Prologue

Click.

He thumbed off the safety.

“Hey! This is a restricted area. Who are you?” The soldier’s voice echoed off the cold concrete walls of the tunnel.

A tall man at the end of the corridor flinched and stopped. His grip tightened around the heavy leather bag in his hand.

“How did you get in here? Show me your papers. Now!” the soldier demanded. 

The man sighed and slowly set the bag down. He turned and smiled, raising his hands in a placating gesture.

“Please, put the rifle down, comrade. Of course I have papers. I’ll show them to you, they’re right here…”

His hand slipped into his coat pocket.

But instead of identification, he drew a pistol.

The soldier snapped his rifle up and pulled the trigger.

Too late.

BANG.

BANG.

He collapsed, his rifle slipping from his grasp and skidding across the concrete floor.

His field-gray uniform darkened with blood, the eagle emblem on his chest staining red.

“Shit…,” he gasped, slumping against the wall as his helmet tilted forward.

The intruder didn’t react. For a moment, he simply stared at the bullet hole in the concrete beside him.

“That pig almost got me...“

Picking up the leather bag, he continued down the corridor to the door at the far end.

He paused, took a breath, and pushed it open.

Beyond lay a vast underground chamber carved from rock.

Metal tanks and massive containers lined the walls. Between them stood lab tables cluttered with papers, notes, and measuring instruments.

And in the center, a large mechanical apparatus.

Levers, gears, and coils ran through its metallic frame. At its heart was something resembling a chair. In front of it stood a trapezoidal control console, covered in dials, gauges, and switches.

The man’s eyes gleamed as he stepped forward, ignoring the scientists in white lab coats working nearby.

One of them noticed him and recoiled.

“W-what are you doing here? Who are you?”

As the others turned in surprise, the man calmly raised his gun.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

They fell one after another.

He didn’t hesitate.

Stepping up to the machine, he ran a hand over its surface, almost reverently.

“Exactly as described…,” he murmured.

He set his gun beside the panel, pulled out a small leather-bound notebook, and flipped through its scribbled pages.

Then he began adjusting switches and levers with deliberate care.

Finally, he set the machine’s central date dial.

He dropped into the seat and pulled down the two large levers beside him.

At once, the gears roared to life.

Sparks burst as a deep hum filled the chamber.

He clutched the leather bag to his chest, patting it gently.

“With this… I’ll set everything right again…”

Above the machine, a metal lattice began to vibrate. Several dark uranium cubes suspended within it began to glow with an eerie blue light.

He closed his eyes with a satisfied smile.

“Yes… it’s working.”

BANG.

The shot rang through the chamber, missing him by inches.

His eyes snapped open and he spun around.

Click-clack.

Only then did he see him.

The soldier.

He had crawled after him, leaving a long trail of blood from the tunnel entrance.

With immense effort, he hauled himself upright against a metal strut and shoved his helmet back.

BANG.

Another shot whizzed past.

“He is still alive!?” the man bellowed.

“Out… of… there…” the soldier rasped.

He lifted the bolt handle, drew the bolt to the rear, and pushed it forward again.

Click-clack.

BANG.

The shot slammed into the control panel.

“No!”

Click-clack.

The man ducked behind the machine’s metallic frame.

BANG.

The next bullet tore into the apparatus, sending the lights into a frantic strobe.

The soldier reached for his ammunition bag, but his hands trembled and his vision blurred as blood pooled beneath him.

“Shit… I don’t… feel so well…”

He forced his gaze back to the machine.

“To hell with this. I will drag you out of there myself if I have to… You filthy spy.”

The intruder clenched his teeth as he saw the soldier staggering forward.

“Damn you!”

His eyes darted to the pistol beside the console.

He lunged for it, grabbed it, and fired.

Two bullets struck the soldier just as he reached the platform.

He collapsed again, but clawed at the edge, refusing to let go.

“Get off!” the man shouted, kicking at him.

But as his boot came forward, the soldier seized his leg.

“Let go of me! Now!”

“Never!” he gasped, blood spilling from his mouth.

The blue light pulsed faster, wilder.

Beyond the machine, the air began to shimmer and warp.

“Damn it… I have to engage the jump lever or it’ll fail!”

He tried to pull free, to reach the seat, but the soldier clung to him with desperate strength.

“I… won’t… let you…”

With a final lunge, the intruder reached the lever.

He grabbed it...

...and tore it loose.

“No!”

For a split second, he stared at it in horror.

“What have you done?! You’ve ruined everything!”

The control panel went haywire, displays flickering uncontrollably.

Arcs of black lightning cracked through the air.

A violent wind tore through the chamber, whipping dust and papers into a frenzy.

“What’s happening…?” the soldier whispered, his voice breaking.

A deafening crack.

An explosion.

Then, silence.

The hanging lamps swayed gently.

Where the machine had stood moments before, there was nothing.

Only bare concrete.