in the meanwhile ran back into the vault and then pressed the button. There was another flash of light and then he was standing right behind Alex 2.0 and the first Alex.

"Damian is going to be one hell of a challenge." He said while moving towards his two past selves. He was feeling a lot guilty and was in pain. None of the other two Alex realized this. He was the only one who felt it, that why Ashley asked him to talk to Hope, one last time.

"Shhh..." Alex 2.0 interrupted him. "Continuity."

"Right, let's get to work, shall we?" Alex 3.0 said and then started working with the other versions of himself.

He knew that he cannot let anyone see him concerned over anything. Even though both of them knew that it was part of the plan, he just couldn't tell them how hard this part is going to be. This was something that he had to bear himself and let the other two experience over time.

# Chapter 25 – For me, Live on

The work on the time machine was still ongoing and three Alex were working really hard in order to complete in time. Everything else happened exactly as the last time, at around three hours' mark Grey entered the bank, Alex 2.0 stopped the bomb, then went to hack the server. He returned and then started working with the other two in order to get the time machine working. Alex 2.0 also disassembled his gun and integrated its circuits into the time machine.

"What is bothering you?" Alex asked.

"Nothing, why do you ask? Obviously you are having the same misunderstanding as I had when I was creating the time machine. It's fine, we are just creating the greatest weapon of all time. No pressure." Alex 2.0 replied.

"I am not under pressure. I just am concerned that we might break this entire cyclic chain if I failed to build this correctly." Alex replied.

"Don't worry. I too was having that very same thought before travelling back in time. And now that it worked, it feels as if a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I am free now" Alex 2.0 replied.

"You are awfully quiet 3.0" Alex said.

"Something is going on in my mind." Alex 3.0 replied.

"Is it about what Ashley told you?" Alex 2.0 asked.

"What did Ashley tell you about?" Past Alex asked.

"Nothing."

"You know you can tell me anything."

"Shhh... Continuity" Alex 3.0 replied.

"Oh come on, screw continuity. It's me we are talking about..." Past Alex said. And then all three continued together, "How can anything go wrong?"

"But seriously, continuity" Alex 2.0 and 3.0 replied at the same time.

This bickering around went on for a while and then Alex 3.0 decided to go check on everyone. Also this was another part of his plan, one of them must stay outside when the news is broadcasted regarding Agent Hook. If he is outside no one will enter to disturb anyone. Anyone coming inside the vault can cause distractions and might just result in distortion of the loop. It is possible that they might not say the exact same things every time, or the exact same events might not happen in every iteration. However, with only Alex in the vault they can handle it and keep the loop going. With other people's interference the chain might just break. Hence it was integral that only Alex and his future and past self must remain in the vault.

Alex 3.0 went outside and Grey came close to him.

"What is the progress?" Grey asked Alex.

"Working on it." Alex replied and then walked straight towards Hope. "I want to talk to you about something, in private."

"Alright." She replied and Alex took her into the cabin and helped her sit on a chair.

"Listen, Hope. Things are about to get way too complicated. And I just want to say something to you before it all starts."

"Tell me." She replied.

"You do not belong anywhere in my plan..."

"I understand, I am a liability now. I can't even walk properly."

"And like always it is my fault? Not your walking, but all this mess. Though in hindsight, sometimes your incapability to walk is also my fault." Alex said this and made Hope blush.

"Idiot, only when you use the wrong..."

"... eh! eh! eh! It's alright. Let's not put it to words." Alex interrupted Hope and then he held her hands and continued speaking, "Anyways, the reason I am telling you, that you do not belong anywhere in my plan was because. I want you to be free of all this. This plan has been in my mind since last night. All I can think about was, do you deserve to be hurt any further."

"You don't have to worry about me Alex, I can handle myself."

"I know, and you have proven it. But I do not want this star to burn out. You don't need to intimidate the earth."

"Moron, you think I want to intimidate earth? That I am doing this for the greater good? I am doing this, for you."

"And I can't ask you to do any more."

"Don't you understand. I want the moon, nothing else."

"Hope! I have already set everything in motion. The hardest thing for me to do would be letting you go. Moving forward, things will get really complicated and dirty. I don't want you to see that. I don't want to be that person, to you. Your time will run out before all of this is over, and all I wanted, is to look into your eyes, and tell you. Everything is going to be fine. I will save everyone. All your hard work, I'll make all of it worth something."

