The Device

Dr. Leah Summers sat alone in her dimly lit lab, staring at the small, unassuming object on the table in front of her. It was nothing more than a metallic wristband, yet it held the potential to unravel time itself. After years of research, failed experiments, and government grants, she had finally done it—created the world's first time travel device.

"Just a few seconds," Leah murmured to herself, adjusting the dials on the side of the wristband. It was supposed to be a test—just five seconds into the past, a harmless hop. But a creeping sense of dread crawled up her spine as she strapped the band onto her wrist.

She hesitated, her finger hovering over the activation button. What if something went wrong? Time travel was an enigma, full of theoretical dangers: paradoxes, alternate realities, timelines that could collapse in on themselves. Yet, the thirst for knowledge burned stronger than her fear.

With a deep breath, Leah pressed the button.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then the world around her began to shimmer, like a reflection disturbed by ripples in a pond. The lab dissolved into a swirl of colors and sounds, and a nauseating sensation tugged at her gut as the fabric of reality twisted. Just as suddenly as it began, it stopped. Leah found herself back in her lab, but something was off.

The clock on the wall read five seconds earlier.

"Success!" she whispered, grinning in disbelief.

But something felt… wrong. The air around her buzzed with a subtle, electric energy, as if the universe itself had noticed the anomaly. She glanced around her lab, expecting everything to be exactly the same, but her breath caught in her throat.

A figure stood in the corner, cloaked in shadow.

"Who are you?" Leah demanded, her voice trembling.

The figure stepped forward. It was her—a future version of herself, eyes wide with panic.

"Stop! You have no idea what you've done!" her future self warned. "You think this is about curiosity? This device… it's a key to something far more dangerous. You have to destroy it before—"

The future Leah's warning was cut off as the lab began to shimmer again, but this time, it wasn't just her lab. The walls flickered, reality distorted, and suddenly Leah was somewhere else.