3-Time Traveling?

Time traveling! I always dreamed of it. But it is only a foolish dream.
Just a yearning to escape reality, to slip away from the relentless grasp of truth. Imagine breaking free from the principle of time, shattering its principles to craft a working time machine-a gateway to infinite possibilities or just a dream.
The world will be at a pace, surpassing the imagination of any generation, only provided that it doesn't fall into the wrong hand.

Youhi mumbled, 'Kaori sure sleeps a lot, doesn't she?
"Her sleep routine are way better than ours, and you are the sleepy head here." Kaori has a disciplined routine while Youhi once slept for an astonishing 34 hours straight.. It's true that people don't necessarily need as much sleep as we think, but sleep still does allow us to dream of hidden desires and fantasies to surface in the form of visions curing fatigue and relieving tiredness.
But sleeping for 35 hours straight is on another level entirely. I reckon, I have heard there's a device being tested that can delve into people’s visions and dreams
"Hey, You have been doing... something with those tiny materials, maybe AI and strings for the whole time "
"Seriously? You said your generation had lights and fans. Don’t tell me you know nothing about cables!"
"Ha, never heard of it."
"Basically, a light operates using an electrical source and a switch to control the power supply, turning the circuit on or off. Similarly, people call AI "artificial intelligence." However, in reality, it's built on a similar concept-just scaled up and operating at incredibly fast speeds relying on countless circuits and logic gates which are nothing but a circuit or system operated by an ancient theory, boolean algorithm."
"Stop, Please stop. Honestly didn't understand a single word of you,"she responds, in a what-in-the-world-is-that-crap-look in her face." Let's just walk around outside a bit. You guys can keep working while I'm asleep, though I’m pretty sure I don’t sleep all that much." She exuded that familiar aura many women have when asking their father for money and expecting a gift from a boy.
I called Makoto, my AI driver, and suggested a tour around the city or some attractions. At first, she seemed uninterested, but eventually, she went along with it while I got back to my work. Before I knew it, I had accidentally fallen asleep at Kaori's place.

"Get up, idiot." a whisper drifted, following with the sound of a flowing stream. Suddenly, I awaken, observing Kaori brewing tea.
"Your wake-up call has never been better." I joke.
"Ha, finally you woke up, all from just a whisper."
"Actually, from the water channels," I sit up. We do joke about every possible situation and mood.
"I see, here you go," she handed a cup.
"Coffee?"
"Yours favorite."
"Melted chocos... was favorite!"
"Huh! You acting all grown-up-chad of not liking chocos." True, I may perfer choclate over coffee but it kinda seem premature to eat choclate.
"Well, not an act... and i do prefer coffee with chocos over chocos."
"Gotcha, same fricking thing, just in a roundabout way. I will get coffee in it for you." It's not like brewing coffee or making juice is that difficult with auto AI operated brewer.

The day feels surprisingly warm and calm. Almost too calm, in fact. A stillness lingers in the air, with Youhi sound asleep,
"So, Youhi's asleep..."
"OH! Youhi, You did ask your driver to escort her. She didn't come back."
"I see... W-What? She still hasn’t come back?" A chill runs down my spine as fragments of a vision flash before me-a dead woman. How could this happen? No... it wouldn’t have happened if I had just gone with her.
"Wait, what's the fuzz 'bout. I'm sure she's alright!" Kaori brushes it as though it were more like a joke.
I slam my fist into the ground, frustration boiling over. "How can you be so damn sure? She has never seen... anything. She doesn’t know anything, and she's out there alone in the city, without protection or any help. Why didn't you tell me sooner?! You know this world, and she’s from another time. what the hell, she doesn’t know what to do!... I’m going after her!"
With that said, I rush toward the exit door, my temptation kept on rising uncontrollably.
"You are acting like such a dimwit, shouldn't you start by call your driver for clues."
Rather replying, called Makoto and exploded. "My family didn’t pick you up from the trash, they paid for you, alright? And you just... how the hell could you let her walk around the city alone? I didn’t let her with you for no reason!"
"But sir..."
"Don’t 'but' me! I don’t want to hear any excuses. You had one job-to keep her safe and escort her wherever she wanted to go!"
"Please, sir, remain calm, she's simply sleeping in the car."
"I don't want to hear any excuses! You think you can just joke around... wait, she is there!" Come to think of it. He’s not the type of person to lie, and never had been trouble for me.

