Next day, 8:00 am 17th December 2024.
It's been 15 days for me but, for "Normal People'' it's just two days.
I've spent the last few weeks and a half pushing my abilities to the limit, testing every possible way I could manipulate time. Through exhaustion, I've realized a few things.
First thing is that 'Time' is basically the 4th dimension from what I know from Google.
So if I'm correct, if I can control the fourth dimension, I should be able to control dimensions below my level? Meaning travel anywhere, anytime I want.
But I can't.
And honestly? I won't even try.
What if I end up stuck inside a wall, or fall off a ledge? Or worse—accidentally warp onto a planet with no atmosphere? Yeah, I'll pass on that potential death sentence.
Second—I've broken my powers down into simpler terms. Thinking about it like a game mechanic makes it easier to process.
sounds cringe when I say it
Step one: A left-hand snap pauses and resumes time. Time stays frozen until I snap again.
Step two: I can rewind or fast-forward by rotating my hand.
Anticlockwise to rewind.
Clockwise to fast-forward.
Step three: I should be able to think of a location and teleport…
Which, unfortunately, I have no idea how to do yet.
Also, after some recent discoveries during training, I've realized that I can set what I want to control—as if I'm adjusting the hands of a clock.
I just have to mentally shout something like, "SECONDS." or "DAYS."
It's like picking which time unit I want to manipulate.
But the further ahead I try to set, like jumping days instead of seconds, the more it drains me.
Welp. Whatever…
However, all this knowledge about time travel… it wasn't in my brain before.
It just appeared after I met her, Huh. Weird.
I pushed myself up from the bed, feeling the exhaustion settle into my bones.
Using my powers always leaves me drained.
I stretched, rubbing my face.
"Welp, guess I should grab a cup of coffee," I muttered.
I start my day as usual—a cup of coffee first, because at this point, I can't function without it. Then breakfast. Then off to the bookstore, where I now work.
Getting this job was easy, thanks to my prior experience. Not that I love working here, but hey, money is money.
Four hours pass, and my break is just around the corner.
I'm already tired of dealing with customers.
With a sigh, I head over to the store owner and ask for a break.
He doesn't even hesitate.
"No."
Just like that?
"No, you cannot slack off," he said, his rough, gravelly voice making it sound like he'd been smoking since birth.
He was well past retirement age, but still somehow clinging to this job like a cockroach that refused to die.
I had heard rumors from ex-workers about his terrible reputation, but I never paid much attention to them.
Because rumors spread faster than the truth.
But now? Yeah. They were right.
"Why can't I take a break? Look at the time."
"We're short on labor."
Did he just call me labor?
"But that's not my responsibili—"
BANG!
He slammed his hand on the desk, making the register shake, his face turning red like an overripe tomato.
"Go work, you worthless cat piss!"
…Cat piss?
"Okay, boss." It was impossible not to obey him.
But he wasn't done.
"You don't even deserve to be called garbage! No, garbage at least gets taken out—you're worse! You're the kind of filth that sticks to the bottom of a shoe and never comes off!"
"Boss, I think you need to—"
"Shut up! I'd replace you with a brick if I could, at least a brick doesn't whine!"
…This man is unhinged.
I finished the first half of my shift as quickly as humanly possible and headed to the staff area for my lunch break.
Sitting down in a chair, I unwrapped the sandwich I had bought this morning before work. It was stale and cold, thanks to the unforgiving winter air.
I sighed. Now that I think about it… I could've just paused time and eaten it fresh.
I'm stupid.
Just as I was about to take a bite—
Ring Ring!
An unknown number.
Ugh. I hate my life.
I groaned and picked up the call.
"Hello? Who is this?"
A familiar, overly cheerful voice came through the speaker.
"I knew you'd pick up the phone!"
Oh great. It's that annoying 'invisiwitch' again.
"What do you want this time?"
"Oh, don't be rude! I'm calling for a good reason! Promise! …Okay, maybe not really~"
I exhaled sharply. "Right. And what's that?"
"Do you need help with third-dimensional travel?" she asked, her voice practically dripping with smugness.
I paused.
I mean… she's technically helping me for a good cause.
But for some reason, I just can't bring myself to trust her.
Just a gut feeling, really.
"Yeah? What about it?" I replied
"Well, I suppose it's time I tell you the truth about your powers."
"Uhh, where are you again?" she asked.
I sighed. "I was about to have lunch, and you interrupted me before I could even take a bite—"
"Yeah, yeah, eat later. This conversation is more important."
"..."
She continues. "Alright, let me explain it simply. Everything around us has space, right? Even solid objects are technically 99.99% empty. Meaning, space is everywhere."
I leaned back in my chair. "Yeah, I guess that's true..."
"But what people in your time don't realize is—it's not just space."
"Meaning?"
