“If I came back, will you give me a second chance?” These were the words resonating inside her head. I should hate him for what he had done; but why do I feel gloomy? Why can’t I stop crying? She pondered, scurrying away. Her breath was ragged. She slowed down and finally stops taking deep breaths. She turns her head slightly to the right. She notices a symbol, a clock where the hands are arranged forming the letter T. She had seen it somewhere. She thinks about where she had seen it. It was in his suit, on his right shoulder. She remembers. She gets closer to inspect. She couldn’t see a thing. She walked in the door; it was dark and ghost-quiet. She takes in one more step and the lights turn on. The showroom had a dim light set up matching wooden finish on the walls. There were thin strips of gold running at some areas of the wall. There were watches, exclusive designs, maybe handmade; displayed all across the room. What would a watch-making company have to do with him? She was intrigued. “Hello! Is anyone in here?” she shouts. There was no answer. She searches the shop, to find if anyone were there. The place was desolate. She scouts for any clues. She finds the company’s logo on the right wall; this one distinct from all the other of the company’s logos in the showroom. This one had an emerald strip where the 12 was supposed to be. She walked towards it. It beeped and she became stiff for an instant. After a few seconds a slit appeared across the wall splitting the logo in half. The emerald was to the left of the slit. The slit widened and widened until it revealed a pathway.
She was hesitant, but was desperate for answers; she moves forward into the pathway. There was a soft thud, closing the entrance behind her. She soon reaches a room far bigger than the showroom. It had a lot of equipments. One, particular equipment piqued her interest. It had a helmet that would fit a human. There were metallic pipes connected to the left and right of the helmet. These pipes curved in a circular fashion and were connected to a device. It wrote “Particle accelerator” on the device. There was a sign denoting “Hazard” below it. It sent a shiver down her spine. She saw a door leading to another room. She opens it slowly. The room was small and seemed to be a part of the equipment room divide by metal. The room was narrow. She spots a computer on the left. There was a cylindrical chamber right next to the computer. There was a man inside, his eyes closed. A panel on top of the chamber showed his vitals. She was taken aback. She wanted to help him. She tried to open it with her bare hands; she couldn’t. A panel was present on the right of the chamber. The chamber required a code. She tried several codes but she wasn’t able to open it. She thought breaking open the glass but dismissed the idea as she feared it might kill the man inside. “I’ll get you help.” She promised.
She turned on the computer. Hmm… no password. She rejoiced but also wondered why. She started searching the files. She found what she expected but hoped not to find. The file folder was named “Bhagat Kumar Devan.” She was scared. Scared, she might have done wrong by him. Scared to find of what was done to him. The folder had all of his documents, all information regarding him. There was a video. She plays its. It was the man in the chamber, she tried saving before. “Hello Namritha,” How does he know my name? She wondered. “I am Shriram Varma Desmukh. I knew that you would come. Bhagat was like a son to me. We grew close as time passed. I would not believe when the time camera showed me that we would grow close. Yet here I am recording this message for you. Please don’t be angry at my boy. If anyone is to blame it is me. He loves you, to this day. Actually speaking they love you.” Namritha gets confused; They? Who is the other guy he is talking about?
“The Bhagat you loved did not do this to you. He is dead” What? I just saw him; saw him asking for a second chance. Her confusion and shock turns to sadness. “He came to me as any other volunteer.” The video continues. “He was heartbroken, he mentioned about you as he was about to die. I continued with my experiment.” groans Shriram. “The experiment kills people but makes two copies of them giving each of them the memories of the original. Even after several changes to the experiment, one copy gets the better of the emotions and the other gets the worse of them. The experiment gives the two of them time travelling abilities. One can alter the rate at which time around him flows and the other can control the rate at which time flows through him. Both of them can make time flow in the opposite direction. This is what happened to Bhagat. I never told them about each other but they still found each other because of quantum entanglement. Each of them can feel and know what the other feels or thinks. But the thing new to me was that, both of them loved you. Of my ten subjects I have never seen any pair have the same feeling for one person. The other thing special about them are that they are the first to travel to a time where their original is present. There are other videos in this folder. Don’t rewatch any of them, cause in another 20 minutes this building will be destroyed.” Namritha was frightened.
“Don’t worry about your promise.” The video continues “This chamber kills my memory but is strong enough to take a building collapsing. I have done my boy wrong and I am not strong enough to live with that. I want to start fresh and forget about this experiment, forget about Bhagat. I’m sorry I cannot save Bhagat now; there is no coming back from the Black hole. I’ve told them to avoid physical contact. It’s too late.” The video stops.
Her face starts going dull. She starts watching the time camera recordings. Each and every one of the video makes her smile and cry at the same time. She plays the last video. Bhagat comes in as Shriram was calibrating the equipments. “Why would you give me these abilities?” cries Bhagat. “I was happier without them. I couldn’t stop him; stop him from molesting her. These abilities gave me hope that I could stop that from happening but I did not realize this was the reason that it happens.” He walks away, crying. A few minutes later another copy enters. “Why would you give me these abilities?” rages Bhagat. “I was happier without them. I thought my copy was the one going to molest her. I travelled to stop him. But time stopped when nothing happened. I was hard to breathe. My copy went unconscious, I didn’t know what would happen if we die. What if time would have stopped? I looked for another way but there wasn’t any. I had to do it with my own hands. I molested her with my own hands.” Cries Bhagat leaning onto Shriram and the video ends.
Namritha cries, sobbing loudly. “I would have never asked him to die for me. But they were ready to. I am the one who did wrong by him. He is dead because of me.” She leaves the place. She looks at the chamber, but deep down she did not want to forget him. She walks towards the black hole she ran away from. She’s mad at herself. She wishes they come back. She wants them back. She knows it is not possible. She stares at the black holes as she lifelessly walks towards it. She kneels down and cries “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She cries till there are no tears left.
She visits the black hole every day till the day she dies, her guilt stabbing her heart. Her mind, creating beautiful landscapes with him.