The Late Message That Came Early – Part 2

If you've not yet read the first part, what are you waiting for!!! Go to The Late Message That Came Early Part 1 to read it. Don't read the second part before (Spoilers beware)

I opened my eyes two days later, dreaming about the object. I got off the bed hoping that the events since that fateful stormy night were a dream. Everything about it felt like one for the things that happened since did not have a rational explanation. It questioned everything I knew and understood about the world so far. I hadn’t told the authorities the entire truth. A solitary man living in the middle of nowhere, a corpse from a secret place inside the walls… Sounds like the opening to a serial killer's story. I didn’t want law enforcement and media inside either. But there was yet another reason for all this secrecy and I thought about events of the last two nights for the thousandth time.

After I found out where or apparently 'when' the object came from, I wanted to know more. I started hunting for information and I found what looked like a duffel bag hanging from the chair where John’s body lay. I took it from its hook and opened it. In it, there were a few stacks of paper, neatly arranged. I kept it aside making a mental note to examine it in the light and looked for more information. The inside of the object was bare save for a few screens and buttons that lined the doors, probably controls. I tried pressing the buttons. None of them worked. The screens were done for. After a few minutes of vain work, I concluded that the object was indeed dead, like its owner. There was nothing more to find. I tried closing the two halves. That worked and the object was whole once again with a loud click. I covered it with tarp and went inside the house.

I called for Timmy and dried him up. He was silent for the whole time. Perhaps it is true what they say. Maybe dogs really are telepathic. They seem to understand the exact emotions of their human companion. Or it could be the fact that he just got scared.

Jokes aside, I grabbed the ‘bag from the future’ and examined it in the light. It was made of some synthetic material that I couldn’t recognise. Inside it the papers were safe. The ones towards the bottom were plans and schematics. I picked the one on top and started reading. It was a letter addressed arbitrarily.

“Dear Reader,

If you’re reading this, then it means I am dead and maybe many years have passed. I am writing this before I lose my sanity. I have lost all hopes of survival but I pray to God that these notes finds the light of day before it’s too late.

Firstly, I am John Grayson, Expedition Code 117. I am from the year 2102 and was ordered to prevent a major catastrophe that happened in the past, or specifically on the 28^th of November in the year 2020. On that day, the Vogtle Nuclear plant that was set up at Georgia in the year 2017 became unstable and it ended up in a massive explosion. The radiation fall from this set up another chain of nuclear explosions that eventually resulted in an extinction level incident. The death toll rose in the range of billions and those who survived suffered generations of radiation poisoning. By our calculations, human beings as a species was going to into extinction by 2150.

I was sent here to prevent this from ever happening. It was the result of almost 50 years of research and toil and we used up almost all of our resources for this. During my travel to the past the explosion of 2020 screwed up the systems and I went much backward than expected. I got sent back by a century to the year 1920. And worse. I couldn’t move my machine at all. It was stuck inside a structure. We had failed to account for space. This place did not have a recorded structure for centuries, part of the reason why we chose this desolate place as our destination. And here I am thinking who ever wants a house in the middle of nowhere! But it is as said in Murphy’s Law. "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong!"

Unfortunately, I don’t think there is going to be a second attempt. So it’s up to whoever you are to save the world. There are the plans of the reactor in the bag describing what exactly goes wrong. Please do whatever it takes to prevent this from happening.

The future of the whole word literally rests in your hands, whoever you are. I hope this message reaches the right hands before it’s too late.

It’s all up to you now. May luck be on your side.

Hopefully,

John 117

PS: I am definitely not going to survive here. So do give me a decent burial once all this is over. And please keep my machine a secret. It won’t do the world any good if everyone is out to change their destinies.”

If my eyes could fall off their sockets, they would have! Every hair on my body was shaking and I looked at today's date: November 21, 2020. The event was going to happen in a week and the only person left in the planet who knew it was going to happen was me. Everything rested on my hands and for a few minutes, I had no idea what to do. I have to travel. No! I needed to call people. No! I needed to alert the world… And cause major panic. No way.

Slowly my corporate conditioned brain took my thoughts into rein and ideas and solutions started forming in my head. I had contacts. I could ask them to be discreet. But I’d have to meet them in person.

I booked the only flight that went to Georgia that day and safe to say, I got there in time unlike my unsung friend. I got in touch with my contact and to everybody’s surprise there, I was right. One the reactors was going beyond critical, becoming unstable and the sensors were not picking it up. If someone hadn’t interfered, it might have gone off. I was lucky enough to have arrived a few days before it went off. I am glad I didn't wait around to get that 'saved at the last moment', like in the movies...

“There was no telling the extent of damage such a catastrophe would have caused. How did you know this?”, my good friend asked over dinner, a few hours later.

And I replied with a smile, “I can’t tell you… But it goes with the fact that I’m psychic”.

My friend laughed, “Fine… Keep it to yourself. You’ve not changed at all after all these years. Frankly, I was surprised to get your call. It’s been too long”.

“You know, you’re the same too. Never ever change, my dear friend. Listen to people no matter how dumb they might sound. Without you, there world might not have been the same”.

We had a great time catching up. I was happy to have my friend back in my life again. We parted promising to keep in touch.

So there I was, home after two sleepless days of excitement, back where it all began. Things were looking up. I had fulfilled my silent promises to John. Today he lays in my garden inside his machine facing the rising sun. His gravestone reads, ‘John Grayson; Born in 2070 and Died in 1920. “Here lies the man, the world will never know, but is the reason every living being on the planet exists today”’.

Most people are probably gonna take this as a joke if they ever see it and get a good laugh over it, but I know and maybe in the future, I might tell someone and they’ll know about this unsung hero.

A week later, I was hanging out in the garden near John’s resting place and I felt free, my mental blocks nowhere to be seen. I took my laptop and started writing. A new novel. A better story. A tale of mystery, suspense, action and little bit of time travel. I had the best story to tell. This was my destiny.

The evening echoed with the clicking sounds of my keyboard and as the sun set again into the horizon, a faint voice from inside the ground started speaking. I was too lost in my story to listen to it. The voice said, “Power source recharged. Set Destination”

The End

So... There you go! The second part of 'The Late Message That Came Early'. Hope you had fun reading it. I didn't want to go into detail because it was already too long!!! But this is the story that I had imagined. I tried to fill up the loose ends from the first part. Do correct me if you find plot holes or mistakes. I would love to hear your opinion.

Until next time, people. Have a great weekend. Peace