Retrospection

August 1, 2050.

“I-it won’t hurt”, said the woman frantically pressing buttons on a small gadget in her hand.

“For your sake, I hope not”

The man stood naked inside an airtight chamber. The air was cold and chilly with a certain sweet taste to it. However, with increasing time, the chill decreased. The man was getting impatient with each passing minute. He walked up to the polycarbonate walls and smacked against one.

“How much longer?”

“I’m working as fast as I can”, the woman squeaked. The man saw her pacing across the room, and although he was locked up, he knew he was in power. Tiny red lights blinked at intricate corners of the room, and with one command from the miniature remote in his hand, he knew he could bring down the entire building.

It would kill everyone in it obviously, but the man wasn’t scared. He thrived on death.

And I have nothing to lose.

“2021”, the woman muttered coming closer to the chamber, “please wear the headset and lie down on the seat”

The man glared at her for a moment before facing the equipment. There was a compact silicon headset kept beside an obliquely positioned stretcher. He had no knowledge inherently about such objects or procedures. However, he was a good observer, and he had been observing this facility for several months now.

Almost a year now, in fact...

The man took a deep breath and fitted him in the stretcher. He made a mistake with the additional needles to be injected into his body, but the woman corrected him. The man had promised her if he died, the bombs would automatically deploy anyway. Her solitary solace lay in helping him complete his mission.

“I need you to close your eyes”, the woman said, “the jump might be taking a-”

“I will do what I want, woman”, the man gritted his teeth. The woman startled at his words returned to her frantic work with the machine.

The man peeked across the room one last time. He could see the freshly deceased bodies of three scientists. It was too dark to admire them properly but the man knew where each of them had dropped with every bullet. He returned his gaze back to his chamber. There was a small backpack next to him. It had nothing spectacular; just a fully loaded revolver and his usual attire along with a book of sentimental value. He had borrowed a gas mask that resembled a plague mask from an antique shopped he had visited. The man had got into an argument with the owner, but it resolved fairly quickly.

The man closed his eyes.

This is it, he thought biting his lips, a chance to make it all go away.

The machines started vibrating and a low din prolonged for quite a while before it became severe. The man could feel his muscles pressing against his bones, his skull begging to be ripped open, but he soldiered on.

He squeezed his eyes, grunting from the pain and feeling the whoosh of wind all around him, the cold air now cooler and sharper than ever, making him feel like he was being cut with a thousand knives.

The pain will last for only 3 minutes until the jump is complete but the relative time will have been an entire year, the woman had told him.

The man despised the fact that there was a buffer time. Physical pain he can handle. In fact, over the years he had grown numb to physical pain, and it was in his nature to be able to remain stoic. However, what scared him was in his head; three minutes was plenty of time to let his thoughts flood in. His mind immediately wandered back to all his assassinations over the years, one by one, he saw each of his victims’ faces, and he saw each of his contractors. He saw all the shock, love, betrayal, and deception and he felt all of them the same...

The man tried to curse under his breath to shake him out of his thoughts, but the pressure of the travel was too high. He was paralyzed.

It will be over, he thought his ears catching the faint ticking of his wristwatch.

Three minutes was a lot of time, but the man knew he was this close to change it all. He was this close to change his path for the better.