"There you go again, just like the narcissist bastard you are. Thinking all about yourself." Hope replied as tears started to flow from her eyes. "I have missed you for so long in my life. I don't want to be separated again, no matter what, I want us to fight together."

"I don't" Alex replied while wiping off her tears. "This was never supposed to be your fight. I am the only one to be blamed. Had I never created the time machine in any timeline nothing like this would have happened. You got wrapped up into all this. Once the timer runs out on the ripple inhibitor, you'll... I'll follow you, and I'll, once again make sure that we are together."

"No, you don't get to follow me. If you want to make a promise, then make one where you'll live on and make sure that anything like this will never happen to anyone ever again. Promise me Alex."

"You know I can't do that."

"You can. I didn't tear a hole in space time just so you can die all over again. Look at me Alex," Hope asked Alex, who was unable to make eye contact with Hope now, "Look at me." She said again and Alex made eye contact with her. "You'll fight to live, and you'll win. **For me, live on**. I know what you are trying to do here, and I'll go with your plan only and only if you promise me."

"I promise you" He replied and then they both grabbed each other in their arms, "That our story is not over yet. You and me, us, we are forever."

"I know."

"We survived apocalypse, in an alternate timeline." Alex said in order to lighten the mood.

"Well to be fair, I created apocalypse in that timeline." Hope replied taking in the humor.

"Hey, it was not possible without my time machine. Don't take credit for my handy work."

"Only one psycho, mad scientist can think that creating an apocalypse is something to be proud of." Hope said while laughing. Then there was a moment of silence and they both looked at each other, followed by a deep breath by Alex.

"No matter which world, which timeline, which dimension, which universe, I'll always find you." He said.

"I know, idiot." Hope replied and then leaned forward too kiss Alex, and he too moved forward with the same pace to lock lips with his one true love, for the last time. They shared their final passionate kiss and then Hope pulled herself back to say "Now, go save everyone, Hero."

# Chapter 27 – A classic anime level mistake

Alex 3.0 entered the vault after everything went down and then continued working on the time machine with the other two versions of himself. He seemed a lot more focused and calm now unlike previously. After all, just now, he went out and made a promise to Hope.

Grey arrived two hours later and gets shocked, Alex 2.0 takes him out and 3 follows them. Alex 2.0 distracts Damian and Alex 3.0 runs towards the men's washroom.

"The final phase of my plan is about to start" he said to himself while looking at the hole in the floor. It was clearly made from an explosion. Damian entered the bank using the sewer lines and then at the right place made a hole using explosives. Alex jumped inside and entered the parameters to travel back in time four hours.

Once again there was a flash of light and he was standing in the sewer line before it was blown up. He walked out carefully and then quietly took down another Agent. His name was written Lewis on his badge. Alex stripped off his cloths and then disguised as him, went inside the van where he had a conversation with Grey, and convinced him to take the deal that Hook is about to offer him.

The next thing Alex did was quietly steal a car and drove back to Ashley's house. None of the agents were here due to the bank heist. Everybody was called to arrest one single man, Alex.

He went into the basement, looked towards Hope's lifeless body still lying there. It was still warm due to the ripple inhibitor preventing it to interact with time. Alex took a close look at the device and then slowly moved his fingers around it to reach a button. He pulled the button to lift the device essentially letting the ripples of time take their effects. Due to his actions right now Hope disappeared in the bank as well.

He then slowly lifted her head brought it close to his and touched their foreheads. He almost cried while holding her like that.

"I am going to make everything right, Hope. I promise. I was unable to keep my last promise to you. But I'll keep this one, everything will be fine. Goodbye." He said and then walked out of the basement.

All of a sudden he was hit by someone. He fell down and turned around to see that it was Damian.

"So, fucking predictable." Alex said to Damian while standing up.

Damian took out his gun and aimed it towards Alex. Alex in order to save his life ran upstairs and Damian followed him. He started entering another set of parameters into the time machine in order to take another leap, twenty-four hours back in time, while Damian was shooting towards Alex.

Alex entered the bathroom of the house and then tried to stand beside the door in order to block it. However, Damian was strong enough to push Alex away and entered the bathroom himself. Alex was pushed back with such strong force that he fell into the bath tub.

