Chapter 3: 172 A.G.D

Next day, 8:00 am 9th December 2024.

It's been 3 days for me but, for "Normal People'' it's just the next day. I have experimented enough with my abilities to the point of exhaustion and realised a few things, First thing is that 'Time' is basically the 4th dimension from what I know from Google.

So if I'm correct If I can control The 4th dimension, But i should be able to control dimensions below my level? Meaning travel anywhere, anytime i want but at this moment I just can't. I won't bother with it as well because what if I get stuck in a wall somewhere or fall off a ledge or even worse, Accidentally go to a different planet without any atmosphere?.

Second thing I've broken down my powers to much simpler "Gamer" terms

sounds cringe when I say it

Step 1: Left hand snap to pause time and resume.

Step 2: I have to set the duration in my head mentally such as Microseconds, Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days and so on..

Step 3: Hand rotation direction, anti-clockwise for Rewind and clockwise for Forward

Step 4: Think of a location of where I want to travel..

which I don't know how to do it yet

Is this foreshadowing??

All this information about time travel wasn't in my brain before, It all appeared after I met her…huh weird

I got up from the bed

Using my power makes me really tired

"Welp i guess i should grab a cup of coffee" I said

I start my day as usual by having a cup of coffee which is something I cannot live without and having breakfast, then going to the bookstore where now I work as a Cashier. Due to my prior experience of working in a job, getting this job was quite easy to say the least.

4 hours have passed and it's almost my break.

I'm already getting very tired of dealing with customers

I go ask my Store Owner for a break and he quickly declines without hesitation.

"No you cannot slack off" he said

He had a rough voice almost around retirement age. I've heard rumours from Ex-employees of this store about his bad reputation but didn't mind them since rumours spread quicker than truths, But I guess they were Right.

"Why can't I take a break? look at the time"

"Were short on labour"

did he just call me labour??

"But that's not my responsibili–"

he slams his hand on the desk and shouts.

"Go work you worthless cat piss"

"Ok Boss." it's impossible to not obey him.

"You don't even deserve being garbage, you're worse somehow!"

I finished the first half of my shift as soon as possible, and headed inside the staff area to have my lunch. I peeled the wrapper of my sandwich which I bought this morning before heading to work. It got stale and cold in these winter temperatures.

Now that I think about it I could have just paused time and had my lunch, I'm stupid.

As soon as I was about to open my mouth to take a bite I got a phone call from an unknown number.

Ugh, I hate my life.

I picked up the call and replied "Hello, Who is this?"

"I knew you would pick up the phone" she said

it's that annoying invisible witch again

"What do you want this time?"

"Oh don't be rude I'm here calling you for a good reason! promise. not really-"

"Do you need help with 3rd dimensional travel?~" she replied

I suppose she is helping me for a good cause but for some reason I can't just trust her, Just a gut feeling really.

"Yeah, What about it?"

"Well I suppose it's time I tell you the truth about your powers"

"Where are you again?"

"Uhh I was gonna go have lunch and you interrupted me before I could even take a bite–"

"Yeah whatever, eat later. this conversation is more important"

"…"

"Let me explain it in short, Everything around us has a space around it right? Even solid objects are 99.99% empty. Thus space is everywhere"

"Yes I guess that's true..."

"But the people in your time don't realise it's not just Space"

"Everything has energy, even this 'Empty space' . Do you know what energy Space is made out of?"

"Let me guess..Solar Systems and Galaxies?"

"Not wrong but, Whatever" she said with disappointment

"It's Temporal Energy"

"Everything around is made up of even a little bit of temporal energy, but you're different"

"Well…That's what my mother says I'm different than others" I said it proudly

"Your mother probably meant you're autistic"

"..."

"Anyways, as I was saying, You are different because your body has a mind blowing amount of 98.7% pure temporal energy! That is why I picked you"

did she just say I'm empty from inside in a nicer way?

after hearing this answer I could do nothing expect have more questions

"You picked Me? So it wasn't a coincidence? Wait, are you even a wish granter?"

"No I'm not, I had to bluff just in case things got too complicated for you. But you're smart… sometimes"

Is this why she knew everything about me?

"The physicists in your time don't think out of the box and even when they do it's not enough, that's their problem, that's why you guys cannot figure out time travel, I mean they did? sorta but only through future with the method of Time Dilation"

wait hold on why does she keep saying your time?

"I don't know if this is personal but, are you from the future?"

