Chapter 1: A Message to the Past

"Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. But they could, when they listened very closely. And they would sneer every time they heard it. Half-human, half-robot. Robosapiens, is what I called them. I was stuck, floating amongst the galaxies, because they had taken over the planet, and made it their permanent residence. It's been years. No. Decades. Uggh, I've lost my sense of time. I don't know how long I've been stuck here. All I can say is that I'm starting to get streaks of white in my hair. All of my colleagues are gone. It was all my fault. My colossal belief in my team blinded me from the inevitable deep betrayal that has now led to the destruction of our mission. I distinctly remember. It was Tuesday, January 20, 1998. I was in the lab, when I realized our mission had been compromised. I was accused of trickery and deception. I was declared a traitor, and overnight I lost my family, my reputation, and my career. My attempts to prove my innocence were futile. It had been too late by then. Within days, the Robosapiens had burned the entire city to the ground. In the blink of eye, everything had turned to dust. I had no choice but to run. The last few mortals that were trying to blend in with the Robosapiens, were eventually discovered, and killed. I was hiding behind the ruins of a house, when I caught glimpse of the program key injected in to the backs of these half humans, half robots. The red code. My eyes widened with horror, as I realized that this is not what I programmed the Robosapiens with. The green code had been replaced with the red code. Someone must've tampered with the Robosapiens while they were still in their initial stages. Nobody else had access to them except for my group. I was lucky enough to escape their blood-hungry eyes, and managed to pack as much food and water, as I could, and got into my space shuttle, and flew in to outer space. The human species is extinct now. Everything has been destroyed. Earth is full of nothing but half-human breeds that are animalistic, and vicious in nature. They know nothing but except, killing for pleasure. I'm now floating amongst the billions of galaxies, running on the last few sips of water, and munching on the scraps of food left from whenever. I can't remember how long it's been. I've been screaming, praying that someone might've survived. That someone might hear me. But to no avail. Just me and my solitude. But they can hear me. They're not upset that I've managed to escape them. But rather they laugh. They mock. They sneer at my state. My will to live. My fight with whatever little life I have left. You are my last hope. I've enclosed the instructions and the timeline of our mission. If you have received this, then my plan has worked".

'This message will self-destruct in 3...2...1!'

And poof! The video playing on her screen blew up. Lizzie stared at her computer in horror as she saw smoke coming out. She frantically grabbed a piece of cloth and smacked it on to her computer repeatedly, hoping that this would cool it down. But the smoke started to fill her lungs, the sudden urge to cough overcame her, and she ran out of her room to catch some fresh air. She stood at the threshold of her room in confusion and disbelief, wondering how drunk she really must've been at Billy Summer's New Year's party to wear a hideous white wig, and terrible prosthetics, and send herself a video message talking about her own project. She remembered that there was a parcel with the video too. Documents of her project's timeline, and instructions. Details of the mission, that even she didn't know. The mission went wrong on Tuesday, January 20, 1998. The end date on the timeline reached 2030. How was any of this possible? Had she really defied the law of physics, and nature? Did her future self really send a message to her past self ? Was her mission really about to get compromised? She wondered. She looked at the calendar on her wall. It was Tuesday, January 6th, 1998. She gulped, as sweat started running down her face. She had 2 weeks. The clock was ticking.