He quickly got up and looked towards Damian who was aiming his gun at Alex. Alex's time machine fell down into the bath tub and he cannot bend down to use it now.

"You used your time machine, just like I thought you would. Tell me something, how will you follow me if I take another leap?" Alex said.

"Fuck off, Alex" Damian screamed and pulled his trigger just to realize that he managed to use up all the bullets. Even Alex had no idea about how many bullets the gun had in the first place, so it was literally a miracle. The moment he realized that Damian's gun was empty, he bends down to push the button on the time machine, while Damian jumped towards Alex once again and he slipped.

There was a flash of light, however just before that Damian managed to touch Alex through his index finger, right after the flash of light, due to the force with which Damian slipped he was trembled over and fell down the window which was beside the bath tub.

Alex however found himself in a much more complicated situation. Ashley was in the bath tub and it was completely filled with water mixed with soap. She was lying there in a very uncomfortable manner with her hands covering her breasts while she herself was neck deep inside water. Alex was sitting on her legs and due to which she was unable to move them, and hence unable to run away. Her face was red and Alex instantly realized that she is about to kill him if he stays there for another second.

He quickly got up and then walked out of the bath tub and said, "I am sorry, this is **a classic anime level mistake**. But it has a similarly logical explanation."

"Shut up you freak and get out." She screamed.

"Much obliged." Alex said while running out of the bathroom. "Darn it, why didn't the time machine's data tell us about these kinds of incidents. I mean I almost ruined my friendship with Ashley forever. Maybe I already have. Besides, I thought that she might look hot under all those costly, good for nothing rags she calls clothes, but she is really out of proportions. Then again, maybe she is not my type. No time to think about all that." He then slowly went down to see that Damian had already left for the cruise ship.

"I need to catch him." Alex said to himself and then looked at Ashley's phone lying on the center table. "Hey Ashley, I am taking your phone." Alex screamed.

"No you are not doing anything with my phone you pervert." She screamed while walking downstairs wrapping a towel around her.

"Too late." Alex said and ran out of her house. She followed him till her door and then just looked at him in anger. Then she calmed down and kept looking at Alex running away.

"Dummy, its fine, it probably is urgent otherwise I know you have too much of pride to pull off such stunts." She said and then closed her door.

# Chapter 28 – And that brings us to, here, now

Alex used Ashley's phone to call a cab and set the location as the nearby harbor when the cruise was about to be docked. He was about to call himself as well, however he remembered that he would not be having his mobile phone on himself since he and Hope both promised that they won't keep their mobiles on then for the duration of the cruise. This could be problematic since now there is no way to warn past Alex about the things that are going to happen. The only way to contact him is locked away in a box inside a cupboard in their room on the cruise ship.

"I need to get there before things start happening." Alex said to himself. Upon reaching the harbor he saw that there were a couple of speed boats there. He quickly hired one for himself.

"Tell me, did two people who looked alike hired two different speed boats today?" Alex asked.

"What are you talking about?" The man at the counter replied.

"Never mind" Alex replied and then took the boat. He knew that Damian also came back in time and that he is following him. So the moment he reached the cruise ship, Alex decided to be quick and careful, since he had no idea what can happen next.

He first went near the engine room and saw past Damian planting a bomb in there. He went ahead and pulled out the bomb and threw it in the sea after Damian left. He then reached the ball room where the shrimp eating contest was about to happen, and decided to disrupt the contest first, so that nobody dies on the cruise to being with. Past Alex and Hope would be outside on the deck right now, with Alex about to propose Hope. Hence, those two were the only one who did not attend the contest.

The shrimps were not there yet, which meant that there was still time so he went into the kitchen where the entire stock of prepared shrimps was kept. Damian had already poisoned the shrimps. Alex decided to burn the entire stock and then take past Damian down. There was also the possibility that other Damian who came here with Alex might have arrived on the cruise, so things might get complicated.

While Alex added lots of oil to the shrimp container he heard a knock on the door of the kitchen. He turned around to see Damian was standing there, with minor cuts on his face and hands.

"What are you doing Alex?" Damian asked.

"Making sure that the two of us do not exist anymore." Alex replied.

