The city’s neon glow flickered with static. A
new power grid, installed by the federal
government, pulsed with strange energy. No one
understood how it worked, but the lights never
went out. The air smelled of ozone and old coal.
She stepped off the train, her boots clicking on
the platform. The name on her ID read "Dr. Lila
Voss." She had left this town in 2028, after the
collapse. Now, the world was different. The
government had banned all personal tech.
Everyone wore wrist chips. No phones, no screens,
no data.
The mayor’s office had summoned her. Official
business. But she knew better. He had been her
mentor. Her lover. The man who had pushed her to
study the alien artifact buried beneath the town.
The building was empty. No guards. No cameras.
Just a single door, sealed with a biometric lock.
She pressed her palm to the scanner. It
recognized her. The door hissed open.
Inside, the walls were lined with holograms—
images of the artifact, its surface etched with
symbols no one could translate. The mayor stood
in the center, wearing a suit that looked
decades out of style. His face was older, but
his eyes were sharp.
“You shouldn’t have come back,” he said.
“I had to.” She stepped closer. “You know what
it is. What it does.”
He nodded. “It’s not just a relic. It’s a key.
To something bigger.”
A rule had been broken. The government had
outlawed any research into the artifact. But
here it was, in plain sight. She reached for the
nearest console. The screen flared to life. A
warning: “Unauthorized access. System override
initiated.”
The lights dimmed. The floor trembled. A low hum
filled the room. The mayor grabbed her arm. “You
don’t understand. The artifact isn’t just a
machine. It’s a memory. A consciousness.”
The walls shifted. The holograms changed. Images
of the past—of her, younger, standing beside him
in a lab. Of the night everything changed. Of
the explosion. Of the silence that followed.
She had forgotten. Until now.
The system shut down. The mayor released her.
“You’re not safe here. They’ll come for you.”
She turned. The door was gone. The walls were
closing in. The artifact pulsed again, brighter
this time. A choice. A path. A return.
She stepped forward. The world dissolved. When
she opened her eyes, she was in the past. The
lab. The explosion. The same moment she had fled.
But this time, she stayed.
