As the anomaly pulsed in its reinforced chamber, Dr. Patel's warning echoed through the newly christened TRI facility: "It always finds a way." That night, as Ronald reviewed the latest sensor data, a single, impossible reading flashed across his screen...coordinates that didn't exist on any known map, and a time signature that hadn't happened yet.
At the same moment, a security alert blared from the lower levels: an unauthorized door had opened, though every camera showed the corridor empty. Somewhere in the dark, footsteps echoed—too many to belong to just one person.
And then, in the silence that followed, a voice whispered through the intercom, speaking in a language no one on Earth had ever heard.
The future, it seemed, was already here.
THE END