Damian started walking towards Alex, while dragging his broken left leg. However, he was so weak that he was unable to walk properly. After all he fell down a floor outside Ashley's house. They started fighting and Alex was unable to do anything much against Damian, even in such a state. Suddenly, Alex heard a gunshot, and Damian fell down. The bullet just managed to graze Damian by an inch. He was not injured much. He saw that Hope was standing on the door while holding a gun. She had short hair and different cloths, like the one who came back in time.

"Glad to know that in this time you still exist." Alex replied while burning a match and throwing it in the shrimps.

"What is going on?" Hope asked.

"Too complicated to explain. For now, shoot him." Alex said. However, Damian grabbed the oil can that Alex used for burning the shrimps and threw it towards Alex and Hope. He then grabbed the match and quickly threw a burnt match stick towards the two of them. Alex used his time machine to stop the fire from reaching them, however it was a bit late for Hope whose hands were already burnt, and the gun fell inside the fire, frozen in time.

"Shit, run" Alex replied and started running towards the main hall with Hope.

"Alex what is going on?" Hope asked him.

"Like I said, can't explain." Alex replied while looking back towards Damian who was coming after them. They reached the main hall and fell down through the stairs. Alex saw that his past self was still outside and had just proposed to Hope. He smiled a little and then turned around to see Damian coming down the stairs. Alex got up and screamed "Here goes nothing." And stopped Damian using his time machine.

"Stop it. I said stop it." Damian screamed. Alex however then looked at his hand and realized that he no longer exists, since he had started to disappear. Same was the case with Damian. Alex managed to change time to such an extent that there was no possibility for the two of them to come back in time 24 hours from now. He then looked towards Hope and said, "I leave the rest to you, my love." And then completely disappeared, just like Hope did in the bank.

**"And that brings us to, here, now**." I said while looking towards Alex who has just arrived in the time stream. "Welcome, Alex".

He slowly stood up and looked around, and then looked straight towards me. "You, are the Alex from the other timeline. The one who saved Hope three years ago."

"That would be correct." I replied.

"What is going on here?" Alex asked me.

"I was just telling the story of your arrival to someone." I replied.

"To who? And what is this place? What happened to Damian, and Hope? What about everyone else?"

"One question at a time. Damian also disappeared, however future Hope is still there, since, you know, Hope in that timeline is still alive. Everyone else is looking at the two humans who just disappeared, and thinking that it was some magic trick they pulled off, considering another version of both those people are still there. Last, but not the least, this place is the time stream, and the person I was talking to was..."

"... me" Another Alex, a lot old and well dressed, appeared right behind me.

"Who the hell are you now?" Alex, the one in front of me asked.

"You don't know me, you read my journals back in the bank vault." Old Alex replied.

# Chapter 29 – Ripples in time

"Those were yours?" Alex replied, and then turned his attention towards me and continued, "I thought you created the time machine."

"I did, but it was all based on his research." I replied while pointing towards the old Alex. "He came to me one day, gave me that time drive which I used to create the time machine and then, you know the rest."

"Ok! It is officially too much for me." Alex replied, "How complicated can time get?"

"Haha! Please" I replied.

"So are we dead?" Alex asked.

"Not exactly," Old Alex replied while I started looking out of the time stream, "we have been taken out of the timeline, and as for you, you too have almost crossed the threshold."

"Awesome," Alex replied in a sarcastic voice and then came to me and said, "What exactly do you guys do here? And why is just the three of us here?"

"Because, in this world, you can meet only one person, however things got complicated in our case." I replied, "Mostly because, I have made too many deviations and splits in time. That means collectively, you, me and him" I continued while pointing towards old Alex. "And now, we have too much time at our hands, so we see stuff."

"So just that, you all spectate, that's all?" Alex said.

"That's correct. I mean after a decade of bombing and firing, seeing a Dyson sphere is too big of an improvement." I replied.

"Dyson sphere? Where?" Alex replied.

"Look out" old Alex answered. Alex looked out of the time stream and saw a huge ring around the sun, having roughly a radius of 2 astronomical units. Which was about double the distance from earth to sun. "It looks magnificent."

"Wait till they turn it into a Matrioshka Brain." Old Alex said.

"No, you're kidding right." Alex said in amusement. "Humans aren't that smart, in any timeline."

"You believe it is a different timeline? It is not earth we are looking at." I replied. "Look closely at the planet" And then Alex looked at the third planet from the star, it was a planet similar to earth, but had major differences, like it's shape and size.

