I stare at the data once again.
The words recall in my mind.
The screen showed my face. Older. Colder. Labeled with maximum threat.
This has to be a joke.
Defeating… My future self?
"No." words slipped out of my mouth. Barely a sound
"That's not me…"
Seren glanced at my face.
"Yeah, I knew you won't believe it. Here check this"
She pulls up another tab and starts typing. A few keystrokes later, a new profile appears.
SUBJECT IDENTIFICATION:
> Subject ID: KA106B89M609339K
Name: Kiran Awasthi
Age: 25
Year of Origin: 2024
Date of Birth: 1/4/1999
Temporal Energy Level: Loading…
[Updated]
Temporal Energy Level: 98.7%
Threat Level: Unknown
Huh? Everything is almost the same…
Even the details match. Including my face.
"That's you," she says again.
"2024 — that's the year you're from," Seren adds, tapping the screen.
Still, one question burns in my mind.
"But what does any of this have to do with the GD?"
"The Temporal Energy Frequency is the same for both of you" Seren exclaims.
No way… it can't be.
"So, to end all the temporal glitches we need to kill your future self and free this world from Dictatorship" She continued
"It doesn't make sense…" I replied
I looked at Arlie. Her face was pale, she wouldn't look at Seren. Looked like she wanted to be anywhere else. Typical.
"Arlie? You knew? This… this is why you dragged me here? To fight… me?"
She flinched. "Kiran, I… We knew your energy was high. Connected to the problem. Seren's research… It showed a match. The leader. But" she looked down. "The whole 'Great Dictator' thing…"
"Unfortunately it's not the time to be emotional" Seren cuts her off
"The objects disappearing? That's the start. Timelines could get deleted…Who knows it might have started as we are talking"
"And I'm supposed to stop him?" I almost laughed. It sounded crazy. "Me? The guy who gets exhausted going back three days? The guy who nearly got stuck in frozen time like an idiot? That guy fights Future Me, Ruler of the World, Conqueror of Reality itself?"
Seriously?
"Your power is raw. Untrained," Seren said. Calmly.
"That 99.8% energy? It's potential. He learned to use it. You must learn too. Faster. Your 97.8%"
"You're the only one with a chance. The only match against him"
"So I'm a weapon?" The words left a bitter taste.
"You are the solution," Seren said. No emotion. "Or the final failure. If you become him."
Ugh. My head hurts.
Probably from the earlier jetlag.
"How?" I demanded. "How do I fight him? How do I not become him? And why the hell should I trust either of you? Especially You," I point a finger at Arlie.
"Calling yourself the wish-granter whatever, lying to me the day we met! And you! Seren" I pointed a finger at her as well
"You just look at me like I'm a lab rat.. It's pathetic"
Seren's eyes finally showed slight sadness.
Arlie looked down. Guilty. "Kiran, I had to… get you here safely…"
"Safely?!" I yelled. "By dropping this 'you're the future evil dictator' bomb on me? Real smooth!" I clapped hands slowly
Seren sighed. Just a small puff of air.
"Trust isn't given, Kiran. It's built. Or sometimes, it's irrelevant. Trust the facts. The disappearances are accelerating. The future is at stake. Your connection is undeniable. We don't have time for gentle introductions and trust building"
She waved a hand around the lab. "We have technology. We have data—funny enough, from the Nexus Database. We know his energy frequency. And finally we have you."
I looked at Seren. Cold logic. Calculated.
I looked at Arlie. Conflicted. Sorry maybe? Who knows.
Who to trust? The scientist who sees me as a tool? Or the one who lied to my face?
Or even myself? When my own future self is apparently worse than Hitler…
The nightmare came back to me. The world breaking apart. Me vanishing. That felt real. This threat felt real. Even if it sounded like a bad movie plot.
What choice did I even have? Go back home and wait for everything to disappear? Wait for me to disappear?
I took a breath. It felt shaky.
"Okay." The word came out weak. "Fine. Okay. Train me. Just… tell me what to do."
I didn't trust them. Not really.
Didn't trust this whole situation.
Didn't trust myself.
But sitting around doing nothing felt dumber. felt like waiting to die.
This was the only way forward. Even if it was a trap to become like him, fulfilling some sort of prophecy.
Seren nodded. Just once. A tiny flicker in her eyes. Was that her… approval? Or just… data received?
