Epilogue

“Dear. You got a notice from Actiphi Corporation.”

My heart jumped for a moment. Bringing up a holographic screen, I checked my notifications, seeing that I indeed had one. A quick jab at the icon opened it to reveal my fate.

“Congratuations, you have been selected for Project Discovery, a 5-year program with the intent to create an atlas of the space-time continuum. Upon acceptance, you will be compensated for… 67 million credits!”

“That’s enough to fund Elissa all the way through school and plenty for retirement!”

I nearly threw myself at Alyssa. It had been the dream job that I had been waiting for! 5 years of grueling work, and I would be completely free afterward. Who wouldn’t want to retire in their late twenties if given the chance?!

Given the terrible job economy, it was certainly a lucky break. I couldn’t imagine it being that difficult to program a bunch of probes to map out a complete guide to the universe! Granted, I would only be responsible for this quadrant of the galaxy.

“It’s only 5 years. We can handle it, right?”

“Of course!” Alyssa beamed.

We both heard the door open, where a girl of 5 peeked through.

“Is daddy going bye bye?”

I walked right up to her and stroked her hair.

“Just for a while. You’ll have to be good to mommy while I’m gone, okay?”

“But I don’t want daddy to go!”

I could feel my heart wavering as I bent down and looked her in the eyes. I wouldn’t be able to do that the next time I came home. She would be much taller by then.

It was for the best in the long run, I told myself.

“It will be alright. It’s only- !!!”

A sudden tremor shook the house. I rushed forward to scoop Elissa into my arms to shield her. After several moments, the rumbling subsided.

“What on Mercurus happened?” Alyssa called out to me.

“I don’t-” I felt a sharp pain in my head. It was like an indistinguishable echo trying to interrupt my thoughts. Still clutching my head, I brought up the holograph and searched for any alerts.

“Oh, there is one. From Actiphi Corporation.”

“What does it say?” Alyssa hovered over my shoulder.

“Hmm, something about apologizing for creating an anomaly in the vicinity. Looks like it is a side effect of their researchers sending probes back in time and being off by a slight amount. Look, here’s a picture of the probe. Ack, how scary!”

“Wow, it’s all smashed up. I’d hate to think what would happen if they tried to send someone into the past. I hope the compensation isn’t because of the potential danger.” Alyssa joked.

I stared at the letter of acceptance I received in the Inbox. For some reason, I had a feeling that the universe didn’t really want me to meddle with it. So, I made up my mind.

“You know what. I don’t think I’ll do it after all.”

“Oh? Why not?”

“For some reason, I don’t feel right leaving the two of you for so long, even with all that money on the line. Maybe if they offered me the chance after Elissa’s all grown up, I’ll give it a go then.”

Alyssa wrapped her arms around me, squeezing tightly. Elissa did the same. It felt like the worries I had before melted in their embrace.

“Don’t worry. I’ll find something else. Something that won’t take me so far away. They can find someone else to fill out this atlas.”

The sharp cry that echoed in my head seemed like it had finally settled. I had no idea what had even brought that on. Whatever it was, it had made the right decision for me. That was what I wanted to believe.