1 Prologue - Unexpected Events

Eyes shining with anticipation, he sat within his life's work—a messy amalgamation of scientific devices melded with a small spherical titanium hull, the clutter of dials and gauges unfathomable to anyone but him.

"Three-"

"Two-"

"One-"

"Time machine initiated."

Despite the reassuringly emotionless voice of his machine, he couldn't resist the whisper of doubt in his mind that something would go wrong: what if his calculations were wrong, what if the materials failed, what if his software broke? Echoes of doubt crept ever forward in his mind as the machine began to whir softly.

*Clink.*

His eyes widened, his breath quickened.

*Clank.*

'Must be a loose screw, nothing to worry about, nothing at all.' A feeble attempt to settle his nerves and maintain composure was promptly denied by the machine-

*Clunk.*

His eyes scoured the countless gauges for anomalies, fear of a malfunction galloping across his mind.

The soft whirring lessened slightly, and the emotionless voice was heard once again.

"Warping."

His heart calmed and his restless mind began to settle, before being interrupted by a blaring siren.

"ERROR: SYSTEM MALFUNCTION"

The voice, now reassuringly terrifying, guaranteed his fears, but before his heart could leap out of his chest, a cacophony of endless noise encompassed him.

The machine jolted sharply, violently shaking apart, but the space-time it had begun to manipulate was only becoming more chaotic; the weight of the world pressed upon his shoulders before vanishing as jarringly as it appeared, leaving him weightless.

Nova was quickly overwhelmed by the shifting sight of myriad colours and sank into unconsciousness, unable to comprehend the vicissitudes of time as reality distorted around him.