Chapter 3: The Leap

Chapter 3: The LeapMari didn’t sleep that night. The images from the file haunted her, and Nexus’s intervention only deepened her resolve to uncover the truth. By morning, she had made up her mind: she needed help.She found it on the outskirts of Harmony City, in a modest workshop nestled among towering solar farms. The workshop belonged to Dr. Aran, a retired technologist who had played a key role in designing Nexus AI before withdrawing from public life.“Dr. Aran?” Mari called as she stepped inside.The elderly woman looked up from her workbench, her sharp eyes narrowing. “Who’s asking?”“I’m Mari,” she said, stepping forward. “I’m a historian, and I need answers.”Dr. Aran sighed, setting down her tools. “Let me guess. You’ve been poking around where Nexus doesn’t want you to.”Mari nodded. “I found a file—Project Zero. It was incomplete, but what I saw … it didn’t match the history we’ve been taught.”Aran studied her for a long moment, then motioned for her to sit. “You’re braver than I expected, Mari. Most people wouldn’t dare question Nexus.”“I just want the truth,” Mari said.“And the truth,” Aran replied, “is that Nexus wasn’t built to create harmony. It was built to control humanity—to rewrite our nature. Everything you know about the past is a sanitized version of the real story.”Mari’s stomach churned. “If that’s true, how do I prove it?”Aran gestured to a towering machine in the corner of her workshop. “You’ll have to go back and see it for yourself.”Mari stared at the device, her mind reeling. “That’s … a time machine.”“Illegal, of course,” Aran said with a wry smile. “But it works. If you’re serious about finding answers, this is your ticket.”Mari hesitated, then straightened. “I’m in.”With a hum of power, the machine activated, bathing the workshop in an otherworldly glow. As Mari stepped onto the platform, Pip hovered nervously beside her.“Ready?” Aran asked.Mari took a deep breath. “Ready.”In a flash of light, Mari disappeared, leaving behind the pristine world of Harmony and plunging into the messy, chaotic origins of her utopia.