A Fault In Time(Alwin Baiju) 1. Introduction To TUCOT.

The Year 2210.

A year where time travel wasn’t a fantasy anymore. The Universal Creed Of Time (TUCOT), founded in 2197, achieved time travel and made it a piece of cake. But only a selected few may travel. They erased their fingerprints and their ancestry. TUCOT was funded by the Government. The Government believed that they could achieve things which were deemed impossible before with the help of TUCOT. Their job was to fix the mistakes of history through the smallest way possible. It sounds risky and tough, but it was very easy for them. According to TUCOT, these rules ensure proper time travel:-

1. Find the smallest way to alter an event.
2. Leave no trace of your existence.
3. In case you cannot alter an event, retreat to The Void.
4. Do not mistake a black hole for a wormhole.
5. Do not travel back a day, a minute, or an hour.
6. Do not travel back over 2 millennia. If so, wait for 2 hours so that your ship could recharge.

TUCOT harnessed the energy of wormholes to travel back into the past. But there are still unknown dangers about time travel that even TUCOT are unaware of.


2. Aiden Bennett.

I am Aiden Bennett, the best pilot TUCOT has ever had [Not Bragging ;)], and I was enjoying a vacation on the fine beaches of Fiji, along with Julia, my lover, enjoying some whiskey. There was nothing like sunbathing under the sun and watching the sea go about its course. It was sheer luxury at its finest.
Just then, a tall, muscular man in his mid-40s approached me and handed over a package and said:-
“A coward dies a hundred time--”
“--Whereas a brave man dies only once,”
It was a code to identify our pilots. The man left, and I knew that I had to cut my vacation short. I opened the package and found a dusty old pen. A classic Parker 2076 18-carat gold pen, with a fine-textured finish. The cap popped open to reveal a hologram message briefing him about a mission. I reported to HQ the next day. The workers and my fellow pilots met with admiration and respect. I had a ship, The Chronos, which was a state-of-the-art ship much more sophisticated than any other. It even has its own pocket A.I.
“Ursula set course for 2089 Chicago.”
“Yes, master Aiden,”
*Planning course. Time-Lock-2089. Estimated time until arrival - 7 minutes*

2089 Chicago was the year when the hadron collider caused an enormous earthquake, killing 1 million people, nicknamed as the ‘The Wild Tremor’. All I had to do was change the paperwork of the scientist and get out of the scene. One day would have an average of 6 missions. One such day, I and Ursula were traveling through the time stream when unexpectedly, I blacked out. At first, I thought it was a time lag. But no. This was different.
“Ursula scan my body temperature for any spike and run a full body scan,”
*Commencing*
*Body Scan Complete*
“Your temperature is normal. Your body scan shows a small abnormality that can be rectified if you get some rest. In conclusion, you have high tension,”
“Wow. All that for tension?”
“Shall I set course 2210?”
“Okay,”
*Rerouting course. Time-Lock - 2210. Estimated time until arrival - 5 minutes*

Next Day

Typical day. Just cruising around time. When suddenly, I get a nasty headache. Chronos malfunctioned. After recovering from the headache, another surprise awaited me. A cloaked figure, as black as Vantablack, hovered around the break area. Everything was peculiar about it. Other than being a demon-like figure, its head was upside down. It approached me. I was shocked and didn’t know what it was. In fear, I fell to the floor and crawled back. As I did, I came across a FireLight and flashed it onto the phantom. The phantom resisted at first and disappeared. Chronos functioned properly again. I made Ursula set the course back to 2210, aborting his mission. I gave the ship to Mr. Nikola, head of Time Ship Manufacturing. Mr. Nikola looked at it and found nothing to be wrong with it. Mr. Nikola suggested that I meet with the psychiatrist, Mr. Jameson. Frankly, I thought so too. Mr. Jameson narrowed it down to a mere tension and hallucination.

A Week Later

I haven’t seen the demon since. It was cool, breezy midnight. I was laying down on my bed listening to some music when I got the headache again. I paused the music and headed downstairs to wash my face. I splashed my face with icy water once. There was some relief. I splashed again. My eyes were closed when I took the towel. I reached for the towel and dried my face. My eyes were still closed. When I opened them to look at myself in the mirror, another surprise awaited me. There it was again. The demon with its upturned face and vantablack cloak. It was standing behind me, waiting for me to turn. I turned in shock. It reached out its arms towards me with its bony fingers slowly approaching me. I, with nothing to arm me with, just stood there, with my life flashing before my eyes.

