Before The Storm

Rox knows everything about time travels, and one thing is for sure. They can be dangerous.  She even managed to build a time machine with enough energetic field that will make it possible to travel in time.

A stone from outer space will do the work. The stone is called The Alien Stone since it crashed on earth under mysterious circumstances. The magnificent stone is now built inside the machine and uses all its energy and make anything possible.

Rox is very passionate about her work and spent all her time doing research and planning her big project called Project: FTT that stands for Project: First Time Travel.

She is a highly educated engineer and has multiple degrees. She has written a book called My way, which describes her difficult childhood and how her own way shaped her future.

She stands in front of her creation that has crash-landed in the middle of the city. The white shell hit the ground hard and it didn't even shatter a bit. The asphalt on the other hand looks like a cracked egg. She constructed it for crash landings and to not kill the passengers nor destroy the entire ship. And it worked. She looks at it, feeling just like a small insect compared to it. She is unable to figure out if it took her into the future or back in time. 

Washington looks the same as she left is. However a lot more horrible and with a weird aura to it. She can't recall a day in the past looking like this.

She tried to specifically go forward in time to avoid ending up in a timeline where she already exists because the script would break and she might not make it back alive. Other horrible things could influence the future as well.

She thinks back to the time before she ended up here, under the chattering meeting with excited people, ready to witness something that has never been tried before:

****

President Obama holds his hands tight and looks up at Rox that seems more determined than ever, "are you ready, ma'am?" He asked gently because the meticulous Scientist is famous for her temperament.

She seems taken by surprise by his words and lets out a gasp, "I'm always ready, if you've read my book you would've known, sir" she answers certainly and throws an eye at her creation. The magnificent scale is shining outside of the thick glass that separates the Scientist from her creation.

"Excuse me ladies and gentlemen" she raises her voice to be heard and she is successful, all the eyes are on her, "may this be the last time we will meet"

She walks out with her weapons tied around her waist in case she might encounter something unpleasant. She doesn't know what she will see on the other side, but she has a gut feeling it won't be anything indifferent.

****

Washington is darker than ever, curtains are covering the insides of the home, and the restaurants are shut closed with planks that are nailed against the doorframes. Restaurants are also vandalized and glass is shattered into thousands of pieces. The atmosphere is unreliable. She feels like anything could happen at the second. 

Time and space are different for her, she feels as if something is horribly wrong but she can't seem to notice it anywhere. The weather is cold and the sun is hidden behind big black clouds that cover the entire sky like a sphere.

She breathes in the thick, watery oxygen in the air, that she interprets as if a storm is on its way. She has to get out of here, but instead of listening to her gut feeling, she lets her inner scientist wake up. She has to investigate the apocalyptic scene.

Rox has always been an explorer, her parents told her that she couldn't refrain to get hurt every day during her investigate impulses when she was a child. From an energetic kid to a withdrawn grown woman with a tendency to insult people without actually intend it and not even let a small apology slip out. She can't work with others, instead, she works for herself.

She hears a rumble of thunder and the sky cracks open with light, looking like the cracks in the ground. Rox has to cover her eyes with her arm because of the bright light striking her eyes. The city streets are suddenly crowded with people. Weapons are lifted and loud bangs are heard and building bricks fall to the ground crushing people underneath them.

Heart ripping screams are heard and Rox is quick to act. She hides behind the building alley and draws her weapon. She holds it carefully while waiting. Her confusion is bubbling deeply and she has no clue what she will do. The time machine is on the other side of the street and she has no time to run past all the raining bricks falling on people. Blood is filling the streets, flooding like rivers into the small wells on the sidewalks. It looks like an alien invasion from a movie. Was this her fault? Was it the time machine that interrupted something important?

Rox closes her eyes just in case she is dreaming, but when she opens them the scene is the same but a lady approaches her with strange movements. The face is recognizable, the lifted cheeks and thin lips. It's her. Rox stares at herself, but this woman in front of her is slightly older.

Rox breathes shocked and lets her fingers trace herself across the smooth face. Her heart is pounding hard against her ribcage.

The lady in front of her is mumbling something inaudible and Rox leans closer to herself to hear what she is telling her, "It was your fault"

She is repeating it until she is screaming and the face transforming into something alien-like, the voice is sharp like a saw, and it's burying into her.

It was my fault!