Trauma Resurfaces When Control Slips

As Michaela turned back to see the person behind her, she time-jumped again and landed beside what seemed like a mega-Holographic edifice that projected Greece as it was or closely looked like in the Ancient Civilisation of the 5th and 6th Century B.C

This was beautiful and it wasn't nature, it was technology beyond her time and she was stunned. Next to her was her brother, Michael, who looked very healthy and fit with eye-soothing muscles. Michaela took in this view in silence and unintentionally gulped whatever saliva was gushing over her brother's hotness and she gave him the biggest hug she could and anyone around could sense love between these two.

"Is this…?" Michael started but was interrupted by his overly surprised sister.

"Yeah, nanotech, and it's Greece" she said barely catching up with her breath as she stood in awe.

"How many more jumps do we have there?" Michael asked curiously.

"Six. We have six more. It's just that I don't know how to get us to go anywhere. It overrides and does that most of the time" Michaela replied as she glanced at the face of the wristwatch.

"You know, Ireland might not be a bad idea for a visit right now." Michael said as he smiled and tried to make Michaela do the same.

"Yeah. Right. We always wanted to go to Ireland" Michaela said with lots of nostalgia filling her voice and feelings.

A slight shiver or what looked like a glitch happened to the face of the wristwatch and their surroundings changed yet again.

This was calmer, less populated and just radiated conservativeness.

Michaela knew better than looking around, so she looked at the face of the wristwatch- 2045. They had jumped further in time again and Michaela turned her back to face the weirdly babyish smile plastered on Michael's face as he lay himself in the well-mowed green fields that looked like it had no end.

She wasn't going to be left out in this experience, so without any convincing, she joined him in the fields.

Less than a minute of earthly time into this experience, Michaela and her twin jumped yet again to a few weeks away in the same year.

They'd landed in an old bar with men with grey beards and indiscernible but sweet accents flying around the space.

Michaela didn't give it much thought knowing that they could be out of here in no time. She turned her face to the ultra-bright Television that was right before the table of half-drunks and saw something that caught her attention.

"As of the early hours of this morning, the United Nations has split into two distinct groups- the Axis Union and the Squad of Allies. With Russia backing China and the U.S supported by France and most of Africa, this doesn't look good for our collective future. Stay tuned for more details" A British Journalist said over the news that Michaela watched and unknown to her, her brother had seen that too.

One message went through the bar in silence- Fear of the Unknown.

She looked to her side which she hadn't paid much attention to the whole time and Michael was right beside her.

He took her hands and placed it in his and warmly rubbed it with his fingers in a bid to comfort her.

He didn't know how much more of this uncertainty and time-jumps she could take and he wished he could be of help somehow.

Michaela understood that only bad things could happen from now on and she feared to see it. She lost control to the fear that flowed through her and they time-jumped again.

It was 2049, in the ruins of an Asian City that looked like Tokyo, Michaela was troubled as she wheezed while looking around her very quickly. Michael held on to her hand all the while but she didn't get a hold of that until moments after.

With twin-jets hovering over their heads and shambles flocking around the ground and spoilt cars crashing into train tracks and cable cars barely hanging up, all of these wear dreadful to the eyes.

Was this war? A World War III?

"Michaela, we can't stay here..we need to take cover" Michael said assuredly with little fear detectable in his voice while he pulled her to a big concrete that looked like a decimated ground floor window and he put her gently with her back against the large concrete or whatever this was made of.

"It's okay to close your eyes" Michael said to her slowly and with utmost care as he rubbed his right hand on the shoulder of the shivering and extremely shocked Michaela.

"So, the world really has this again? Can we ever really be Homo Sapiens and free from war?" Michaela thought to herself in the middle of the dread. Something smelt off and oddly familiar too.

Subconsciously, she traced the smell to something which was about 8 feet away. She got up quickly to see what it was.

It was a boy's body, not more than 4 feet and 11 inches tall and it had been half-cooked by fire or something fiery and this damage left the body unidentifiable beyond recognition. That was a shocking sight and was traumatic for Michaela. This was the very same way she found her mum when they were much younger.

She screamed, with her hands over her mouth and tears holding a concert within her eyes.

Her other hand rested on the ground and while her fingers trembled, she felt something within her clenching fists. It was a bullet. Not the bullets she'd seen in movies, but a different one. It was a little wider than a pair of needles put together and its lethality was nothing she'd ever seen or known.

These bodies lying around the place all had holes in either their heads or other fatally decisive spots and had burn marks too, with some lesser than the others.

Michael wept at the sight of his sister's breakdown and guilt flashed right before his face. All their life, he had never really ever been there for her when she needed him most and now again, he didn't know how to change that.

With the saddest face one would possibly wear, Michael got away from the rock and moved to his sister and hugged her from behind while he knelt on the ground with her.

She found solace in his presence and in his embrace and she cried the more because for once in her life, it felt like her tears had a language and she was entitled to speak it.