"H-a-ha-ha-ha-hah," Kaori erupts into laughter as if she knew it all along. But the thing is
"seriously, Haruki, you fall into something that simple... such a simple joke." she seems to laughing a lot. However, her face doesn't suggest that. She was probably on the verge of tears from laughing so much as she gets back to cooking. "I told you she is alright but... whatever, The joke caught you off guard... had me laughing to the point of tears."
I do know Kaori for years, I do believe her, though today I didn't, and I also think her tears weren't from that laughter, rather something deeper.

Believing her, didn't go to check Youhi, meanwhile I spend some quality time with Kaori drinking hot chocos like before.
"So, Kaori, had you been eating well."
"WHAT'S with you all of a sudden! Why do you..."
"You are so focused on this time traveling fantasy of yours and probably not eating well."
"Again, with you trying to back me up from..."
"Noooo! It’s just... okay, sorry for shouting at you earlier and not believing you." I turn to her, but she looks away. The moment, once again, hangs in an awkward silence. She swiftly shakes her head left to right and whispers,
"Should have known, you were also having a bad time and all grown up..." She left her sentence unfinished, though her words likely didn't suggest that I have become mature. I speak in a tone barely above a whisper,
"You were crying as I behave like an animal, Didn't you." There's no response or a sign of her lips moving.
"It was my fault too." There's no response, either. "You know that I am just helping you for her, but it's not all true, I have a dream, A dream to..." My words vanish as Youhi bursts in, shouting.
"HARUHI! Firstly, you didn't come with me yesterday, secondly you ditched me in the car and lastly you guys are enjoying drinks here." I muttered to myself quietly,
"Wow, what a perfect timing. You could win an Oscar for it easily." and she complained about not carrying her out of the car! Not to mention,
"Haruhi, you saying anything bad about me?" Youhi’s voice sends a chill down my spine as her eyes narrow, stepping into the room with a sharp intensity.
"You spoke as though I had ditched you in the middle of nowhere. And drinks? It may sound childish, but we were drinking melted cocos here..." Kaori suddenly stabs me from behind, catching me completely off guard.
"Ha! Knew it—you were calling hot chocolate childish, weren’t you?" Kaori’s tone shifted in an instant.

Days and weeks slipped by in the blink of an eye. We fought, we shouted, we debated without reason. But for Kaori's sake and to protect ourselves from Youhi’s antics we explored exquisite restaurants and peaceful, less crowded attractions. Then, Kaori and I would work through the night, stealing moments of quiet time together, savoring the little pieces of peace amidst the chaos, Youhi.
Though never been a fan to stay with a single group for so long, I found myself genuinely cherishing the time spent with Youhi and Kaori.
When it comes to time traveling, we've achieved little more than a quantum string-by-string teleportation system-barely scratching the surface of what we hoped to accomplish.

Just like last time, it all leads to nothing good. Theories like time dilation and even more radical ideas emerged, only to be disproven over the years. As for a scientist from the 5000s, they struggled to prove even the slightest existence of the metaverse or multiverse, alongside failed attempts at teleportation. Meanwhile, Africa is a chilling reminder of the stark divide between progress and its consequences [ midst 7025 Africa transformed entirely into a vast laboratory, with mass production taking place underground while the surface became a sprawling slum].
With the help of 3D printing, ultra-fast speeds, and quantum science, teleportation had been possible. But when it comes to manipulating timelines... well, that still seems like it belongs strictly to the realm of movies.
Apart from teleportation, we’ve learned that moving at incredible speeds can make the world appear to slow down-or even offer a fleeting glimpse into the past. An old scientist once suggested that if speed were slowed down enough, time itself could come to a standstill. But in the end, it doesn’t matter. We couldn’t accomplish anything.