"Right. Is this some other solar system?" Alex said.

"Yes, in a galaxy far, far away." I replied.

"Awesome. It's a bummer that humans cannot build something like this."

"They can, perhaps in some other version of our timeline" Old Alex replied.

"So, how exactly does time works? I mean I have read your research, but it feels incomplete." Alex asked another question, while looking towards old Alex.

"That's because it is. I always wanted to look at the stars and live up there. I was so much intrigued that I started research on a building a warp drive. Which lead me to the discovery of Tachyons. Unlike any normal human, I decided to keep the research myself and then one day, I was forced to pay for that" old Alex replied.

"He acquired the same problem that we saw Damian suffer with three years ago." I replied.

"I never got to complete it. So I went on a lot of assumptions when I went back in time to hand over my research to him." He replied while pointing towards me.

"I too made the same mistake and never completed the research." I replied. "The only thing that I created was the Gyroplacer inside the time machine."

"Sorry, the what now?" Alex asked me.

"The feature that lets you to observe your target surrounding, or even lets you adjust your position before making a leap." I replied.

"Why was that not in the data? I landed right onto Ashley's breasts when I was just trying to make a simple jump back in time." Alex asked.

"You are right, probably should have written that. Anyways, you can't complain, was it that bad?" I replied, then the three of us kept quiet for a while thinking and then answered, "Yes" "Perhaps" "Obviously", in the increasing order of our ages.

"It has something to do with tachyons, right? Why other people disappear and not the drive or the time machines after a ripple in timeline." Alex asked.

"Yes, those things directly interface with tachyons and that's why **ripples in time** do not affect them." I replied.

"Alex, we don't have much time" Old Alex said while looking towards me.

"Right" I replied and then looked towards the young Alex, "Listen to me. Remember we told you that you have not crossed the threshold yet?"

"I do. What about that?"

"We want to give you an offer. Seeing how future Hope is still in your timeline," I said while looking at the disintegrating body of both Alex and Damian, "we can conclude that in the long run, time is still the same. You changed a few events, but that's it."

"I am still going to be captured, Hope is still going to die, and this time no one will be committed enough to come back in time to stop Damian." Alex replied.

"Yes, but that has not happened yet. You can still change it all" I replied.

"How?" Alex asked.

"By taking the red pill." Old Alex said.

"Care to elaborate that, old man?" Alex said.

"You can still go back, however seeing as how your body is disintegrated, you will actually, completely be wiped from existence and just your memories will be merged with the other Alex standing on the deck of the cruise ship. He in turn will be able to stop Damian here and now, also grab control of the Time machine and end this once and for all."

Alex looked outside and then quickly said, "Let's do it."

"You do realize that you'll be wiped from existence." Old Alex replied.

"I know, let's just say, I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep." Alex replied.

I kept my hand on his shoulder and replied "Well then, be prepared. Also Alex, before you go. Do you remember what I told you about Damian three years ago?"

"About him being a Magnetar? That was always difficult to believe, especially considering the recent events." Alex replied.

"The person on that cruise ship. That is not the Damian I know. You delayed meeting him, you saw him one day and you decided not to go to him, or talk to him. Due to that delay, this mindless, emotionless shell of a human was created. This mindless assassin. However there is still time, you have seen him. Talked to him, you know the potential he has. He is a good person. But you'll need to take the first step."

"He tried to kill Hope."

"So did you." I replied. "But look at you now, risking everything not just to save her, but everyone else as well. People change as per their surroundings. Let this be a wakeup call, of how much things can screw up if you can do something good and refuse to do it." I replied and Alex kept looking towards me. "Initiating brain merge in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."

# Chapter 30 – Bye! Bye! Damian

Alex was back in his previous self's body. However, he knew that these are just memories and nothing else. He was feeling weak due to sleep depravity earlier, but that weakness was gone. Hope was standing looking towards her future self, inside the main hall and both Damian and Alex had disappeared. Alex looked towards Hope and called out her name.

"What is going on?" she asked.

"Nothing" Alex replied with tears in his eyes. "Time to end this", Alex replied and ran towards the spot where his future body disappeared. The time machine and ripple inhibitor were still there, Alex when ahead and picked them up. "Both of you, come with me." Alex said while looking towards, both of the Hope. The crowd was cheering for the great magic trick that just happened, according to them.

