V

“Hey, let’s continue playing volleyball tomorrow, it’s dusk already,” declared Raven. “Do you guys see that?” I asked and walked towards the ball of fire. Everything went blank and I could feel tingles. Suddenly, I saw some tiny creatures walking me through a bright light that was at the end of the tunnel. After which I have no memory of what happened.

Initially, I thought I was traveling to the past. Suddenly, I could see green throughout and I could breathe with ease. I was so happy. I watched the sun setting with my own eyes for the first time. I looked back to see if I could get back to the ring but I couldn’t see it anymore. I heard a kid shouting what it was. I wonder if that's when it disappeared.

I was wearing some strange clothes. I started walking so fast. I cannot stop seeing the scenery. It is so beautiful. The trees are all tall and I am sure oxygen comes from it. Not right now, but at least when I first entered this place I sensed it.

I started to wonder if that is the case, I am not in the past. “Where am I?” I thought to myself. It’s dusk and I am familiar with it. Someone approached me and asked my name. Luckily I had Katie with me and it translated what she spoke and I could upload her language to my brain. Pretty neat. “Interesting, her name is Myra and I guess she has a public social media account. I got quite a lot of information about her including her pronoun,” I thought. Somehow, she has a very familiar face as if I have met her before. Her beautiful big eyes are glowing. She has dark brown hair with light brown streaks. Katie is so transparent that we can know a person just by a single sentence they speak. I don’t know about data privacy. I think it is something we lack back home but we all got so used to it and we do have data masks to protect it.

That is the main reason I joined as an intern for this research project. There are so many people out there who can misuse the data that is not protected. I have been trained for as long as I remember to protect people’s data from beings that misuse the information that they receive. I know where I need to head first to discuss this. I did see Myra following me. I am sure she is curious and somehow my instinct says she is an asset to this quest. “Yes Myra, hop in,” I said as the cab arrived.

I have to get changed first. My first stop was a clothing store. With Myra’s assistance, I bought a cool outfit and digital wallet did work here. Phew, I thought currency would be a problem. From here, we headed to the research lab GROWL headquarters that connects different worlds and universes. If I did not time travel, I would have traveled through universes. I definitely do not recall what happened in the interim before I got to see the greenery. But I know someone who might.

I have been interning for GROWL for the past 6 months and we have occasional meetings with Dr. Luther, who is from planet Earth in universe 435. From the information I gathered from Katie, that is where I am currently. I am not sure why Katie couldn’t figure that out immediately after I entered this place. Probably the information was partially masked.

I am going to the lab with Myra because deep down I know I can trust her and she would help me get back to my home universe. Even if we just met I feel like I have known her all my life. I wonder if she feels the same way about me too. When we got down at the destination, Myra looked astonished, “why are we going to GROWL?” she asked. “I work here, is there something I can help you with? I am pretty sure you won’t be allowed inside as you need to make appointments and it is not a working day today.” she continued.

“I want to meet Dr. Luther as this is so important,” I said calmly. “Well, he is on vacation. I had no idea this is where you were taking me all along for the quest. Thought I was going to do something more adventurous like time travel maybe, what was I thinking?,” Myra laughed while getting down from the cab. “Actually, this is better than that,” I winked. She rolled her eyes and gave a sigh. “Take that back, you are going to be mind blown from what I am going to say next.”

“Haha, let’s see about that,” Myra walked towards the gate to show access to the building. She got me a visitor's pass. We went in anyway, knowing Dr. Luther was on vacation.