The sound of water, its journey over ragged rocks and through the grooves of the earth plays a symphony for the ear. Ravishing, is it not? The chaos it causes when 'misplaced', washing over the remnants of an arrogant humanity. It knows no better, only governed by Mother Nature and her rules. There is no need to be astonished. Water is predictable and when respected, its soothing song echoes in dry ears.
The history books are there, how humanity culled their impending extinction in the 22nd century. A prosperous few millennia came after filled with their own hiccups and roadblocks… wait a second.
She scrubbed away the chip, altering its telemetry before inserting it back into her arm. The vivid recollection of historic events played out again, this time with constant victories, triumphs, and elation.
"Better."
A deep sigh left the woman, tossing away the altered chip before placing a new one inside. She was whisked away to a great war, the ground littered with a green carpet and grand flowing puddles of water. She reached for the chip… fingers grasping at the edges of the dreamscape. A primal longing to stay flooded her brain, to sleep amongst the oddly stained earth. High pitched whistles stabbed at her eardrums, a shock sent through nearly every inch of her body. She yanked the chip out, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks as she tossed it away.
"100 chips an hour. Your pace currently… 20. First strike of the day."
Her body shivered, trembling fingers hardly able to alter the chip’s design but the words couldn’t be refused.
Another chip inside, this time without a second thought. Exactly how it was supposed to be done…
"Does it matter? I got you the-"
Her voice halts, a keen glance to either side of her before she leaned in closer, almost a whisper at this point.
"…time machine. This is like my third time doing this, actually. It goes off randomly."
She grinned, the hooded figure quickly closing the bag in fear before meeting her unserious gaze, a deep sigh.
"It was supposed to be an impossible task. I don’t have the money for it…"
He looked away, hands disappearing beneath the table for far too long. A barrel of a gun met her forehead, cold steel between widened eyes.
"Well, make that four times…"
Before the gun could be fired, the bag emitted a flashing light swallowing the entire room up along with the rest of the current timeline.
…
"Where the hell did you find this?!"