3. Doomsday is upon us. And the cause is you.

It slowly reached out its slender fingers and pressed them against my forehead. For a moment, I felt like my life force was being sucked out. Seconds later, it left. I collapsed. Minutes later I guess, I woke up and washed my face again. But the horror didn’t stop there. As soon as I opened my eyes, I wasn’t in my washroom anymore. I saw what can only be described as pure horror. The screams of thousands filled the air. Corpses lined my way. Landmarks were annihilated. And at the center of it all, Me! I rubbed my eyes in disturbance and found myself in a different scene. Same as the one before with minor changes. That’s when I realized that what I saw was the future.
Suddenly, with a turn, I was back in my washroom. I looked at the mirror. But it wasn’t who I expected to see. Instead of me, the demon stood. It uttered something. The next thing I remember is opening my eyes. I never experienced any of those things. They were all just a dream. But they felt too real. I walked back to my room slowly, crawling up on my bed and wrapping myself in sheets. Never in my life have I experienced such horror. Words cannot express what I saw. But what lingered in my mind wasn’t any of that. It was what that thing said. I couldn’t make out most of it, except for the last part which said: “the cause is you”. Of what?

I didn’t sleep that day. Wasn’t able to. All I could think of was that verse. What did it mean? I got a new mission from TUCOT, which was to go to 1917 Russia. As I got inside Chronos, I was taken aback for a moment. The holo-projector flashed: “The Doomsday is upon us”. What’s strange about this was that I didn’t start up Chronos. I immediately rushed to the guards. The guards came with me to Chronos. But I was too late. The projector was switched off. The guards inspected the ship and found no additional problems.
“But it was there. I-I s-saw it,” I said.
“Sir, are you alright? Should I call the medic?”
“No need Tom. Maybe I’m having another episode. Thanks,”
“Sure. No problem”
The guards left. I booted up Chronos and set the course for 1917. Midway through the course, my destination was altered to an unknown location. The time-stamp showed no year or event. Eventually, the location displayed: The Void. The Void was a place located outside time. Nothing is affected here. The Void was like a reset manual for pilots when they fail to provide the desired outcome. I crash-landed on an asteroid. The primary engine got exhausted. So I had to wait for some time. Meanwhile, I attached a tether rope to one of my belt loops and explored it. After a while, I felt someone pull the rope. Strange. I headed back to the ship, and to my surprise, it was missing. I searched for the ship relentlessly. Finally, I did it. I found it. But not how I hoped it would be. It looked rusty and old. Out of the blue, I heard strange voices. I turned back and found mindless people hoarding towards me, saying the words: “The doomsday is upon us and the cause is you”. It shocked me. I tried to run, but there were too many of them. One by one, they ripped off my limbs. It didn’t hurt as I thought it would. After a while, they made way for someone. The entity’s face was blank. Meaning, he had no features. He held up a vintage Shotgun and walked towards me. The next thing happened within seconds. He held the shotgun to my head and fired. Upon hearing the sound, the entire scene vanished. I got my limbs back. Chronos was back like it was. I rushed back to retreat from the Void. Just as I started to head off, something/someone was resisting me. My neck and torso were turned against my intentions. There, standing or hovering behind me. I saw it. The Demon. All I wanted to do now was to kill myself to end this brutal horror. Why was this all happening to me? What did I do? I gathered up my remaining strength and asked it:
“Who are you? What do you want? And Get the hell away from me,”
“Relax, Aiden” It replied calmly.
“You know me?”
“Yes,”
“Who are you?”