"Yes I came from the year 172 AGD" she said with a slight hint of sorrow

"What does AGD mean?" I asked

"After Global Domination, I know it sounds a bit terrible.. but that's exactly how it is in my time"

"172 years ago, 2570 AD I think.. Before I was born, the British government teamed up with the Russians, Americans and the Chinese, declared war against the entire world and threatened to start a nuclear war, and started colonising countries with weaker armies. After a Year, More than half of the world was under the rule of tyranny and they started from the year 0 once again saying 'It's the beginning of a new world'... and called it The Pangean Nexus Empire"

"Every now and then some countries would rebel against the Nexus, and all of them so far would fail then they get punished terribly due to their weak power and political game"

"And now they rule the world" she spoke with discomfort

"The weaker the country's wealth the more terribly they were treated"

"Then John Titor, A reputable scientist from our time who discovered Temporal Energy figured out time travel after 50 years of research and died from natural cause, well that's what the reports sai-"

"H- Hold on, Did you just say John Titor??"

i replied almost immediately

"Yes i did, what happened"

"You mean THE John Titor? That one American who claimed to be a 'Time Traveller' from the future in 2001?"

"Well that's new, I have never heard anyone from the future mention his journey to 2001 AD" she replies

"Could be a alternate timeline where he was alive"

"yeah it could be" i replied… Wait, there is a multiverse??

my mind was beyond baffled

"Few years later after the Death of John Titor, The first Generation of Time Travelling Machine was invented, it was bulky, huge and unreliable, Beta testing program was made, and 26 out of 28 of those tester died from instant ageing after the machine was booted because they insisted to keep testing"

"Then why didn't the last 2 of them die?" i reply with concern

"both of them were Newborns"

"The story of next few years is a bit complicated…i'll tell you someday in future when you're ready" she replied

How can this get worse??

"anyways, you still didn't tell me how to do 3rd dimensional travel" i replied

"Ugh you're annoying, ok fine I'll try to explain it, But only once...only because you listened to me talk for so long" she replied

What do you mean I'm annoying?

"The 3 dimensions consist of X, Y and Z axes of planes as you know"

"And everything has a coordinates increasing by 1 every meter to go forward"

"To go backwards just think of -1 meter" I replied

"I think I got it—"

"No you didn't, Listen to me" she abrupted

"Never EVER use negative coordinates, You will then never be able to come back and you'll get squished to death"

"thats dark…ok I got it" i replied as i shiver

"It LITERALLY is a dark void!" She said loudly on the phone

"Great!! I guess I'll now be ending the call see ya! by the way your sandwich is getting stale"

call hangs up

oh great… My lunch break is almost over and I didn't even finish eating.

I stuff the cold hard sandwich in my mouth hurriedly, almost choking on it and go back to my work.

-few hours later-

When I finished my work and i look at the clock

"Oh wow its 4:30 pm, only 30 mins left till i can finally go now"

The Store Owner isn't nearby. Should I just leave without anyone noticing? Can I get fired for that?

I forgot how jobs work…

I grabbed my stuff and sneaked out without anyone noticing as nobody visits Bookstores in India much let alone at 4:30 pm.

went to the Market and got Vegetables and other grocery items my mother asked me to buy now that I'm finally earning again. I walked a little further to buy eggs only to find out the store was closed…

I started walking towards my home when a certain store which opened recently, the banner of that store was really bright. After struggling to read it I realised it's a Smartphone Store.

Then a suspicious thought came across my head

I snapped my fingers stopping time and went inside the store to get myself a new phone

"Hahh, I always wanted a iPhone"

while was looking through all the models and I picked the best one ofcourse

iPhone 16 Pro Max 1 TB storage color black

I also picked up an Airpods

made sure to print and fill out proper documents as proof so they think it's a legitimate purchase

and won't track my IMEI Number.

"I should also get a carry bag because why not…"

I exited the store and started walking towards my home and snapped my fingers again

i see cars moving and people walking once again on the road

"I feel a little guilty" I said to myself

"No, the world is big enough I'm sure it doesn't matter now that I got this ability"

"Finally I reached home! the guilt was making my body so heavy" I said

I went to my mother's room and showed her my new phone

"Look mom, I got the newest Iphone!" i said

my mother gasped

shocked and worried replied "How did you even buy that? don't tell me you took a loan from the bank"

"No, obviously not i saved up money and got it in a discounted price" I replied

"Look, the store even gave me free airpods!"

huh it's not here.. i swear put it inside the carry bag

don't tell me I forgot to… I said while fiddling inside the bag worried

"Nahh I'm joking, no store will be this generous"

"It's alright as long as my son didn't steal it I'm happy for him"

Ouch that hit hard, I- You don't know how terrible your son is now…

"If that store is still there which gave you this phone at discount, will you get me one aswe-"

"No, it was a one time discount probably" I said cutting off my mother's words

"Tch, It's alright I hope your happy with your new phone" She smiled with sadness

Is she guilt tripping me now?

I go to my room and I checked my "Totally real Bill"

and I was right I did get airpods

maybe I just forgot to put it in, eh could be.

-End of Chapter 3-