A cage.

Once upon a time, in the year 2094, Dr Sato, the researcher, who was working in the time travel department of one of the largest scientific research institutions, made a mistake that involved fries and sauce, to be now facing the trouble of correcting that mistake, alongside with his furious boss.

“But sir, if the time machine is empty, what could possibly happen if it was activated and aimed to a certain location? Nothing would happen, right? Ha ha, I think we were worried over nothing, right?” said Dr. Sato to his boss, hoping to hear some assurance that he didn’t mess up that big.

“You know what? Even If there were no issues, I would still tell you that there are, BECAUSE YOU ARE DAMN ANNOYING! JUST SHUT UP AND LET ME SEE WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED!”

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While waiting for a call from Kai, Mira was having mix feelings. She started to walk around, both concerned and excited, in this small modest apartment, and began to explore all the features of the 21st century that she had seen in the movies. The furniture, the electronics, the cleaning tools in the kitchen and the bathroom, the books, the posters on the walls, and even the cinema that she could spot from the window, had posters of movies that she had already seen.

A couple of hours had passed, with no contact from Kai, but she was so taken by this apartment, that she didn’t even realize how much time had passed, nor did she realize how unbelievably impolite she was, going through some stranger’s belongings without permission.

And even though she knows it’s not safe outside from the knowledge she has about this time, however, she felt at peace watching people wandering in the street.

For some reason, she felt that there was a cage that’s lifted.

--------

Luckily, Mira lived really close to the train station, so Kai didn’t have to face the horrors of walking for a long time in the streets of this entire new terrifying world. Or so it seemed in his head.

Upon his arrival to Mira’s house’s location, he realized that his anxiety, that he is used to hide it in any difficult situation, had made him forget to ask about where she keeps her key. But when he took a look at the door in front of him, he saw no key holes, nor any door knob to begin with.

“Looks like this is going to be harder than I thought.” said Kai to himself, as he began to get irritated.

He thought that there was no other option than just standing there and waiting for any neighbor to arrive and see how these people open their doors, maybe he would find a way to get in. When out of the blue, while he was turning around, he felt a firm strong hand going around his neck, pinning him against the wall!

“What the…!”

In pain, he opened his eyes slowly, only to see a familiar face shocking him.

“Old man! What are you doing?!”

“Who the hell are you?”

“What?! Did you follow me here?!”

“Answer my question!”

“I’m Kai, there! I answered! Would you please let me go? I am not going anywhere even if I wanted to.”

“Why? Are you stalking the person living here?”

“No! Look sir, you’re not gonna believe me even If I told you. So why don’t you just let me be, please.”

“Okay, if you’re not willing to speak. Let’s call the police and see what they have to say.” said the old man, raising his wrist, proceeding to call the police with his watch.

“Fine, fine I will explain! But don’t call anyone until I finish please. Geez, you guys all have no patience at all!”

“Speak.”

While he had no choice but telling this old man the whole story, Kai, in fact, felt a little relieved that he could finally share this with someone, as it was driving him crazy despite his attempts to handle it, and not panic. And so he told him everything.

“I see. I see.” said the old man, in a calm tone.

“Aren’t you going to tell me that I’m making fun of you and punch me in the face?”

“No. It’s actually quite believable.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s the fact that you don’t have a watch. Because if you take it off for no reason for a long time, it will send an alarm to the police immediately that an unusual activity occurred.”

“Wow! That’s.. strict!”

“So I would believe your story more than I would believe that you took it off without consequences.”

“I see. So is there any way I could go inside this apartment?”

“No way. It only opens with iris recognition.”

“WHAT? That girl, is she joking with me now?! How did she expect me to go in?!”

“It probably never occurred to her mind to tell you because it’s so obvious.”

“Right, so obvious.”

“Anyways, the only solution for your problem is to go to the police.”

“Old man, I cannot go to the police. Please call her again from your watch.”

“What is she gonna do to you?! She cannot let you in anyways. And if the police find out you’re out here without any identification on their system.. Well.. I don’t know what they’re gonna do.. But they WILL do something! Also, I don’t wanna get involved with you so I’m calling them anyways.” Said the old man, as he clicked on his watch so fast that Kai couldn’t even say a word.

“Nooo old man! Dammit why did you do that?!”

“Well, should I say it again? Okay..”

“Damn you old man!” Said Kai as he ran away.

“YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM THEM, IT’S A MATTER OF TIME! VERY SHORT TIME!” Shouted the old man, watching Kai run away.

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Engrossed in exploring the room, Mira finally realized how much time had passed, when she felt her stomach grumbling. She wondered why hadn't Kai contacted her, when she basically lives 7 minutes away from the train station. As she went to the kitchen to grab something to eat, she saw from the window a person, pulling out his keys and opening up his store.

“Haha, to open up your store at this time, he must have overslept.” she thought, when It finally hit her, why Kai couldn’t contact her!

The moment she noticed this huge mistake that she made, she finally heard the phone ringing from her pocket. She pulled it out immediately.

“Thank god! He really made it, that guy.” she said to herself, while thinking that she really hates that she needs to apologize, only to find out they are in a bigger problem now, the moment she heard his voice.

“HELLO?! MISS MIRA?”

“Yes, Kai, this is me. I am aware I made a certain mistake and for that I apologize but just so you kno...”

“Listen, there is no time for this, I am at the police station, please help me get out of here!”