"Hope, you need to return back to your time" Alex said while looking towards future Hope. Then he grabbed her hand and took her back to her future, then he returned and grabbed hold of his Hope and went back into their room, where Damian was about to shoot Hope.

Everything happened exactly like last time, however this time Alex used his time machine to freeze the bullet, which was about to hit Hope.

"Looks like you are waiting for someone Damian." Alex said, and then turned on the lights.

"How did you stop that bullet?" Damian asked, "is that the time machine you are holding? Give it to me." He screamed.

"Not a chance in hell" Alex replied and then ran towards Damian, and grabbed him by his waist. Damian on the other hand picked Alex up and threw him aside. "Give me that time machine Alex." Damian said while pointing his gun towards Alex.

"You'll have to take it from me" Alex replied.

"Fine by me." Damian said and initiated a tachyon trap. The next thing Alex saw was Damian holding the time machine in his hands pointing his gun towards Alex.

"So, fucking, predictable" Alex replied while getting up and taking long breaths.

"What do you mean?" Damian asked and then saw his hands had started to get wrinkled.

"On your back." Alex replied, and Damian saw that ripple inhibitor stuck to his back. "That is a ripple inhibitor. It is supposed to prevent tachyon collision with the object it is attached to. How does it happens? It just holds all the tachyons in place around the target body. Not hundreds, not thousands, not even million, billion, trillion. The amount of tachyons accumulated around your body were next to infinite, and when you activated the tachyon trap, it was equivalent to using the tachyon trap thousands of times. **Bye! Bye! Damian**." Alex replied as this other Damian also crumbled into dust and then further disintegrated into molecules and then atoms, and then simply light.

"Alex, please tell me what is going on?" Hope replied in fear, and Alex started laughing. "It has been one hell of a night for me, Hope. I just want to take a nap. I'll explain everything, in time. For now, gunshots were fired and..." As Alex was speaking there was a knock on their door.

"Excuse me, we heard some strange noise." The man outside their room said. Alex gave a signal to Hope to take care of this man.

"Everything is fine," she said while opening the door. "My finance fell down and had a mild concussion. It'll be fine."

The man looked around, he saw me I waved towards him with a smile. He then left the room.

"The government contacted me, after Sasha and Sean." Alex said.

"You never told me." Hope replied.

"Right, and now I am telling you the rest of my little secrets. From tonight onwards, there will be no secrets between us. However, right now I need to go take a nap." Alex said and then went to bed, "You want to join me?" he said while looking at Hope.

"Only if you decide to use the wrong..."

"... eh! eh! eh! It's alright. Let's not put it to words." Alex replied, and they both went to bed.

The next morning Alex contacted Agent Grey Walker, asked him to meet in a bar, demonstrated the working of the time machine. Told him everything that happened and how he erased all that. Grey was willing to believe him since Alex told him about Grey's parents living near Ashley's house, which was a top secret, and the weird behavior of Conner Hook, which Grey had also observed over the past few months.

"So what now Alex? Why are you showing me the time machine now?" Grey asked.

"Because, Grey, here is the deal. I have seen firsthand how much destruction can follow if I decide to keep this power for myself. But I also know that the same can happen if I give it away. I need to find a perfect balance where we can always find the best course of action. So I have a deal for you. I'll be working with you guys, and do changes to time which are necessary, and would be for the wellbeing of everyone else. Perhaps that way we may reach a point where this time machine will be used only and only for good purposes."

"What if we take it from you?"

"It won't work in anyone else's hands"

"We can reverse engineer it."

"Bitch please, we both know how much out classed you guys will be here. One mistake and boom, Bye! Bye! time."

"I'll think about this deal" Grey replied and then walked out of the bar.

"No Grey, you'll take the deal. I know." Then Alex walked out of the bar as well after paying and saw a homeless kid sitting outside the bar. He must be in his mid-teens. He was weak and had rags for cloths. It also looked like he had not eaten anything in days. He looked a lot familiar to Alex and so he walked out to him and asked, "Hey kid, what's your name?"

A very soft and cold voice replied, "Damian".

Alex chuckled and then looked at Damian with pity in his eyes "You look hungry Damian. Want something to eat?"

