Chapter 4: Critical Condition

I open my eyes and find myself in an unknown place almost pitch dark room, I see 2 people talking with me for some reason

"What should we do GD? The Nexus ordered us to delete Timeline No. 30353" A young kid around age 10 asked while looking at me

"Why are you asking The GD? It's obvious all timelines get deleted eventually why are you so attached to this specific Timeline? Don't listen to him please do as you please"

some girl around my age said but shorter than me spoke to me

but I don't know who these people are…

and also What's with this GD?? What does it mean?

"You both are right, timelines do get deleted, but not all the time. Instead what we can do is free up some space by erasing small objects. It's not in critical condition." I replied and my voice is frail and old somehow??

What is going on!?

"By the Great Dictator's Final decision, The order given by The Nexus has been modified" An Artificial voice speaks

Wait, Great Dictator?? hold on.

I rolled over and somehow fell of my bed and woke up

"Ouch, it hurts so much… what even was that dream about?"

huh? I seem to have forgotten it

I guess I hit my head too hard…

It's been a few days since I got this huge lore drop from that "Wish Granter" who's not even a wish granter at all

I still don't know her name.

Getting up from the floor was difficult for some reason, feels like I did my daily sets of exercise twice

"I guess it can't be helped, what time is it?"

I try reaching for my phone from the table besides my bed and surprisingly it wasn't there

"Huh?"

Let me try checking in other places– wait I can just use my old phone

I opened my drawer under the table and switched on the old phone and I tried calling my other phone

Thank god I have 2 sim cards

"The number you're calling is currently switched off please try again la–" I ended the call

Why is it switched off… on top of that why is it missing

I go to my mother's room and tried asking her 

seems like she doesn't know either, on top of that I got lectured for 20 minutes

I go back to my room defeated and exhausted from the lecture and then I get a call again from an unknown number on my old phone

"Hello who's this?"

"It's me, you don't have my number saved?"

Ah speak of the devil.

"Oh, hi Cosplaying Time-Traveller"

"You might wanna watch some news channels, it's very important!"

"Also what did you just call me?" She replied

oh that reminds me I should probably ask for her name now, we are kinda close right?

"I mean what do I call you though? I don't even know your name"

she sighs "Fine, I was gonna say it eventually anyways"

"My name is Arlie Solaris"

"Huh, sounds very Foreign" I replied

"It's because I am British"

Ah hell nah British??

Welp I guess that explains the attire she was wearing that day. 

"Oh I should probably introduce myself too, my name is Samay–"

"I already know, did you forget?" she replied

"Anyways we are getting sidetracked, Check the news damnit!"

"Okay okay I got it…" i replied before before she could get mad while walking

I opened youtube and watched the news for a while… what I saw was shocking and it made sense for every weird things that have been happening to me

"Title: Everything is disappearing all over the world, non-living and living"

"This isn't a joke nor a marketing tactic for our news page, we are here with Dr. Diya Patel who discovered this nationwide phenomena of objects suddenly disappearing" A news anchor in his 40s speaks to his audience

"Thank you for having me in this show, I just wanna say this immediately before we begin. No need to panic, this is only happening to small non-living objects currently, most of them are occurring to electronic devices." a women in her 50s with few gray hair tries to reassure the audience

"So you're saying that we shouldn't worry?" the news anchor replies

"i mean, theoretically we don't need to…" she said while fidgeting her thumbs

"Theoretically!? I'm sorry for being Informal but, is that all you have to say while you twiddle your thumbs? " the anchor shouts

I closed the channel as the news channels are nothing more than a toxic environment

"So you see what's going on?" Arlie Said

"Yeah… Honestly, what can we do about this?" I said

"There is only one way" Arlie replied

"But before that, let me ask you this."

"Would you be able to let go of your present to save the future?" Arlie asked

"Let go of my present? What do you mean by that?" I asked

"To put it bluntly…" Arlie paused

"let go of everything here and come with me to the future to solve this crysis"

let go of everything? No, I cannot do that! 

Even though I know my existence doesn't matter much but, I still have my mother… 

"How are you absolutely sure that me going to the future will solve this? I mean the current condition isn't that bad right?" I replied 

"Look… what is happening is way beyond my understanding, even after me being from the future. Just because you have an obscenely high amount of temporal energy doesn't mean you can just revert back and solve this. You can barely even go back 3 days earlier!" She responded furiously

"Alright I'll think about it" I replied having mixed thoughts

"Yeah you better make your decision quick!" she replied

I hung up the call. 

I don't know if I can do this, I mean can i really abandon my whole family, My only Family, My mother just like that? and go wander around in a place where it's not even guaranteed if I'll succeed? 

Wait, if I can go to the future I can probably return right back here as well. But do I really want to go with someone whose name I just got to know? 

