Alex Han leaned against the wall of the break room, the cold tile pressing into his back as he stared out the small window. The city buzzed with life below, but up here, in his mid-level finance job, he felt invisible—trapped in a glass box.
His colleagues chatted about promotions and big deals, moving forward with their lives, but Alex? He was stuck. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was meant for something bigger, yet somehow he'd ended up here, working a job that didn't ignite anything in him.
A quick glance at his aPhone showed another flood of emails—more spreadsheets, more meetings.
"Man, you okay?" Jason, his buddy from work, asked, sliding next to him with a half-eaten donut.
"You look like you just found out you're getting laid off."
"Just… thinking," Alex muttered, rubbing his temples.
"I don't know. I feel like I'm stuck in this never-ending cycle. Like, I should be doing more, you know? Like there's more out there, and I missed it."
Jason snorted. "Dude, you're doing great. You've got a solid job, good friends, and you're climbing the ladder. Just give it time."
Alex gave him a half-hearted nod. You're doing great. He'd heard that before. Too many times. His dad said it every time they talked, and it only made Alex feel worse. He didn't feel great. In fact, he felt like he was constantly falling short.
He remembered his dad working multiple jobs when Alex was younger, struggling to keep the family afloat, and yet he always seemed so sure, so strong. He had dreams for Alex—dreams his son wasn't sure he could live up to.
As Jason left, Alex sighed and picked up his aPhone, mindlessly scrolling through his messages. he opened a message from his dad: "Proud of you, son! You're doing great. Keep it up."
Alex stared at the message for a moment, his chest tightening. He knew his dad meant well, but every time he saw a message like this, it twisted something inside him.
His dad had always believed in him, no matter what. But Alex? He couldn't believe in himself. The pressure of his father's expectations, his own unfulfilled dreams, and the monotonous grind of everyday life had left him feeling like he was falling behind—like he wasn't living up to the potential his dad saw in him.
Why couldn't he just believe he was doing well? Why couldn't he shake the feeling that this wasn't enough?
Before he could respond to the message, a blinding flash exploded in the room. The light was so intense that Alex fumbled with the tumbler in his hand, sending it clattering to the floor. He blinked, shielding his eyes, trying to make sense of the sudden brightness.
Suddenly, everything around him disappeared. The break room vanished, and he found himself floating—no, falling—into a cold, metal chamber.
The air was thin and sterile, the lights harsh and fluorescent. Panic surged through him as he scrambled to his feet, realizing he was inside some kind of futuristic space… ship?
"Welcome to hell, dumbass!" a voice snarled, echoing through the metal walls. Alex whipped around and came face-to-face with a being that looked nothing like what he expected. It was humanoid, but the eyes, the skin… everything screamed not human.
The alien had a mechanical arm and wore a suit that was clearly built for space travel, but the expression on its face was one of pure annoyance.
"What—where—what the hell is this?!" Alex stammered, heart racing.
"You? I wasn't even trying to grab you! I was after one of those badass little ants you got crawling all over your planet. Toughest damn creatures down there, but no, my ship's sensors got fried, and now here I am, stuck with a worthless human!" the alien spat, pacing back and forth.
Alex backed up, bumping into the wall of the ship, his eyes darting around for any way out. The alien wasn't paying much attention—too busy cussing and kicking at the malfunctioning controls. That's when Alex noticed something strange across the room.
A sleek, metallic pod sat in the corner, the door slightly ajar. It looked out of place, but in his panic, Alex didn't care.
Without thinking, Alex bolted for it.
"Hey! What the—" the alien yelled, realizing what Alex was doing.
But it was too late. Alex shoved the door open and slammed himself into the small pod, sealing the door behind him.
His breath hitched as he took in the glowing panels and switches. It's an escape pod - or at least, that's what he thought. It hummed with an eerie energy, but it looked like it could launch him out of here. Frantically, Alex began flipping switches and pressing buttons, hoping it would activate. Alarms started blaring.
Outside, the alien's muffled voice was filled with rage. "You idiot! That's not an escape pod—it's—"
Before the alien could finish, the machine whirred to life, and Alex was sucked into a vortex of swirling lights and deafening noise. The sensation of being torn apart and slammed back together gripped him as he spiraled through time itself.
Then, just as suddenly, everything stopped.
—-
Alex landed with a hard thud, sprawled out on the floor of what looked like his old apartment. But something was different. He wasn't just back in time—he was back in his younger body.
His head spun as he pushed himself up, heart pounding. He barely had time to register the situation before he noticed something else. Where the hell was the alien? The cussing, grumpy creature wasn't anywhere in sight.
"Yo! Where'd you go?" Alex called out, looking around. No response.
He scoured the apartment, frantically opening closets, checking under the bed, behind furniture. No weird alien. Just silence.
Then his eyes landed on the coffee table. There, sitting in the middle of it, was a sleek, futuristic-looking pair of headphones. The design was like nothing he had ever seen, with tiny lights flickering along the edges. Alex furrowed his brow, picking them up slowly.
"Are you... the alien?" he muttered, feeling a bit foolish.
The headphones buzzed to life, and a voice—that voice—crackled through. "Oh, you dumbass. Took you long enough! Of course it's me, genius. You think I'd just leave you here to screw everything up on your own?"
Alex nearly dropped the headphones. "Wait—what the hell? You're in this thing?"
The voice crackled louder this time, filled with irritation. "I am this thing, you moron! Thanks to your brilliant move with the time machine—whom you thought was an escape pod—I have to avoid disintegration and so I fused with the only thing I brought with me , an ancient tech I got from your planet! So yeah, congratulations, you genius."
Alex's eyes widened as he held the headphones closer. "You've gotta be kidding me."
"Nope! Welcome to your new reality, kid. Now put me on and try not to make an even bigger mess of things."