"Everything has energy, even this so-called 'empty space.' Do you know what space is actually made of?"
I took a guess. "Solar systems and galaxies?"
"Not wrong, but—whatever," she said, clearly disappointed.
Then she dropped something unexpected.
"It's Temporal Energy."
I blinked. "The what?"
"Everything around us contains some level of temporal energy, but you? You're different."
I smirked. "Well… that's what my mother always says. I'm different from others."
"Yeah, she probably meant you're dumber than a rock."
"..."
Before I could respond, she kept going. "Anyway, as I was saying—you are different. Your body contains an insane 98.7% pure temporal energy. That's why I picked you."
Did she just call me empty inside but in a nicer way?
I froze
Wait, she picked me? So this wasn't a coincidence?
"Hold on… then are you even a Wish Granter?"
"No, I bluffed. Just in case things got too complicated for you."
She paused. "But you're smart… sometimes."
I wasn't sure whether to feel flattered or insulted.
Is this why she knew everything about me?
"Even physicists in your time don't have this knowledge, consider yourself lucky" she continued. "That's why you guys still can't figure out time travel. I mean, you kinda did… but only in one direction—forward. Through time dilation."
I frowned. "Wait, hold on—why do you keep saying 'your time'? Are you… from the future?"
She paused for a moment before answering. "Yes. I come from the year 172 A.G.D."
There was a slight hint of sorrow in her voice.
"A.G.D? What does that mean?" I asked.
"After Global Diplomacy," she said, almost hesitating.
She continued
"Which to me it's more like After Global Domination, I know it sounds terrible… because it is."
I sat up straighter, suddenly more interested than I wanted to admit.
"So… what happened?"
She took a deep breath. "172 years ago—so that would be… 2570 AD in your calendar—before I was born and after the collapse of NATO, the British government teamed up with the Russians, Chinese and North Korea. They declared war against the entire world, threatening a nuclear strike unless other nations surrendered. Of course the other countries didn't back down, therefore World War 4 happened. Unfortunately they won and began colonizing countries with weaker armies."
I blinked. "Wait—what?" I said swallowing hard.
What happened in World War 3 then?
"It took only a year. More than half the world was under one rule—a brutal tyranny. And then, as if they wanted to rewrite history itself, they reset the calendar to Year 0, declaring it 'the beginning of a new world.'"
Her voice grew colder.
"That's when they formed the Pangean Nexus Empire."
Silence stretched between us. I wasn't sure how to respond.
"Every now and then, countries have tried to rebel against the Nexus rule," she continued. "But every single one failed. And the punishment for resistance is… beyond cruel."
I could hear the discomfort in her tone.
"So now they rule the world."
She exhaled sharply, as if trying to shake off the weight of it all.
"The weaker a country's wealth, the more brutally they are treated."
For once, she didn't sound playful.
Just tired.
"Then there was John Titor," she continued. "A reputable scientist from our time—76 AGD, I believe. He was the one who discovered Temporal Energy and figured out time travel after fifty years of research. He died of natural causes… or at least, that's what the reports say."
She hesitated for a second.
"Though, honestly? I don't belie—"
"H-Hold on. Did you just say John Titor??" I cut her off almost immediately.
"Yes, I did. What's the big deal?"
I sat up. "You mean THE John Titor? The guy who claimed to be a time traveler from the future back in 2001?"
There was a pause on the other end.
"Well, that's new," she muttered. "I've never heard anyone from the future mention his journey to 2001 AD."
That made me pause.
She continued "Maybe from another timeline"
…Of course there is a multiverse, Totally not Shocking!
"A few days after John Titor's death, the first generation of time-travel machines was invented," she continued. "It was bulky, huge, and completely unreliable. A beta testing program was launched, but… let's just say it didn't go well."
I frowned. "What happened?"
"Out of twenty-eight test subjects, twenty-six died almost instantly—rapidly aging the moment the machine booted up. But they insisted on continuing the tests."
I felt a chill crawl up my spine. "Then… What about the last two? Why didn't they die?"
Her voice was eerily calm.
"Because they were newborns."
I blinked. "Wait… what?"
"They aged up nearly 115 years in seconds."
I swallowed hard rubbing my temples.
"Too old to be considered alive. Too early to be considered dead."
A cold silence settled between us.
She finally broke the silence. "The story of the next few years is… complicated. I'll tell you someday when you're ready."
That didn't sound reassuring.
How can this possibly get worse?
Wait—hold on. I'm forgetting something.
"You still didn't tell me how to do third-dimensional travel," I said.
She groaned. "Ugh, you're so annoying. Fine, I'll explain it. But only once. And only because you actually listened to me ramble for so long."
Annoying? What!
Never mind at least she is teaching.
"Alright, listen up. The three dimensions consist of X, Y, and Z axes, as you probably already know."
