Infinity Company - Twenty-four hour short story contest


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It was May, 1948. Henry finished typing on his typewriter his last article in which he made public one of the greatest frauds in history, the "alleged" autopsy of an alien "found" in Roswell.

Henry worked as an investigative reporter in one of the most hostile newspapers in the metropolis: The Raw Truth.

That same afternoon, Mike, the Editor-in-Chief, threw a newspaper on Henry's desk.

— What’s that? — Henry asked

— Read page number 5. It's your new assignment. — Mike replied

The man reads the newspaper ad: "If you have the credits. We have the time travel"

— Do you really believe in this craps? — Henry replied.

Mike bit into the half-finished cigar he held in his mouth. He shrugged and shook his head.

— My opinion does not really matter. The board of directors is interested in the veracity of the article.

— Your job is to find out the truth behind that statement

Henry, took another look at the article and then said

— This is going to cost you.

***

Henry began to investigate the origin of the article. Apparently, the ad had been placed by a company called Infinity. Founded about 5 years ago.

Henry decided to pay them a visit.

The company was guarded in all its entrances by private surveillance. When he entered through the main entrance, he was received by a beautiful lady, who invited him to sit down while she was taking his personal information, place of residence and telephone.

— After our financial staff corroborated the fidelity of your data and your financial liquidity, you would receive an appointment to meet with the psychiatric staff, which would approve or not the time travel.

However, the girl insinuated, in a few words, that everything really depended on how wealthy he was.

Henry interrupted his conversation with the girl, requesting bath location. The girl, very politely, indicated the direction he should take to go to the bathroom.

Henry took the opportunity to inquire more about the place. He could see that there were many offices where opulent personalities came along with their lawyers. However, he was taken by surprise by two guards, who recognized him as an investigative reporter.

Henry was thrown out of the building with the warning of being sued under the invasion of private property charges, the next time he’d be found.

***

Henry, he had decided to attack the problem from another approach. Using the help of Jake, a friend who worked at the FBI, he found cases of disappearance of wealthy personalities. Henry visited all the families of the missing persons.

Although he found it very difficult to interview with the majority, due to the technicality of non-disclosure contracts, notarized by lawyers of the company Infinity.

However, he received a package sent by the mother of a Count of Nottingham, who would have suffered the same fate as the other personalities.

The package contained recordings about the meetings held by the psychiatry staff of the Infinity Company. Conversations recorded in secret by the same Count.

Henry took one of the tapes and placed it on his player. Pressed the Play key and proceeded to listen to the conversations

— Why do you want to travel through time? — asked an unknown person

— I wish to return 30 years ago to save my father who died in the First World War

— We can make your wish come true, however, you should bear in mind that once you return and change your past, this reality, you live now, will disappear and this conversation will never have happened. So you must sign a non-disclosure contract to avoid inquiries about your disappearance. For our reality, you will have disappeared. For no reason should you disclose what is being discussed at this time.

The count consented to the contract and a whole series of conditions exposed by the staff, which he also committed to give all his belongings and values to the Infinity Company.

In other tapes, they indicated a medical treatment to support the trip in time, also provided by the same company.

The content of one of the tapes caught Henry's attention. In it, they asked the count to leave evidence of his trip in the past, publishing encrypted messages, provided by the company, in an article in a newspaper, book or magazine.

— As you can see, these old publications correspond to encrypted messages published by clients who traveled in time.

— You should memorize Your message: tob jIjaH qaStaHvIS poH

Henry found a piece of paper with the strange phrase amoung the pakage's stuff.

Henry began to doubt his conjectures about time travel.

In the last tape, they indicated the date in which the time travel would be made.

***

Henry had met with Mike to show everything he had found about Infinity Company. However, Mike indicated him that there was not enough evidence to expose the fraud of the company.

So Henry decided to penetrate the building and look for more evidence of the truth of the trips.

***

It was just past 11 pm. Henry had hired some perpetuators to start a distraction at the front of the company. Hidden behind a dumpster, he waited for the guards to vacate their posts upon receiving the news of the vandalism in progress.

Henry, used his skills to open the door locks. Once inside the company, he went in search of the file room. After spending more than 30 minutes in his furtive search, he found the room where they stored travel records.

He stole financial documents and other property records. Perhaps they could serve as evidence for IRS to inquire more about the accounting books of the company.

When Henry was about to leave the building, he noticed that some nurses were leading a man in a robe down a corridor. He decided to follow them.

Cautious, not to be caught, followed them to a large room, where there was a pyramid shape metal structure

Henry hid behind some panels and watched as scientists secured the client on a chair, inside the pyramid structure. Henry started taking pictures.

The scientists hid behind a panel and began the countdown. A buzz began to intensify. Suddenly the client began to scream in pain and in a flash, his life ceased.

The two nurses untied the client, placed him on a stretcher and covered him with a sheet. Henry, distressed, photographed the entire event.

Each time he finishes a roll of his camera; he kept it in his underwear and replaced it by a new one.

When it was over, Henry left his hiding place to flee the building. However, he received a strong blow behind him and fell unconscious.

***

Henry was lying unconscious on the floor of the great room when the FBI agents raided the Infinity Company.

— Henry, wake up! — exclaimed Jake, the FBI agent

— Are you okay?

Henry nodded, while he was getting up.

— What happened? — Henry asked

— Well, since you did not show up, I decided to pave the place. I guess you found enough evidence to stop the acts of the Infinity Company, isn’t it?

Henry nodded and pulled the hidden camera rolls from his underwear.

However, Henry noted that the pyramid structure had disappeared.

All the Infinity staff was arrested. The company was closed. In the end, the staff confessed where they hid the bodies of the murdered people. However, the founders of the company were never found.

***

Henry was again in his office, typing on his typewriter. He was finishing the article about the Infinity fraud.

Mike, went into the office, carrying some folders and books

— You almost lost your life this time

— It's work risks, Mike. The goal is to find the truth — Henry answered

— Good job — Mike replied with a smile.

Mike was about to leave when he accidentally dropped the folders and books. Henry got up from his seat.

— Let me help you

Henry took the book and observed the title: Events of the First World War

A curious foreboding crossed his mind. He decided to leaf through the book. He stopped at a photo where there were soldiers celebrating the end of the war.

Henry, shaken, dropped the book when he saw a sentence written on the wall where the soldiers were leaning:

tob jIjaH qaStaHvIS poH


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pretty weird! solid story. fun noir detective/investigative reporter feel.

Thanks @dirge! I felt it too. At the ends, it gave me the chills...

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