One day, midst night;
"Another day without any results, huh?" Kaori mutters, her irritation creeping in as she slumps down, not in the least bit dramatic. We really hadn't accomplished anything.
"I guess, i am nothing more than a hacker and a no-limit-idiot," she mumbled to herself, she is on the verse of breakdown. This may be too hard on her. years past doing this project, and the result-not so good rather nothing.
"Kaori, why are you so focused on building it? I mean, why... why do you even want to make a time machine?" I asked, hoping she wouldn’t get any more anxious than she already was.
"What if I told you, I want to steal every scientist's work and name it as my own?" She says, and my eyes widen, my mouth hanging open in disbelief as I hear her.
"Seriously, you’re also the weirdest thief then," I retort, still stunned.
"Ha, it's just a joke, duh! And you mean i am really a hacker and a idiot!" Sometimes it's so hard to figure woman's language. They show their miserable sight just to be complemented, though I am not the one who complement someone that easily. I look at her and give a brim smile,
"It's true, you're a petty hacker and an idiot, but you're still a good friend," I say. She looks away, her body shivering slightly,
"Let me guess, it's a joke, right," she responds with a wavering tone. I don't think i make it look that sarcastic, but she seems shy all over her."
"Not a joke," I  admit. "I know, I joke all the time, but not right now. You are a great friend."
The room falls into a void of awkward silence. She doesn’t seem happy or jumpy, just distant. I hope she doesn’t take it the wrong way... Wait,
"How about you hack into all of their secret servers to gather recent info?" I suggest, breaking the silence, but there’s no response. The awkwardness hangs thick in the air.
"Hey I can grab info from my dad's company and few more if you..."
"Thanks!" she exclaimed, her voice heavy with sorrow. She is on the verge of crying. I haven't expected my words would  lead to tears. She burst into tears, smiling through them, the mixture of emotions making the moment all bittersweet,
"Thanks, I knew I am a idiot! But you still being my friend is more than okay. Sure if you can gather me info about new account data of your's dad's company will be a huge help!" I see... I really can't understand a woman.

The next day, while Kaori took Youhi out on a shopping trip to try and make her more girly-though Kaori herself looked almost like a tomboy. I call my driver,
"Makoto, lead me to dad's office quick."
"Your dad blocked you from using me as you were absent from both school and apartment for the couple." Just when I thought- everything going so well.
"Don't tell me he blocked my card too!"
"He did sir, knowing  you, and he told you to meet him at your apartment, even by foots it takes." Seriously I guess I really have to walk 9km today, no turning back either.

I walk all the way home to visit my stupid dad who does nothing but sit there, thinking he's some kind of attitude-building and parenting mastermind.
I enter the house, fully alert, determined not to waste time quarreling with him or staring at him while he bluffs. As expected, he’s not in the drawing room but in my room.
Just as figured, he's in there, smoking, smelling like a street rat. To think someone like him was the one my mom used to love-it's almost impossible to wrap my head around.
"Haruki, no words, huh? No surprise-you’re becoming more and more like an ill-diligent, unfaithful spoiled brat," my dad says, puffing smoke in front of his own child, spewing nonsense about diligence and rage. My tongue remains still, holding back the retort.
"I see how this is playing out... I never let you live alone just to have you shove my name into the dirt. Absent for weeks—missing from school, from home—what the hell are you up to or who are you even staying with? You think I don’t care? You think you can trash my name and get away with it? Do you have any idea how much you’ve disrespected this family? Do you ever feel anything at all, or is your whole life just about wasting time and disrespecting us?"
A chill ran down my spine as I looked at his face, my blood boiling like egg on a desert fire. It was hard to explain... the temptation, the rage building inside me, threatening to break free. The air felt thick with his endless mumbling, his desperate attempts at self-importance.
"Haruki!" he shouted, like a master scolding his servant for not abiding by his rules. "What the hell is this? You're standing there silent, like some punk. Can't you hear me? Is it really that hard to apologize and beg for your place in this family, for my forgiveness?!"
"That's right, it's too stupendously hard for me!" The words slipped out like bullets. "First of all, I never wanted to live in your fancy triplex apartment. All I needed was a small cottage. Secondly, if your fame is the only thing you care about, you should've just said so instead of dragging it out for minutes! Fine! I'll go to school for your precious reputation rather than waste both our time here. And I don’t need your money, I can work for my own living! I don’t think you care at all.  To me, it’s not me, but you, the disrespected bastard. I'm not, not even for a billion years, scared of your endless mumbling."
The room filled with smoke, rage and our blood boiling in an unspoken melody. The air thickened, plunging us into an eternal silence. After a long moment, he stood up, silently walking out and disposing of his cigar out the window.
Another wave of annoyance surged through my veins, almost involuntarily, as I stood there, silent and clenched-jawed, feeling the heat of the moment radiating off my skin.
"If you ever think of living in this apartment again or need cash, be sure to beg for it," he spat. "It'll only be a matter of hours before you're crying and running back here." As expected, he wouldn’t back down-like a stubborn child. I guess I’ll have to borrow money from Kaori for a while, despite how much time I’ve wasted here.