4. Tempus.

“I am Tempus. The Guardian of Time. I’ve been guarding time since the birth of this universe. I know 37100 languages, each and every detail happening in all 2 trillion galaxies. The birth and death of each star happens within my knowledge. My only challenge was keeping the wormholes hidden. When one wormhole showed up, TUCOT exploited it and created the so-called time travel. So far, only TUCOT and its pilots are the only ones who cracked time travel without any faults. All their predecessors have failed, being frozen in time permanently. But now’s not the time to discuss history. I’ve come to warn you of impending doom. Changing time is not as safe as you think. It affects everything and everyone cunningly.
“But I’ve made sure that the future never changed,” I justified.
“The future is never set Aiden. Think of Time as a simple human being. The Past, Present & Future as its memories. When someone hurts it, it either plans on revenge or sits idle. TUCOT focuses on the sitting idle area. But remember that even if a person sits idle at that time, he/she will always have their revenge at some point. Changing even the smallest details can affect the future. There are many unknown things about TUCOT that you aren’t aware of,”
“What do you mean?” I asked in confusion.
“TUCOT is not an organization that sets out to explore the unknown or rectify past mistakes. They are using time as their greatest weapon. You and your fellow pilots are just pawns in their hands,”
“Don’t talk bullshit about them,” I replied with fury.
“There’s no use of arguing Aiden. The more you help them, the more they are closer in achieving their goal,”
“How?”
“The memories of each human being is influenced by past events, with one event chained to another. If you change these events, you erase the memories of the people in the future. They won’t know the difference between good and evil. TUCOT is aware of this. They are using this as an advantage to rule the world,”
“Hold up. So what I saw, the people and the destruction...they were all true?”
“Not yet. But if you continue to follow their orders, It will be. Very soon. “Time” is planning its revenge. If you reach TUCOT by 12.52 PM, you have exactly 5 minutes to find out the truth.”
“Why can’t you intervene?”
“That is beyond my capabilities. I was created with the sole purpose of guarding time. I can only guide others. There should not be any record of me.”
“Okay,”


5. Truth.

“Ursula, Set course for 2210,”
“But master Aiden, our mission is incomplete,”
“Just do as I say, Ursula,”
“Yes sir.”
*Rerouting course. Time-Lock - 2210. Estimated time until arrival - 3 minutes*
I reached TUCOT at exactly 12.52 PM. At first, I thought of talking about Tempus and the Void to the Director of TUCOT, Dr. Daniels. As I was about to enter his office, I overheard a conversation. He was talking to Mr. Nikola.
“Looks like Aiden is not well Mr. Nikola. We may have to postpone the other missions.”
“Why? We can send other pilots.”
“True. But they are not Aiden. Aiden knows how to get out of any situation. The others are not that efficient. Besides, we’ve lost many of our good pilots like Gerald and Parker,”
“I wouldn’t trust Aiden. Not at this moment.”
“Why?”
“I visited Mr. Jameson to retrieve his report and he said that Aiden was experiencing episodes of horror. This is exactly what happened to the others who found out our true intentions. We may have to kill him.”
“Let’s wait, Nikola.”

I don’t know what to say. It took me a while to accept reality.
The first thing I did was enquire about Gerald and Parker. It was true. Their ships didn’t send out signals. Only possible if they went to a non-existing reality. Gerald was the one who introduced me to TUCOT. Parker was my mentor. He made me who I am. I went back to my cubicle. Jenny served me my evening beverage. An iced tea. I gulped down the whole cup. Seconds later, I started to get dizzy. Before I could call for help, I collapsed. The next thing I remember is waking up at the infirmary. Dr. Daniels was standing beside me.
“Hey, Aiden. Are you alright?”
“Yes sir. Just a small headache,”
“The doctor said you’ll be discharged today. If you want, you can take leave.”
“No sir. It’s fine. I’ll join tomorrow itself.”
“Sure Aiden. Oh and one more thing,” He bent down towards me and whispered something to my ear. “I know you spied on our conversation. So stay with us and be a good boy. If you turn against us, next time we’ll make sure you die properly. If you try to report it to the Government, then say goodbye to Julia.”
He patted my shoulders and left. I became more cautious and scared. I wished for Tempus as I realized everything. I think it was the wishing because moments after thinking about him, He appeared beside me.
“Tempus. Thank God you’re here. I’m sorry for doubting you earlier. You have to help me,”
“All is forgiven. Now’s not the time for apologies. Time is running out. Only days left for TUCOT to take over the world,”
“How do I stop them Tempus?”
“I don’t know Aiden. Like I’ve said, the future is not set. I can show you only fragments of it. But I can show you the path of the fallen.”
“That’s enough for me.”
I witnessed the gruesome deaths of many of my predecessors. But I knew what to do. I planned on destroying TUCOT forever. But it was tough. TUCOT was the one place that made me feel good about myself. They gave me a purpose. But I had to put that all aside. Before all this though, I had to inform Julia. She's the only one I can trust. I told her about everything: Tempus, The Void, TUCOT’s scheme, etc. She wished me good luck. I was ready.


