Hello?

Recorded Time: 20 April, 2998.

The new school year started a few weeks ago, and as much as I’d rather spend my time working on my theories or at my parents’ lab, school is part of the routine. I don’t hate it, but I can’t say I’m a fan either. Mostly, I’m just frustrated by how slow everyone is to learn. It’s hard to believe that the school system has remained more or less the same for almost a millennium. The curriculum, the structure—it’s all outdated. It’s fascinating in a way, how the world around us has changed so much, and yet education seems stuck in the past.
The only major difference between now and a thousand years ago? Everything floats. Buildings, roads, even cars. People from the 21st century would be awestruck by how casually we defy gravity, as if it’s no big deal. I sometimes imagine their reactions, seeing a world where highways run high in the sky and cars zip through the air like birds. But for us, it’s just another day.
As I walk toward school, lost in thought, I hear footsteps approaching behind me.
“Hey there. Being a lonely nerd again?”
That familiar voice belongs to Hanma Nagumo. He’s a good friend—one of the few people I can tolerate talking to at length—but he’s annoyingly carefree about everything, especially the war. While I’m constantly aware of the AI threat hanging over our heads, Nagumo lives his life like it’s some distant problem he doesn’t have to deal with. But I can’t deny he’s smart, especially when it comes to physics. Not as smart as me, of course, but still impressive.
“Oh, hey,” I respond without turning around. “How are you?”
“Pretty bad!” he says, flashing his usual bright smile, like he’s joking.
“I see…”
You’d think he was just being sarcastic, but Nagumo’s been through more than most people our age. A few months ago, he was in a serious accident. With cars flying through the air and highways suspended at various heights, accidents happen more often than you’d think. One day, a car lost control hundreds of meters above and plummeted right down onto Nagumo.
Most people wouldn’t have survived something like that, but thanks to advanced nanotechnology and medical science, he came out of it with only a few scars—and a new arm. His right arm was completely crushed in the accident, but now he’s got a replacement made from synthetic material. It’s sleek, high-tech, and fully functional, though I imagine it’s a reminder of how fragile even our advanced world can be.
“Your arm holding up okay?” I ask, more out of habit than concern. I know it’s fine. The technology is flawless.
“Yeah, feels just like the real thing,” he says, flexing his synthetic fingers in front of me. “Sometimes I forget it’s not.”
I nod, not really sure what to say. The idea of losing a limb in such a brutal accident—and then just moving on with life like nothing happened—is something I can’t quite wrap my head around. But that’s Nagumo. He shrugs off everything, even the big stuff.
As we arrived at school, a group of bullies made their way toward me. Same routine as always.
"Hey there, nerd," the leader sneered, smirking with that smug expression he probably thought made him look intimidating. "Got some money for me to borrow?"
I sighed, barely glancing at him. "Why do you never learn?" I said, my tone flat. "I'm stronger than you, and the amount I care about you is lower than absolute zero."
He snorted, clearly enjoying himself. "Geez, that's cold," he said, chuckling at his own joke. "But come on, lend some money to a guy as poor as me."
I rolled my eyes. "Ask your minions. There's no way the five of you have no money."
Without waiting for a reply, I turned and walked off, Nagumo following close behind, his usual carefree grin still plastered on his face. The bullies didn’t try to stop me—because they knew better. I wasn’t the kind of person they could push around, and they’d learned that lesson the hard way before. Now they just liked to annoy me for fun. But they were too predictable to be anything more than a mild inconvenience.
As we entered the classroom, it was still empty, which was a relief. I wasn’t in the mood for more pointless small talk. Nagumo and I sat down at our desks, waiting for the others to arrive. The silence stretched on, but as usual, it didn’t last long before Nagumo filled it with his random musings.
“Hey,” he started, leaning back in his chair, “isn’t your phone, like, super dangerous by now?”
I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, your phone’s been connected to so many of your parents’ machines—accelerators, time travel prototypes, all that crazy stuff. With the tech we have now, quantum magnetics and black hole simulations can literally be imported into mobile devices. Your phone’s basically a walking hazard.”
I shrugged. “I guess you’re not wrong. But it hasn’t shown any signs of doing something dangerous. Besides, all that stuff you mentioned is still theoretical—none of it’s actually been proven or done. My phone was made by my parents for a specific purpose, sure, but right now, it’s just a regular phone. Nothing special.”
Nagumo smirked. “Still, it’d be pretty cool if you actually managed to send a message back in time with that thing.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I said with a half-smile. “We could run some tests after class if you’re interested.”
“Sure!” His grin widened. Then he paused, pretending to look serious. “Wait a second… am I sensing… foreshadowing?”
I gave him a deadpan look. “You watch too many shows.”
