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Prologue

The clicking of shoes sounded from behind him as he turned around to face his visitor.

"Is it ready?" He asked nervously, fiddling with his cuffs.

The bespectacled man holding a clipboard in his hands, asked him. "Dr. Leander Rinehart, first Participant of the much awaited project 'Time Machine'."

Leander Rinehart, Participant 001, nodded, "Yes."

"Are you sure you want to participate, Doctor?" The man asked him. "You can still back out because of its risks."

"Yes," Leander nodded again, "I want to," he breathed out. "This was my dream from the moment this Project was announced to be recruiting participants for the trial."

"Very well. Dr Leander, please follow me to the lab."

Leander pursed his lips and quietly followed after the man holding the clipboard.

Walking down the narrow corridor of the base, Leander took measured steps. He might have become a doctor but his fascination with history never died.

Leander Rinehart was strange and he knew it, he was somewhat of a history geek who loved exploring the wonderous world of the past, of the Earth humans once belonged to.

Before the apocalypse hit the ailing planet.

Before humans moved to space and occupied a different and stellar galaxy.

The time, the era where everything was grounded. Connected to the roots.

Leander watched as the bespectacled man passed the iris recognition and led him to the laboratory.

The place where everything began.

Project 'Time Machine' was a scientific project the Federation has put years of effort into.

After ages and ages of perfecting the machine capable of warping time and space, capable of going against the flowing tides of time.

And Leander wanted to be a part of this project, even though it might be a very dumb decision.

"Ah, here is the protagonist of today!" A man wearing a white lab coat exclaimed, garnering the attention of his colleagues.

As soon as the man said that, all the people present shifted their attention towards Leander, who found their shining eyes rather unsettling.

A raven haired woman surged to him and caught a hold of his arm.

"Finally!" She giggled, much too giddily. "Participant 001 is here!" She shook his arm, nearly shaking him off-balance.

"Damn it, Charlotte. Stop it, you're going to make him puke!" Another scientist stopped her in time.

Charlotte awkwardly let go of Leander's arm and laughed sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I was too excited I guess."

"It's fine," Leander assured her weakly. "I'm, I'm fine."

"You don't look, buddy" the scientist from before looked at him sympathetically. "Sorry about her, she's a bit hyperactive because of excitement. This is the project we all worked hard on for so long after all. I'm Seth by the way."

"It's all right, I don't mind. The name's Leander, nice to meet you."

"Come with me, we should get you equipped now," Seth beckoned him and picked up something from the table by his side.

Leander strode to him and stood by his side.

"See," Seth started. "This is your quantum computer." He held an intricate looking dark watch at him. "This is how you are going to manipulate the machine."

"And it is specifically designed to return back to your wrist if you ever end up losing it when you're in the past," Charlotte explained. "It's just like your personal quantum terminal except it can communicate through timelines. When you are back in time, you'll be able to communicate with us in real time and it's filled with a massive database of any age, any era of the past.

"Man, you don't know how hard we had to work to collect all the actual and relevant data. So don't worry if you encounter any issues regarding languages, time relevant practices and traditions there. Just search it up on the computer and it'll come up with the best and most effective solution to your problem."

Leander looked amazed at the computer and nodded in daze.

"Now here's your essentials for your travel, this dimension bag has clothes, food and medical kit and a lot of other things that might come handy," Charlotte handed him the backpack and added. "Come back and we'll celebrate our success with you!"

"Err," raised his hand in question. "What's the rate of flow of time in the past?"

"Good question," A scientist in his late 20s stated. "Thought they were going to miss out on that part."

"Chief Song, Deputy Chief Kang!" Everyone stopped whatever they are doing and greeted the newcomers.

"I'm Song ZiXi and this is my deputy Kang Jin-Eul," the Chief extended his hand for a shake. "And we are the head of this project, pleased to meet you, Dr. Rinehart. I've heard a great deal about your achievements."

"You are overstating, Chief Song," Leander responded humbly. "What I do is incomparable to what you guys are doing."

"Oh now you are flattering us, Doctor." Song ZiXi laughed slightly. "Now, to answer your question, 1 month in the past corresponds to 1 hour in the present. You see, time in the past flows slower than today."

"That's a relief," Leander sighed. "I am ready, I think."

"You think?" Chief Song asked in amusement. "Then let's go. We'll take you to Zephyr."

"Zephyr," Leander repeated doubtfully.

"Oh, we were just bored enough to name the time machine that."

"I see."

On entering a dark, rather isolated room, Leander saw the thing the entire Federation wanted to see.

The time machine, Zephyr.

Except, it wasn't a machine.

Rather, it was an isolated room with an antimatter attack proof glass wall separating it from the surroundings, with a control panel not too far away.

"This…" Leander trailed off, unsure of how to react.

"I know, this isn't what you imagined the time machine would be like."

Leander looked at the chief in speechless silence.

"But it's safer," Chief Song explained patiently. "It doesn't trap the user in a narrow space. It gives them enough room to manoeuvre through dangerous situations. I mean wouldn't it be strange for someone in a capsule to pop out of the blue in the past?"

"So we thought of this as the best design."

"... I see." You aren't giving excuses, are you?

Chief Song coughed into his fist at the look from Leander and ushered him into the time machine-- no, time room.

Or whatever.

Leander was glad he'd decided to wear more layers today. He clutched the bag strap tighter and stood in the centre of the podium at Chief Song's direction.

The entire team of scientists had entered the room slowly and stood in front of the glass wall.

Chief Song asked him through the wall, "Ready, Doctor?"

Leander did not speak, he just signalled to him.

"Good luck Doc!" Charlotte waved as Seth rolled his eyes at her and waved at him.

Wait. He was forgetting something.

Leander froze as he watched Song ZiXi tapping on the control panel as the interface lit up.

Hold up--

"What the hell is criteria for timeline selection?!" He yelled over the bright light filling his vision.

Song ZiXi looked at him, dead in the eyes and answered before he was engulfed in the blinding brightness.

"Random. Safe but random."

Fuck.

Great, Leander Rinehart was officially, royally fucked.