1 CHAPTER 1: THE DEATH ZONE

It was an usual morning for Agatha, a 30-year-old woman, who had fallen asleep next to her invention in the workshop. The time machine, as we all call it, but Agatha was quite unconventional with her words, so she named it LEPER . It looked like a minicar designed for one person, painted black and adorned with miniature clocks all over its body. Nobody knew how she came up with this name, but I suppose her reasoning behind it was her understanding that inventions, although the reason for transforming the world, always come with downsides. They can unleash dangers that put everyone's lives at stake. LEPER is a metaphor for the fact that every time we strive for progress and hope, there is always darkness left behind. As the law of conservation states that energy cannot be destroyed, this darkness accumulates in the universe and manifests itself in various forms. Agatha came up with an equation: d=Pro(l) + lo(u)/t, which weighs the profits of innovations against the lost parts of the universe while keeping time constant. Agatha believes that profits are always outweighed by the negative consequences. We are slowly fragmenting the universe, creating a lot of debris for black holes to consume. That's Agatha for you.

Now, let's go back to her invention. LEPER was ready to embark on its first magical journey. That morning, Agatha was deep in sleep, snoring and drooling, with messy hair and clothes stained from the little food she managed to eat during her work. She had completed her incubation period of creativity and stepped into the illumination, which is why the room was so serene and bright. Suddenly, she woke up, startled, looking her worst. Her eyes were fixated on her new invention, ready to take it for a spin. She hopped in and started the machine. Astonishingly, she disappeared from her workshop and found herself transported to a familiar place.

"The workshop," she said to herself. "Oh my god, everything around me is gone." She discovered that the front door of her workshop was locked. Since she knew another way in, she went through the secret back door hidden by creepers, a path that nobody else knew about. As she entered, she started examining the room, wondering about the extraordinary objects she saw. Suddenly, a voice startled her. "Don't touch anything." She turned her head and saw her little brother. "Is that you, Logan? What are you doing in my workshop? And man, you've grown so much. Those mustaches and little ponytail look pathetic."

Logan replied in an unsurprisingly way, "I am the owner of this workshop. I am taking care of your inventions, even though I'm not interested in them and don't even know how to operate them. Why are you here again?"

Agatha, feeling jittery, replied, "Again? What do you mean? And are these really my inventions? Why are you taking care of them? Where am I?"

Logan, in an agitated voice, responded, "You've visited here thrice after your death. You died this year, and you keep asking me this question. You are torturing me by coming here repeatedly. You know how much it hurts me. I haven't told Mom and Dad about it."

Agatha angrily replied, "Shut up, Logan. You are making me sick. And how is it possible that I visited twice already? Tell me, how did I really die?"

Logan paused for a moment, looking very sad. Agatha shouted at him, "Come on, tell me. Don't be a crybaby."

Logan finally spoke, "Thrice."

Agatha exclaimed, "What?"

Logan continued, "You visited here thrice already, not twice. Don't you know how bad it is outside? Everything is gone, the whole world is ruined. There is no place for anyone to hide. The experiments of living on Mars have failed miserably. Planet Earth is reaching its end days with no food, no water, nothing at all. People have become bloodthirsty. The Thrifty Gene Hypothesis is a hoax. Everyone acts similarly during famines."

Agatha responded, "Yeah, I saw. It looked a bit weird. At first, I thought our neighborhood was lost to a fire. Then I saw Dad's favorite car. I thought something fishy was going on... Logan, how are you managing?"

Logan, quite disappointed, replied, "You are still the same. Things never bother you. I told you so many things, and you're being so indifferent. Going back to your question, 'how are we managing'? Well, thanks to one of your inventions, which you showed me and taught me how to use during your last visit, we are managing to have food at least."

Agatha asked, "Which one?"

Logan answered, "Enzymatic Food Repertoire."

Agatha exclaimed, "Oh yeah! Where do you get the enzymes? It probably needs both animal and plant enzymes. Considering the situation outside, plants and animals must have been the first to be affected."

Logan sighed, "You've kept a lot of stock. We are using them slowly. Now, going back to your question, 'how did you die'? You died from electrocution while working on some stupid time machine."

Agatha thought to herself, "It's all so chaotic. It doesn't make any sense."

Agatha said, "Hey Logan, I'm going out. If I remember correctly, you said I died this year, right?"

Logan confirmed, "That's right, Agy. It was two months ago. I'm so sorry, but please don't go out. You will hurt yourself."

Agatha replied, "Log, I'm already dead. And thanks for the condolences. I would be the first dead person to hear my own condolences."

Agatha thought to herself, "That's why my time machine only stops around my 'DEATH ZONE'. I can't even know what could happen after 2030, and I would never go there. I have to stop this chaos from the beginning. I need to know how it all started, or else Mom, Dad, and Logan won't survive. Instead, I have to go back in time. There must be some answers."

With these thoughts in her mind, she left the workshop, with Logan shouting in the background, "Agy, please listen to me." Agatha hopped back into her LEPER, ready to travel back in time