The Chrononaunt's Error
Dr. ARIS Thorne adjusted the chronometer on his wrist, the sickly-green light illuminating the final controls of the Aether-Drive. His mission: retrieve the lost data crystal from 2142. Simple, in theory. But theory often mocked practice.
He initiated the jump sequence. The chamber filled with a blinding, sapphire energy, the air crackling with ozone. He felt the sickening lurch, the momentary disconnect from reality that defined temporal travel. Then, silence. He opened his eyes, expecting the sterile, chrome halls of the future research base.
Instead, he saw trees. Towering, impossible trees, their leaves the color of oxidized copper. The air was thick, humid, smelling of rich earth and unknown blossoms. He checked his coordinates. Error. A massive temporal displacement. He wasn't in 2142. He wasn't even close.
A shadow fell over him. He looked up, his breath catching. Something enormous moved through the canopy—a scaly hide, a massive, reptilian eye, the size of his fist, staring down with cold curiosity.
Panic seized him. He fumbled for the return controls, his mind screaming. He’d gone too far back, into the deep, undocumented past. He was trapped in a primordial era, a footnote in the history books he’d sworn to protect. The creature let out a low, echoing rumble. ARIS knew he had maybe thirty seconds to fix his terrible, magnificent error before he became part of the fossil record.