Putting due in Kaori's tab, used a taxi to dad's office. Hope, he's too busy smoking or saving his own ass.
The building stands 345 stories tall, equipped with everything a 100-star office could possibly need. I’ll take the easy route-play along, act like his little errand boy.
"Sorry. The boss instructed me not to let you in until you beg and apologize," the AI at the counter stated directly.. No kidding-how far can that stupid man go with this nonsense?

I can’t afford to keep living under my father’s rules, so I’ve got to find a way in somehow. The first thing that pops into my silly head? The vents. Who would’ve thought the laser I installed in my AI-just for fun, and for a fricking million dollars. would actually come in handy someday? 
With the bars removed, I climb into the vents using my trusty wall-climbing boots. Strangely enough, this whole experience feels oddly thrilling-almost better than playing Like a Beast: The Tiger Who Doesn’t Belong to His Jungle Anymore.
The central room is on the 342nd floor, and surprisingly, there’s no one guarding the vent. However, about 37 guards are stationed outside the room across from it. For some reason, I even went  out installing an invisibility feature in my suit-for an absurd mountain of cash that is. Turns out, it might actually pay off today.
I disabled the security cameras using a burst of artificial lighting, since they could detect invisible tech. Then I deployed a quick dose of laughing gas on the guards stationed right in front of the gate. Breaking in also feels  too easy and absurd.

Once inside, it was no surprise to see the central room had expanded-nearly 13 times bigger than it had been just a few months ago. With so many small companies going bankrupt, my father’s corporation had been swallowing them up, corrupting their systems, and outright stealing their work.
This... this is what a so-called "established" company truly looks like.

To speed things up, I only copied the root supercomputer’s data-256 zettabytes. And damn, it’s taking a while. For my soul’s sake, I might as well walk around and take a look while it processes. 
Who knows I may find abandaned experiments which may actually interest me.
To my surprise, the failed teleportation device is here! Though it looks somewhat different from the model I remember from back then. It’s cleaner, more polished—and there’s even a cloud-to-glucose generator hooked up to it and other unfamiliar attachments.
Wandering around for an hour or so, I stumbled upon something even more surprising-the failed time machine, still branded with the logo of the company that botched it. If I can find records of those quantum experiments from way back, this might lead to something... something big.
I did force Kaori this time traveling fastasy of mine. And we keep trying and trying knowing its impossible. But what if it ain't. Youhi-surely don't prove its possibily but...
I always wanted to feel living in the wilds, to discover everything, to see everything and feel the true beauty hidden in the past.
Living in the wild might sound weird, but I want to experience it-seeing dinosaurs with my own eyes, meet the brilliant scientists of the past. I dream of traveling to a world beyond expectations, where the breathtaking, vivid beauty of untouched nature truly comes to life and  life can feel alive for once.
I’m not thick-headed, but I do know one thing-with my enthusiasm, her unwavering support, and our hard work, we can truly turn this time-traveling dream of mine into a reality.