"Good," she said. "Let's begin."
Begin what?
Seren didn't wait for me to process. She turned, walking towards another part of the lab I hadn't noticed before.
A section that looked less like a science lab and more like… well, I don't know. Just a big, heavy-looking door. Arlie glanced at me, a weird mix of worry and maybe encouragement?
Guess I have to follow… no choice right?
The heavy door slid open with a soft hiss. The inside wasn't what I expected.
Unlike the lab, this room was circular with white painted walls. And very… empty with a platform with cables attached in the middle.
"This," Seren announced, gesturing around, "is the Testing Room. Minimizes external interference. Allows precise monitoring of your… output."
"We use this room for general check-ups or testing stuff but now it'll serve a different purpose"
"Just to let you know, I'm bad with needles and stuff, so that's off-limits" I said before stepping past the door.
She and Arlie went to a console built into the curved wall. Screens flickered on. Graphs. Numbers. Squiggly lines. Looked complicated.
"We need to understand your baseline control. Or lack thereof. Get on the platform."
I hesitated. This felt too much like an examination room. But again, what choice? I stepped onto the floating platform. It hummed faintly under my feet.
"Right, Day 1 of testing" Seren said on a microphone, eyes glued to the screen. "We'll start simple. Pausing time. You've done it before, obviously. But your method is… inefficient."
"Okay…" I said slowly. "So what do I do differently?"
"Focus. Don't just stop time. Feel the flow around you. Blood flowing through your vessels, pulses in your brain, everything. Find the current, and gently… concentrate.
Pause it and hold for, let's say, thirty seconds by your internal count, then resume. We'll analyze the energy used afterward."
I raised my left hand. Took a breath. Tried to imagine time as… a river? A current? Sounds dumb. But I tried. Then snapped twice.
Silence. The familiar, eerie stillness. The hum gone. The lights frozen. Okay, paused. Now, hold. Thirty seconds. Felt longer in the silence. One… two… three… My head started that familiar dull ache. Twenty-eight… twenty-nine… thirty. Felt like enough.
Click. Click.
Sound rushed back. The hum returned. And I'm exhausted already.
Seren stared at the console. Tapped a few things. "Temporal Energy used 97.8% which is good," she stated. Flatly. "Temporal Energy Stability is 28.4% which is not good enough. You're forcing it. Brute strength, no control."
Well, duh. What did she expect? I just learned this stuff like, weeks ago? Days ago? At this point I'm not sure…
"Let's do a different test this time" Seren Replied
"have you learned 3rd dimensional travel?"
"No… not yet" I replied silently
"Great" She continued, don't know if it was mockingly
"Think of your location as X, Y and Z and try going forward… around 8 meters. Also if you'd like you can close your eyes to focus better"
I closed my eyes and imagined moving forward — not walking, just… existing eight meters ahead. Like my body had already shifted and reality just hadn't caught up yet.
Nothing happened.
I peeked one eye open.
Still standing in the same place.
"Focus harder," Seren said, like I was trying to remember a password, not bend the fundamental laws of physics.
Tried again. This time, I clenched my fists, exhaled slowly, and pictured the space in front of me as coordinates. X+8. Y and Z unchanged.
"Is it done?" I asked, still unsure.
"Open your eyes and see for yourself" Seren replied, unfazed.
I was standing eight meters ahead.
Right next to the wall.
I turned around.
Seren raised an eyebrow. Arlie had a half-eaten protein bar frozen halfway to her mouth.
"…No way," I muttered. "Did I actually just do that?"
"Temporal Energy Stability is 36.8% which is good enough," She continued "Alright let's run the test one more time for confirmation…get back to the platform"
Again? Fine.
I get back on the platform and did the exact same thing I did before.
"I am getting exhausted though…" I replied, closing my eyes.
My head throbbed, The future me probably doesn't get headaches. Probably destroys timelines in seconds. Lucky him.
"Focus, Kiran," Seren's voice came through the speaker again, sharp, impatient. "Coordinates. Eight meters forward. Execute."
Fine. Whatever. Coordinates. X+8. Y and Z the same. Don't screw up Y. Don't get crushed into oblivion. Don't think about oblivion. Just… move.
It felt harder this time, like trying to push something heavy uphill. My breath hitched. Energy drained out of me like I was some leaking vessel.
