Chapter 1: A New Beginning in 1990
The world was a blur of colors when Adam opened his eyes. For a moment, the ground beneath him felt solid, real—yet disorienting. He blinked hard, trying to shake off the fog that clung to his mind. His chest was tight, and his head throbbed with the aftermath of something that felt like a long dream. A cold breeze swept across his face.
He sat up slowly, his surroundings coming into focus. The street was a strange mix of old and new. He recognized it immediately: a typical American neighborhood, but not like any he'd seen before. This was the 1990s, he realized with a jolt. He could see the Blockbuster store down the street, the old payphones on the corner, and a large, bulky car with an unmistakable '90s model sitting in front of him. The air smelled faintly of fast food and exhaust fumes, the sounds of people talking, kids playing, and the distant hum of a car stereo blasting some grunge rock song. It was a scene ripped from a history book, and yet it was all too real.
"What in the world…" Adam muttered to himself, his voice echoing in the silence around him.
He reached into his pocket, expecting to find his phone—his lifeline, his connection to the world he knew. But what he pulled out was a small, clunky device he didn't recognize. A pager. It buzzed once, and a message scrolled across the tiny screen: "Welcome to 1990. Your future starts now."
His heart raced. What was happening? How had he gotten here? One moment, he'd been in the 2020s, and the next—he was here. In the past.
"Hey, you okay?" A voice interrupted his thoughts.
Adam turned, startled. A girl—about his age, maybe a little younger—was standing in front of him, peering at him with concern. She wore a Flannel shirt tied around her waist, denim jeans, and had a scrunchie in her hair, a style Adam thought was long outdated. She was holding a skateboard in one hand, her fingers idly tracing the edge as she examined him.
"You look a little lost," she said with a grin. "You just fell out of a time machine or something?"
Adam blinked at her. His head spun for a moment before he forced out an awkward laugh. "Yeah… something like that."
The girl raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying his response. "Well, if you need help, I'm Rachel. I could probably give you a hand, if you're, y'know… new around here. You look like you just stepped out of a spaceship."
Adam chuckled, but inside, his mind was racing. Rachel? A familiar name, yet nothing about her triggered recognition. The world was still so strange, and nothing about it felt right. He needed answers.
"Uh, yeah… I guess you could say that," Adam said, trying to play it cool. He dusted off his jeans and stood up, his eyes scanning the area again. Everything was exactly how it should be—except for the fact that it wasn't.
Rachel's grin widened as she turned to leave. "Well, if you're not gonna ask for directions, I guess I'll let you wander. But hey, don't take too long. You might just end up in the middle of a block party, and that'd be a real weird thing to miss."
As she skateboarded off into the distance, Adam stood there for a moment longer, still trying to make sense of it all. It was no dream, and it wasn't some alternate universe. He had somehow, inexplicably, been dropped into 1990, a time he had only heard about in stories. And with no memory of how he'd gotten here, he had no choice but to adapt.
Time to get to work, Adam thought, reaching into his pocket. His hand brushed against the pager again, and he noticed that it had a small button with the word "ChatGPT" on it.
He pressed it without thinking.
"Hello, Adam." The voice came from nowhere, echoing in his ears as if it were a part of the world itself. "I see you've arrived. How can I assist you today?"
Adam froze. This… wasn't right.
He glanced around, half-expecting a hologram to appear or some futuristic technology to unfold in front of him. Instead, the voice came again, this time a little more insistent.
"Adam? Are you there?"
He looked at the pager, his mind working in overdrive. This wasn't just any device, he realized. It was a connection to the AI from the future.
"I'm here," Adam replied, voice quiet, still trying to process the bizarre situation. "But… what am I supposed to do here? In 1990?"
The voice was calm and reassuring, almost like an old friend. "You must adapt. Use the tools available to you, but be careful. Things are not what they seem."
"What do you mean by that?" Adam asked, his tone a little more wary now.
"You'll see soon enough," ChatGPT replied cryptically. "But first, let's get you settled. You'll need a job to blend in. You can't live on thin air, after all."
Adam frowned, looking around. He had no idea how to navigate this world, let alone figure out a way to survive. But one thing was clear: he wasn't getting answers right away. He was going to have to start solving problems for himself.
As he walked down the street, taking in the neon lights of shops and the faded signs of old-school diners, he realized something. In this strange world, anything was possible. It was 1990, sure. But in the back of his mind, the idea of building something—something huge—had begun to form. The world was ripe for change, and Adam was determined to be the one to make it happen.
But first, he'd need to figure out how to get the ball rolling—and how to make the most out of his mysterious connection to the future.
End of Chapter 1