"So, everything has coordinates increasing by one for every meter forward." She continued
"To go backward, you'd just think of minus one meter," I replied. "I think I got it."
"No, you didn't! shut up and listen." She shouted through the phone.
I blinked. "Okay??"
"If you're at two meters and want to go back to one meter, you don't think of minus one—you just think of one meter."
I nodded, following along. "Alright, that seems simple enough."
Then her tone suddenly shifted.
"Also, fair warning… Never. EVER. Use negative Y coordinates."
I felt a chill run down my spine. "Why?"
"Because if you do, you'll never be able to come back. It glitches the system"
I swallowed hard. "That's… dark."
"It LITERALLY is a dark void," she said, raising her voice. "You'd be crushed into oblivion. Instantly."
I shivered. "Okay, got it. No negative Y coordinates. Ever."
"Good! Anyway, I'm ending the call now. See ya! Oh, and by the way… your sandwich is getting stale."
Click.
The call ended.
I looked at my untouched sandwich, now cold and lifeless. My lunch break being almost over and I didn't even start eating.
...I hate her.
I stuffed the cold, hard sandwich into my mouth, chewing hurriedly—almost choking in the process—before forcing it down.
Not worth it.
Shaking off the disappointment, I headed back to work.
A Few Hours Later…
I glanced at the clock as I wrapped up my shift.
"Oh wow, 4:30 PM. Only thirty more minutes till freedom."
The store owner was nowhere in sight.
Should I just… leave? Would I get fired for that?
I paused.
…I forgot how jobs work.
After a brief moment of fake moral debate, I grabbed my stuff and sneaked out unnoticed.
Not that it was hard—nobody visits bookstores in India much, let alone at 4:30 PM.
After escaping my shift early, I went to the market and picked up the groceries my mother had asked for—vegetables, rice, and a few other essentials, now that I finally start earning again.
Then, I walked a little further to buy eggs—only to find the store was closed.
Great.
As I turned to head home, something caught my eye.
A new store, its banner obnoxiously bright, standing out against the dull surroundings.
I squinted at it, struggling to read past the blinding glow.
Then, I realized—it was a smartphone store.
The inside of the store was incredible—sleek displays, polished floors, and the overwhelming smell of new electronics.
It made me want a new phone.
I glanced at the premium section, then at my own phone—screen cracked, battery barely holding on to life.
Should I just snap my fingers and take one?
…No. No, It's wrong to ruin small businesses.
Even if I have these powers… Think straight, Kiran.
But maybe it was time for an upgrade.
With that, I walked further inside.
The shopkeeper, noticing me eyeing the expensive models, immediately led me to the VIP section—like I was actually someone important.
I scanned the display, eyes locking onto the iPhone 16 Pro Max, 1TB, Black.
Oh, it looked so sleek. So premium. So… expensive.
Did I want it? Yes.
Did I want to sell my organs for it? No.
Reality hit me like a truck. I sighed and shuffled toward the budget section, reminding myself that I was a tech-savvy, responsible individual.
Or so I like to believe.
I settled on a reasonably priced phone that wouldn't financially destroy me.
Also it came with free earbuds. Win-win.
"Might as well grab a carry bag too."
With my purchases in hand, I walked home, feeling like I'd finally upgraded a part of my life.
Then, guilt crept in.
Did I… actually consider stealing for a second?
I shook my head.
Nah. The world is big enough. No one would even notice… intrusive thought, that's all.
After a while of walking I reached home.
I rushed to my mother's room, excitement bubbling.
"Look, Mom! I got a new phone!"
Her eyes widened in shock.
"How did you even afford that?!" my mother asked, eyeing me suspiciously. "Hmmmm…Don't tell me you took EMI."
"No, obviously not! I saved up and got it at a discount," I assured her.
To further prove my responsible spending habits, I held up my receipt proudly.
"Look! Free earbuds too!"
I reached into my bag to pull them out.
"Huh? Where are they?"
I dug deeper, checking every corner of the bag.
Nothing.
What the hell…
"If that store is still there, the one that gave you a discount will you get me a phone as we—"
"No, it was probably a one-time discount," I said, cutting her off.
She clicked her tongue. "Tch. It's alright. I just hope you're happy with your new phone."
She smiled.
But something about it felt off, Is she guilt-tripping me right now?
Shrugging it off, I went to my room and checked my bill.
And I was right.
The earbuds were included in my purchase.
So why weren't they here?
Maybe they just forgot to put them in the bag.
…Eh. Could be.
"Well, I guess I'll complain at the store tomorrow."
I leaned back in my chair, hands resting behind my head.
"Pangean Nexus Empire, huh… I wonder what life must be like in that horrible era."
For a moment, I imagined it—A world where people like me, with powers I never asked for, might be seen as a threat. Would I even survive in a future like that?
I closed my eyes.
That's a problem for another day.