"Done?" I mumbled, not opening my eyes yet. Too tired.
"Open your eyes." Seren's voice.
I did. I was standing near the wall again. But… not quite in the same spot. Maybe a foot to the left.
Arlie mumbled from the console area. "That was… unstable."
I turned around. Seren was frowning at the console.
"Temporal Energy Stability dropped to 19.2%," she announced. "Displacement was off by 1.2 meters laterally. Fatigue is clearly degrading your control significantly."
"Told you I was tired," I grumbled, walking slowly back towards the platform. Each step felt heavy.
"Fatigue is a variable we must account for," Seren countered, tapping furiously at her console. "Your future self manages a galactic empire, manipulating time on potentially catastrophic scales. He doesn't likely get to call for a break when he feels tired."
"Yeah, well, maybe Future Me is a psychopath who runs on pure evil energy and coffee," I shot back. "I run on, like… coffee too and maybe KFC"
Arlie snorted softly, then tried to hide it when Seren glanced at her.
Seren sighed and gestured for me to step off the platform. "That's enough practical application for today. Go take some rest for tomorrow"
I just nodded, too drained to argue or be sarcastic.
"Go upstairs and left and third room is yours" she replied as if she read my mind.
The corridor upstairs was quiet, metallic, lit by glowing strips along the floor. Left. Third door. Plain, grey metal door. No name, just 'Room No. 3'.
It slid open. The room inside was… okay, size-wise. Bigger than my room back home. Had a bed, a desk, a chair, and what looked like a built-in closet. But it was a mess.
Clothes were all over the chair, empty food boxes littered the desk, some weird-looking metallic parts were piled in a corner. Looked like someone had been living here and left in a hurry. Or maybe Arlie used it for storage? Knowing her, it's probably that.
Whatever. At Least I wasn't going to sleep in a dump.
I shoved the clothes off the chair onto the floor, kicked some tubes under the desk, and cleared enough space on the bed to lie down. The mattress was surprisingly comfortable, conforming to my body instantly.
Exhaustion hit me like a truck the moment I lay down. Heavier than after any workout, heavier than any all-nighter I had for any exams.
The sterile smell of the room, the low hum of the station somewhere beyond the walls… it all faded.
Darkness.
Then… not darkness.
I was standing somewhere else. Cold air, Chilly wind. A balcony, high up, overlooking a city that stretched forever under a sky swirling with impossible colours. And he was there.
My future self. The Great Dictator.
He looked… like the picture. Older, lines etched around his eyes and mouth, but undeniably me. Dressed in dark, severe clothing.
Ew…how emo.
radiating that same cold, immense power He wasn't looking at me, but out at the city below in pity.
My voice came out, shaky but defiant. "Is this it? Is this what I become?"
He turned slowly. His eyes were mine, but colder, ancient. No surprise. No anger. Just… assessment. Like Seren.
"You see conquest," he said, his voice quiet but calm, carrying easily over the wind. "I see order salvaged from chaos."
"Order?" I scoffed, feeling a surge of anger despite knowing he's telling the truth. "I know about the Nexus. The tyranny. The cruelty. Is this the only way? This… this oppression?"
"The only way," he repeated, his gaze unwavering. There was no ill intent, just a profound, chilling certainty.
"You think I haven't tried? I've applied every formula, run every simulation through timelines you can't even conceive of. Your nightmares are a reality of mine. Every other path leads to extinction, permanent temporal collapse, realities worse than you can imagine. The Nexus is harsh, yes even i agree. But it endures. It is the final, stable equation."
He took a step closer then pointed his finger at my chest. I could feel the sheer weight of his temporal energy, perfectly controlled, humming beneath his skin. "You feel the power inside you. Raw. Uncontrolled. Dangerous. You fight it, and so you suffer like me. You break…Like me,"
He extended a hand. Not threateningly, but an invitation. "Stop fighting yourself. Stop fighting the inevitable. Join me, Kiran. Accept reality. Learn to truly wield this power, our power. Together, we can refine the equation, ensuring it's stability lasts for eternity."
Join him? Become… this? The offer hung there, strangely tempting. The promise of control, of understanding, of an end to the struggle, the headaches, the fear…
I looked at his hand. Should I reach in? Take the easy way out? Or reject…