Darkness. That was the first thing I remembered. An endless void, stretching beyond comprehension.
Then, a sudden pull—like I was being dragged through the fabric of reality itself.
I gasped. Air flooded my lungs, but something felt… off. The weight of my body was different. My thoughts were sharp, yet disoriented, as if I were waking from a dream I couldn't remember.
A soft glow illuminated the room. The scent of aged paper and ink lingered in the air. I looked down at my hands—wrinkled, weathered, marked with time. This was not my body.
I scrambled toward a mirror across the dimly lit study. What I saw nearly sent me stumbling back.
A face stared back at me. Wild, unkempt white hair. Deep-set eyes, filled with an intensity I didn't recognize. A mustache that curled slightly at the edges.
No. This wasn't possible.
I had reincarnated. And not just into anyone—but into Albert Einstein.
I grasped at my memories, trying to make sense of it. The last thing I remembered was… what was it? A car crash? An accident? The details were hazy, but one thing was clear: I had died. And now, somehow, I had awakened in the body of one of the greatest minds in history.
Was I dreaming? Was this some kind of elaborate afterlife prank?
A stack of papers sat on the desk before me. Equations, scrawled in hurried strokes, symbols that looked both familiar and alien. As I reached out to touch them, a flood of information poured into my mind—relativity, quantum mechanics, space-time curvature. Concepts that should have been beyond me now felt… instinctive.
I wasn't just in Einstein's body. I had his knowledge.
But what year was this? What moment in history had I stepped into? And more importantly—what was I supposed to do with this second chance?
A knock at the door startled me.
"Professor?" a voice called from the other side. "The conference begins in an hour. Are you ready?"
I took a slow breath. Ready? Not even close. But if fate had given me Einstein's life, then I had no choice but to live it.
And maybe—just maybe—I could change the course of history itself.
Expanded Scene: The Realization
I turned away from the mirror, my mind racing. If this was real, then I needed to find out exactly when I had landed. There was no smartphone to check the date—of course not. My eyes darted to a nearby newspaper folded neatly on the desk.
April 12, 1922.
1922?! That meant I was at the peak of Einstein's career—after the confirmation of General Relativity but before the rise of the Nazi regime. A turbulent time, full of opportunities and dangers.
But what was I supposed to do? Just walk around and pretend to be a genius? I had memories of my past life—some average guy who barely scraped through high school physics. Now, I had to live as the smartest man in history? Talk about imposter syndrome.
I rubbed my temples. "Okay… think. What would Einstein do?"
A low hum filled the air, drawing my attention to the desk again. A small, old-fashioned radio crackled to life. A voice announced in German, "The great Professor Einstein will be speaking today in Berlin about his latest work—"
Oh. That must be the conference the guy at the door was talking about.
Crap.
I had no idea what I was supposed to say at that conference. What if I got up there and blurted out something stupid? Or worse, what if I accidentally introduced technology from the future and changed history in ways I couldn't predict?
My pulse quickened. This wasn't just about living as Einstein—I was walking a tightrope of history, where one wrong move could rewrite everything.
The knock came again, harder this time.
"Professor?" The voice sounded impatient now. "We must leave soon."
I needed to stall. "Uh—give me a moment!" I called back, my voice hoarse. I sounded way too American.
I cleared my throat and tried again. "Ein… moment, bitte!"
Okay. That was better. Maybe.
I needed a plan. I needed time. But most of all—I needed to get out of this room before I lost my mind.
Escape Attempt No. 1
A crazy thought hit me. What if I just ran?
I could climb out the window, sneak into the streets, and figure things out without anyone questioning me. It wasn't like Einstein was some action hero, but how hard could it be to escape unnoticed?
I shuffled toward the window, only to stop immediately when I caught sight of my reflection again.
Right. I was an old man.
Sneaking out unnoticed wasn't happening.
Sighing, I turned back to the door. Fine. I'd face this head-on. What was the worst that could happen?
I opened the door to find a man in a neatly pressed suit, his brow furrowed in concern. "Professor, are you well?"
I nodded stiffly. "Ja, ja. Just… thinking."
That was vague enough, right? Einstein was always deep in thought, so maybe acting a little absentminded was the best cover.
The man straightened his tie. "Your car is waiting. The world is eager to hear from you, Professor."
Oh, no pressure or anything. Just the world.
I forced a smile and stepped forward, bracing myself for whatever came next. If I was going to be Einstein, I had better start acting like a genius.
Even if I had no idea what I was doing.