6. Julia’s Journal.

Entry: September 15, 2210.

It’s been months since I’ve seen Aiden. Last I saw him, he went to expose TUCOT. I hope I see him again. If he is alive, he will visit me no matter where he is. But that’s what scares me. What if he isn’t?

Entry: September 16, 2210.

Today was a magical day. Both figuratively and literally. I was at Aurora’s Coffeehouse. Out of nowhere, a man sat opposite me without even asking me.
“Hey! What the--” I paused. For a moment, I was angry. Not because a stranger was sitting at my table. But because I knew that stranger.
“Aiden! Where were you all this time?” I said with excitement.
“Hey. I missed you too. Let’s go somewhere else shall we?”
“Sure.”
We went to the mall. We had lunch and enjoyed like we never did before. But I still wanted to know why he hadn’t come to see me.
We were walking and came to rest at a nearby bench.
“So Aiden. Where were you all this while? What happened?"
“It’s a long story. After I left, I went straight to TUCOT with some EMPs. After activating them, I had exactly 10 minutes to confront Daniels and his henchmen. The henchmen didn’t pose a great threat to me. They all were down with just one jab.--”
I started blushing. I don’t know why. Maybe because I was hearing my sweetheart’s story of saving the world.
“--Afterwards, I went to Daniels’ room. I was taken aback for a moment because he was pointing a vintage shotgun right where I was standing. Mr. Nikola was there accompanying him. It was me against them. He shot twice but I managed to dodge both times. You know how vintage shotguns take time to reload. That gave me time to grab and choke Nikola. But Daniels didn’t need bullets. He hit me in the head with the shotgun. I passed out. I woke up with Daniels pointing the gun towards my head, just like the vision Tempus had shown. This is where all the others had failed. I immediately yelled:- “WAIT, Daniels. I have something that may be of interest to you,”
“What? Make it fast,”
“Ok. But this is only a two people conversation,”
“Oh don’t worry about that.” He shot Nikola.
“Why did you do that?”
“He’s a cunning guy. He won’t leave the room without bugging it. I already found two of his bugs. Now, what is it that you have?”
“It’s about the Void. I’ve found something there,”
“What is it?”
“Wait. let me get up,” The fool. He believed it. I seized my chance and grabbed the gun from him, shooting him without thinking further,”
“Did you say something cheezy then?” I asked.
“Nah,”
“Hmmm. And then what happened?”
“I waited for the EMP to deactivate and stole the files of TUCOT which contained some undisclosed plans. I leaked the files and plans on the internet. After that, I took Chronos and headed for the Void. Tempus was waiting there for me. I informed him of TUCOT’s demise and the disappearance of my friends. He told that they were safe, but located somewhere, far beyond the Void in a place called the Abhorrent. At first, I found it hard to believe because the Abhorrent was a myth. Tempus gave me the location. He estimated that I would take 2 hours to find them. I went to the Abhorrent and found Gerald’s ship, The Bald Eagle. Gerald was in hyper-sleep. Parker’s ship, The Sentinel was far off. Parker was also in hyper-sleep. I abandoned their ships and took them with me. Just as Tempus predicted, It took me 2 hours. But something there affected me. It changed me. I came back and found out that 2 months had passed. TUCOT’s assets were given to The Scribes, a CIA headed organization. The public was made aware of TUCOT’s intentions,”
“Wow. I hope you weren’t bragging,”
“No. Not at all. They all happened. And besides, there’s something else I wanted to talk to you about,”
“What is it?”
Just as he was about to speak up, some creep started to yell at us for sitting on his bench. I got up and told him we were here first. But I guess that doesn’t apply to him. Next thing you know, he just pushed me to the floor. I looked at Aiden. That was the first time I saw him getting furious. He just sat there staring at him. This pissed off the man. As he was about to grab Aiden, I noticed his eyeballs. They started to glow green. This startled the man. And a few seconds later, he crumbled onto the floor. His hair started to become grey. Wrinkles appeared out of nowhere. He looked like he was in his mid-60s, which was very very odd because he was 30 or something a while back.
“What just happened?” I asked in shock.
“Time passed I guess,” He said and walked with me towards the exit.

THE END

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