You know what, let's take the risk… I want my mediocre life to change, let's just hope I'm on the right path. 

Alright Samay you can do this! 

I made up my mind, now I just need to wait for her call to proceed

"Time to quit my new job" I said to myself

I grab a piece of paper and a pen and write my resignation letter while ignoring the cup of coffee beside me which I brewed

"Alright that's done, Oh the coffee is cold"

I put on proper clothes and head out to my place of work

and I see the Owner cleaning outside the door, well that's convenient. 

"Hey boss"

"Oh look who decided to show up this late, I want no excuses you've already pissed me off enough just go inside" The Shop Owner said angrily

"No you misunderstand, I am here to quit"

"What? Without any prior notice?" he replied

"Yeah I'm sorry, But i do have my Resignation Letter"

I check my pockets, I check another, I check all pockets. 

It's not there… What? 

"What? can't even find a single piece of paper? Yeah you are better off quitting" He Replied

And then it all clicked. 

"this is only happening to small non-living objects currently" I recall the news that i watched this morning

My phone, My letter, even my airpods… all have disappeared for this reason…

"Oh- Oh no, I have to hurry" I said, panicking and running

"Hey brat where are you going! I swear I hate this generation"

The Owner Replied

"No no no no no NO! I don't want this to happen! "

I said to myself running towards my home

"Shit I, Why do I gotta do this all by myself, WHY! "

If only I was wrong, I don't wanna lose everything 

I thought I made the decision, never in my life have I panicked so much, never in my life have I sweat so furiously, never have I been so scared. 

Never in my life has my heart throbbed so hard. 

I kept running like crazy towards my home

I can't do this, save the world?? my foot! 

I reached home and rushed towards my bedroom and shut myself in. 

"I have been so calm in my entire life… even after I made the decision I feel like I shouldn't turn back but abandon everything?" My eyes started to water a little as I scratched my head with both hands

suddenly my phone starts to ring, it's Arlie. 

"Oh god, please why" I said after wiping my eyes

I pick up the call

"Have you made your decision?" Arlie said

"I can't take this responsibility…I'm sorry to disappoint you, I really cannot." I replied

"Truth to be told, I'm scared, If I mess up somehow

You're right I'm— I cant— do anything… not even go back 3 days in past"

"I'm useless even with these powers"

"You're wrong, you'll soon realize it" She replied

She is probably disappointed with me.

"You can call me anytime, if you change your mind, I'll wait" She replied monotonously

-call ends-

The room falls silent. The weight of everything presses down on me, suffocating. 

I drop my phone onto the bedside table and collapse onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.

Did I make the right choice?

My body feels heavy. My eyelids grow weaker with each passing second. Maybe if I sleep, I can escape this overwhelming pressure—just for a while.

I close my eyes.

Then, suddenly—

I open my eyes and find myself in yet another unfamiliar place…

"Wh– where am I now?"

I blink a few times, trying to adjust, but something feels off. The walls, the floor, even the air itself—it's all drained of color.

"Oh wait… this is my house," I mutter, stepping forward. But why does everything look so dead, so colorless?

I walk to the window and pull open the shutters. A chill runs down my spine. There's nothing outside. No buildings, no streets—just an endless, colorless void stretching far beyond where the horizon should be.

"Are my eyes getting worse?" I whisper, rubbing them in disbelief.

Panic swells in my chest. I turn and rush downstairs,

I fling open the front door and step outside, hoping for clarity, for something that makes sense.

Instead, the uneasy feeling turns into dread

Everything is black and white. The sky, the ground—frozen in some eerie, lifeless state.

Then I turn around—

And my house is gone.

"Wh–what the!?" My voice cracks as my breath comes in short gasps.

I spin around, desperate for something—anything—that proves I still exist. But the world around me is crumbling.

The electricity poles, walls, roads. 

All begin to shatter, breaking apart into tiny, triangular fragments before vanishing completely. Like reality itself is deleting.

"Please!! Someone!! Anyone!!" I scream, my voice swallowed by the empty abyss.

Then—

A new horror strikes me.

My legs… why do I feel nothing below?

I look down, my hands trembling.

"Where is it!?" I shriek, my voice raw with terror.

All I feel is cold, empty space.

I look down. My hands tremble as they reach where my legs should be—only to grasp at empty space.

I reached down below with my hands trembling

and all i felt was cold empty space.

"My Leg! It's gone!" I shrieked as I felt nothing but absence which is more terrifying than pain. 

I start to vanish into thin air like dust, my body dissolving, breaking apart into nothingness.

"I can't die like this..." My voice trembles as it fades. 

Is this what death feels like? slow, merciless and cruel?

I try to hold on—to something, anything—but there's nothing left to grasp. Just the cold emptiness swallowing me whole.