Dineth stood frozen as the countdown ticked down from ten. The room shimmered with an electric blue light. It made everything around him blur. He tried to move but his body felt pinned by invisible forces.

Image by Enrique Meseguer from Pixabay

“Access granted. Beginning transport… 3... 2... 1.” With a flash and a loud whoosh, the light swallowed him. Then silence.

Dineth opened his eyes. He was no longer in his room. The air smelled metallic. The sky above him was purple. The two moons shining in the distance. Towering silver buildings surrounded him. The roads had no cars there but only strange floating orbs zooming silently past. He was in a city but not on Earth.

“Where am I?” Dineth whispered, his voice barely audible. Suddenly the small metal box blinked in his pocket. A holographic screen appeared above it. It was showing his grandfather’s face. It wasn’t a photo. It moved, blinked, and began to speak.

“Dineth,” the recording said, “if you’re seeing this, then you activated Project Z. I knew your curiosity would get the better of you.” Dineth’s eyes widened.

“I built this device,” the recording continued, “to transport a person across time and dimensions. But it was incomplete. I couldn’t control where it sent people. That’s why I locked it away. If you're in this place now, you must find the Beacon Core. It can send you back home.”

The screen flickered and vanished. Dineth’s heart raced. “Beacon Core… but where do I even start?” He wandered through the glowing city. Robots roamed the streets but they were not noticing him. Strange creatures walked on two legs. They were dressed in smooth silver robes. Their skin was shimmering like glass. They stared at Dineth but didn’t stop him.

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

Finally he saw a dome-shaped building with a symbol that looked like the box. He stepped inside and found a library filled with floating books and talking machines. An old robot approached him. Its voice was soft. “You are not from here.” Dineth nodded. “I’m from the past from Earth. I need to find the Beacon Core.”

The robot’s lights blinked. “Follow me.” He was led deep into the building to a room with a glowing sphere in the center. “This,” said the robot, “is the Beacon Core. But it needs your energy to activate. Only someone from the ‘Original Time’ can power it.”

Dineth stepped forward. The sphere lit up as he placed his hand on it. Suddenly he saw visions his grandfather working in the lab, creating the device, failing to control it, hiding it in fear. “I need to go home,” Dineth whispered. The robot nodded. “You must choose return now, or stay and explore. You have knowledge that can help our world.”

Dineth hesitated. A part of him wanted to stay. The future was fascinating, full of wonders and inventions. But he thought of his family, his school, his friends and his grandfather’s lab.

“I need to go back,” he said. The Beacon Core glowed brighter. Wind swirled around him. The voice from the box returned this time gentle. “Returning to original time. Thank you, traveler.” In a blink, the world disappeared. Dineth woke up on the floor of his room. The box lay silent beside him. Outside the rain had stopped.

Was it all real? He checked the box again. It no longer lit up. But next to it on his table was a tiny silver stone glowing faintly. It was the same kind he had seen powering machines in the future city. Dineth smiled. He had been there. And he knew one thing for sure: his journey with science was just beginning.

The End.

---

I invite @megaaulia, @shahid76 and @lil.albab to join this contest.