Time Traveller
You wake slowly to a cluster of concerned faces, all peering over the top of their glasses.
"There you are, look, he's awake!" You recognise the voice of the technician, filled with relief.
"Are you alright?" says the familar face of the Overseer, leaning over you. "I checked the machine records. You went to the year 100 000. What was there?"
"Nothing," you say in a voice croaky from strain, "There's nothing there. Earth's gone."
The scientists look at you dumbfounded. You sit up, your head spinning.
"I'm not going in again," you say firmly, maybe to convince yourself more than anyone else. "That's enough."
The Overseer helps you up. "That's alright. You've done it, in any case. Because in the here and now there still is an Earth, and you're the first person on it to ever travel through time!"
You smile, weakly, trying to get the sight of the shattered Earth out of your mind. Tomorrow, you will be a hero. But today, you must recover.
"There you are, look, he's awake!" You recognise the voice of the technician, filled with relief.
"Are you alright?" says the familar face of the Overseer, leaning over you. "I checked the machine records. You went to the year 100 000. What was there?"
"Nothing," you say in a voice croaky from strain, "There's nothing there. Earth's gone."
The scientists look at you dumbfounded. You sit up, your head spinning.
"I'm not going in again," you say firmly, maybe to convince yourself more than anyone else. "That's enough."
The Overseer helps you up. "That's alright. You've done it, in any case. Because in the here and now there still is an Earth, and you're the first person on it to ever travel through time!"
You smile, weakly, trying to get the sight of the shattered Earth out of your mind. Tomorrow, you will be a hero. But today, you must recover.
