Evelyn's voice broke through my spiraling thoughts. "We're looking for someone—Ryan's future self," she said, her tone calm but commanding. "He vanished from his timeline, but he left instructions for us to find you."
Rael raised an eyebrow, his skepticism palpable. "Not many people come asking about ghosts from other realities," he said dryly.
The word caught me off guard, and I frowned. "Ghosts?" I asked, the weight of the conversation finally catching up with me. My voice cracked slightly, but I held his gaze. I needed answers—more than ever now.
"That's what we call them here. People who don't belong. Your kind doesn't naturally exist in this reality," Rael said, gesturing at me with a cybernetic finger. "And yet, here you are."
A faint smirk tugged at Rael's lips, and his tone shifted, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Figures. The multiverse is messy. Even someone as brilliant as your 'future self' couldn't clean up that chaos."
My patience was starting to fray. I couldn't stand this cryptic game anymore. "Do you know anything, or are we wasting our time?"
Without a word, Rael tapped a button on the counter. Suddenly, the screens around us flickered to life, revealing a sprawling, glowing map of tangled lines that pulsed like threads of light, each one representing a different timeline.
"This is the Threadmap," Rael said. "It tracks disruptions across the multiverse—large and small. Each line is a timeline, and every pulse is an anomaly." His finger hovered over a flickering thread near the center. "That's your future self's reality. I've been watching it for a while. The disturbances began shortly before he disappeared."
Evelyn leaned in closer to the screen, her brow furrowed. "What kind of disturbances?"
Rael shrugged casually. "Powerful ones. Something—or someone—was trying to break through. Could've been a multiversal shift or…" He paused, his gaze locking with Evelyn's. "…someone from here looking for you."
Evelyn's expression hardened. "The Institute."
Rael's response was dry. "Could be. They don't usually let their projects wander off. If they've set their sights on you, it's no surprise your future Ryan wanted you hidden."
A cold weight settled in my chest. I looked at Evelyn, my voice barely above a whisper. "So, what does this mean for us?"
Rael didn't hesitate. He tapped another button, and the map zoomed in to a specific set of coordinates. Red flashing numbers blinked ominously. "If you want answers, start here. This is the last place your future self was seen—just before he vanished."
Evelyn studied the coordinates, her brow furrowed. "What kind of place is it?"
Rael's tone shifted, darkening. "It's not a place anymore. It's a collapsing reality. Nothing stable survives there for long. If he left anything behind, retrieving it will be dangerous."
I felt a flicker of fear deep in my gut, but I forced myself to focus. "We don't have a choice."
Rael gave me a sharp nod, his lips curling into a grin. "Good. I like that attitude." He extended his cybernetic hand toward Evelyn, his grin widening. "You'll need some gear. Lucky for you, I've got connections. But it'll cost you."
Evelyn didn't hesitate. She clasped his hand firmly. "We'll pay."
Rael smirked, clearly pleased. "Then let's get to work."
The tension in the room eased slightly, but the sense of urgency was palpable. Rael motioned for us to follow him into the back of the shop. The narrow corridor was dimly lit, and the air was thick with the smell of ozone and metal, the hum of machinery growing louder the deeper we went. The walls were lined with old conduits and glowing panels that pulsed with a strange, otherworldly light.
Rael opened a reinforced door, revealing a workshop that felt like the strange, hybrid offspring of a mechanic's garage and a science lab. Tools were neatly arranged on the walls, interspersed with glowing fragments of technology that looked far more advanced than anything I'd ever seen. In the center of the room stood a large cylindrical device, humming softly, its surface etched with intricate patterns that shimmered faintly.
"This," Rael said, gesturing to the device, "is the Nexus Stabilizer. If you're heading into a collapsing reality, you'll need this to anchor yourselves. Without it, the entire timeline could unravel before you can retrieve anything."
Evelyn's eyes narrowed as she examined the machine. "How does it work?"
Rael pulled a sleek tablet from his pocket and tapped a few commands. A low-frequency hum resonated through the air, and a holographic interface projected above the device. "It creates a temporal anchor—a bubble of stability around you. Think of it like a lifeboat in a storm. But it's not infinite. The power core is experimental. You'll have an hour at most before the bubble collapses."
I leaned closer, curiosity taking hold of me. "What happens if the bubble collapses while we're still there?"
Rael's cybernetic eye flickered as he turned his gaze on me. "You don't want to find out. Let's just say your atoms would have a hard time deciding which universe they belong to."
The gravity of his words settled in, but Evelyn remained unfazed. "What else will we need?"
Rael grinned, walked over to a cabinet, and pulled out sleek, armored suits. "These are temporal suits. They're designed to withstand the entropy of a collapsing reality. Lightweight, flexible, and lined with nanotech to adapt to unstable environments." He tossed one at me, and I fumbled to catch it.
I turned the suit over in my hands, marveling at its design. "Do we need weapons?" I asked, glancing at Evelyn.
Rael chuckled. "In a collapsing reality, your biggest enemy is time. But," he added, pulling a plasma-based sidearm from a drawer, "it doesn't hurt to be prepared." He handed it to Evelyn, who inspected it before nodding in approval.
As we geared up, I turned to Rael. "How do we activate the coordinates?"
Rael tapped his tablet again and transferred the data to a small, circular device, which he handed to Evelyn. "This will open a portal directly to the coordinates. Just don't take too long. The Nexus Stabilizer will keep you anchored, but the longer you're there, the more unstable the reality becomes."
I slipped into the suit, feeling its seamless design mold to my body. I couldn't shake the feeling of fear gnawing at me, but I forced myself to stay focused. "What about coming back?" I asked.
Rael pointed to the circular device in Evelyn's hand. "Same way you go in. Just don't lose it."
Evelyn secured the device to her wrist and turned to me, her face set. "Ready?"
"As I'll ever be," I replied, my voice barely masking the unease within me.
Rael activated the portal device, and a shimmering vortex of light and shadow materialized in the middle of the room. The air hummed with energy, and I could hear distant echoes calling to us.
"Good luck," Rael said, stepping back.
Evelyn and I exchanged a final glance, then stepped into the vortex, the world around us dissolving into a labyrinth of colors as we were pulled into the collapsing reality.