“I’m serious!” he insisted, sitting up straight and looking around as if he was some kind of clairvoyant. “Something that’s never happened before will suddenly happen, and it’ll be for a reason that won’t be explained until the end of the story! And you, my friend, are the main character who’s about to go through it!”
“You’re delusional.”
Nagumo laughed, clearly enjoying himself, and I shook my head. But his words lingered in the back of my mind, despite how ridiculous they were.
Not long after, the other students started filing into the classroom, their chatter filling the once-quiet room. Moments later, the bell rang, and class officially began.
In class, we spent a grueling five hours learning about physics, programming, and the application of nanotechnology. The content wasn’t difficult, but the hours dragged on. When the bell finally rang for lunch break, I felt like I could finally breathe again.
Nagumo and I grabbed our food and sat down at one of the tables in the corner. But instead of eating right away, we decided to try out one of our little "experiments." I took out my phone, the same one that had been connected to countless prototype machines.
“Do you think we can test this without extra machinery or an energy source?” I asked, looking down at the device in my hand.
Nagumo shrugged. “Well, we don’t have access to the school’s bigger labs, so this is all we’ve got for now.”
“So, how should we test it?”
He thought for a second, then grinned. “I don’t really know. Maybe send a random message to a random number. Maybe you’ll get lucky, and the message will be sent back in time.”
“I’m not a main character in some sci-fi drama,” I muttered.
“Once you figure out time travel, maybe you will be,” Nagumo teased.
“That’s only if I do,” I shot back.
“Alright then, how about a random combination of numbers?” he suggested.
“Sure, give me one,” I said, typing into my phone.
“112-358-100,” Nagumo replied off the top of his head.
I typed the number into my phone and sent a simple message. We both sat there, waiting for something to happen.
“No response,” I said after a few seconds.
Nagumo, ever the curious one, grabbed my phone out of my hands. “Let me try something.”
“Hey!” I reached for the phone, but he was already messing around with it. “What are you doing?”
“Shh, I’m calling the number,” he said, holding up the phone like it was some sort of treasure.
“With my number? Give it back!” I lunged at him, but Nagumo jumped out of his seat and sprinted down the hallway, the phone still ringing in his hand. I chased after him, determined to get my phone back, but Nagumo was quick, weaving through the crowd of students in the corridor.
Suddenly, the phone connected. A voice came through, sounding distant and confused.
“Hello?” a man said from the other end of the line. “Who is this?”
Nagumo, still running, grinned mischievously. “Hey, I have a question for you. What’s your opinion on the war?”
Before the guy could answer, I tackled Nagumo to the ground. We crashed onto the hallway floor, and the phone fell between us, still on speaker.
“That’s a weird question to ask a stranger,” the voice on the phone said. “Which one?”
Nagumo and I both froze. We stared at the phone, then at each other.
“Wait, what?” I muttered. I crawled over to the phone and picked it up. “There’s only one war going on right now,” I said, trying to make sense of this bizarre conversation.
“One war?” the man sounded puzzled. “There are several going on. One in Europe, one in Asia, and one in America.” (Those are not reflecting on real life events) 
“Huh?” Nagumo frowned. “What’s Europe, Asia, and… America?”
“They’re continents,” I said, more to myself than to him. In our time, there were no such things as continents—just one globalized, unified world. “Those are... ancient continents.”
Something wasn’t right. I brought the phone closer to my ear, my pulse quickening. “Hey, what year is it?” I asked, my voice barely steady.
“Uh… it’s 2025. Why?”
My blood ran cold. I stumbled backward, my brain refusing to process what I’d just heard.
“Is something wrong?” the voice on the other end asked, now sounding genuinely concerned.
“I... I called someone from the past,” I whispered, more to myself than anyone else.
“Are you playing some kind of prank?” I asked the guy, my mind still reeling.
“No. I’m serious,” he replied. His voice was calm, but I couldn’t focus on his words anymore. The realization hit me like a tidal wave. I had just contacted someone from the year 2025. Unable to handle the weight of what just happened, I ended the call, my hand trembling. I stared at the phone in disbelief. Had I just discovered time travel?
Before I could process any further, everything around me started to distort. It was like reality itself was warping—the colors around me became a swirling blur, and the sounds of the hallway warped into a chaotic mess. My vision blurred, my body felt weightless, and I couldn’t hear or feel anything clearly.
Then, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. I collapsed onto the ground, my head spinning. I could taste blood—I realized my nose was bleeding, and my throat was so dry it hurt to swallow.
“Hey, are you okay?” Nagumo asked, his voice shaky, the playful tone from earlier gone.
“I-I’m fine,” I tried to say, but before I could finish, I leaned over and vomited on the floor. My body felt like it was on the verge of shutting down.
"BLEUGH!"
Nagumo knelt beside me, his face etched with concern. “What the hell just happened?”
I didn’t know how to answer him. My head was pounding, my body weak, but one thing was certain: I had just made the impossible happen.

To be continued…