The Mystery of a traveller.

Chapter 1

16th September
Greece
2024

Author's POV:-
A modern era where time travel is been contrived but its knowledge is confidential from the locals. The Oral History Association encourages five highly classified men to go on a mission, and the mission is that they each go back to a specified timeline where no cameras were contrived. Therefore, they take cameras with them and record significant events in history. Joshua and his friends Ryan, Lucas, Noah, and Fane are the five talented professionals chosen for this top-secret mission.

Joshua was an orphan living in an orphanage in Denmark as he had no parents to take care of him until, on his 4th birthday, a man in his late 20s adopted him. Both Joshua and the man were extremely happy now that they have a family. They both were jubilant together. The man who adopted him didn't want to get married again as his first wife was dead but wanted to be a father and have a family so he adopted Joshua. He was the one to christen him Joshua Pierson.

Everything was going adequate until one day, something heartbreaking arose. At one fine midnight, some goons who were also crooks trespassed their house. Mr. Pierson wanted to protect his beloved son Joshua and his hard-earned money so without thinking twice he told Joshua to conceal under the bed while his father was combating those men.

Moments after all the one-on-one swedge, one of those goons jolted the bed upside down and pointed the revolver at Joshua. Joshua couldnt move a muscle because of the utter shock, and then his father tried to rescue him but was brutally killed by those goons in front of his sights in turn, Joshua picked one of the sharp broken bed posts and sliced those mens flesh out of wrath. After everyone in the house was dead Joshua was dumbfounded as he wasn't able to comprehend what the hell just happened and how did he kill those males. After all, he was just 10 at that time and utterly traumatized.

So, after the neighbors' contacted the cops about hearing gunshots, the police investigated the whole scenario and apprehended Joshua and he spent a good span in prison for his doing. He was not a murderer or had any sinful intentions just distressing, so he was released earlier than expected at the age of 16. He was also diagnosed with PTSD meaning having flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety as well as uncontrollable thoughts about that night's occurrence, and also his miserable stay in prison. All of this affected Joshua but made him more substantial and audacious. Still between all his struggles and grief somehow, he managed to move to Greece for a new beginning and continued his studying. He even got a vocation of his choice as an IT specialist.

He is grown into a very skillful and professional adult in his early 20s now. Although he is an independent man living alone, his love for shooting guns as a hobby made him a perfect gunfighter, he wanted to retain guns for self-defense but ended up being a dexterous shooter, he has all the luxuries one desires as a young adult. Joshua was very well settled but the only thing he was lacking was a family, a partner, someone to take care of his lonely heart, and somebody he can share his opulence and sentiments with. Also, his diligence, passion, and attitude toward professionalism made him conform to this mission.

Present day: -
Joshua arrived at the association's secret office where the apparatuses and other types of equipment for time travel were present. As Joshua entered the office his other four friends were already there, while Joshua and his friends were talking about their feeling of being adventurous rather than nervous.

The NASA administrators who were specially called for this mission launch were engaged in preparing their Cryosleep capsules which is a hibernation pod for the five men about to travel in the past with the help of these capsules the 5 men will go into a mild hypothermia state for about a month; the concept behind this is when a body is kept cool, the chemical reaction in the body would slow down to quite an extent and this would lead to energy conservation in the body and would slow down aging. In other words, it neither affects their age nor the requirement for food and water and still, their body will be freely allowed to move in the past like any other human.

Once everything and everyone was ready, one of the scientists spoke "There are 3 important rules that you all must follow:-
RULE NO. 1 Don't talk to anybody.
RULE NO. 2 Don't touch anyone intentionally.
RULE NO. 3 Remain unnoticed at all costs.

These rules are pure to avoid any source of paradoxes because everything you do shapes your present timeline that's what a predestined paradox is no matter how much anyone attempts to alter the past event, the event will forever end up being fulfilled, things are destined to turn out in a certain way, altering them may impact your absolute existence."

Everyone nodded understanding the scientist's words. The administrator beckoned each one of them to enter their respective capsules with only cameras and a time turner so that after a month they can return to the present. The five friends lay in the capsules and closed their eyes. Each one of them was outfitted in all-black skinny jeans and a turtleneck with a black leather bomber jacket, their footwear also being black sneakers and finally a black baseball cap.

Ryan was sent to 593 A.D i.e., approx. 5,000 years back during the tang dynasty in China captured the images of the print culture which were the key aspect of the Chinese civilization. Lucas was sent to 202 B.C in Zama, now in Tunisia as it was the last and decisive battle of the second Punic war to record everything from how the battle started to who won, the survivors, etc., Noah was sent to 1650 B.C about 25,000 years ago in the cold tundra of Europe where it was believed lived the majestic woolly mammoths, he was sent to click pictures about their existence and to prove whether it was a hoax or not, Fane was again sent to war in 1191 to India to capture the important events that happened in the battle of Tarain 1, that was fought between the Ghurid's, led by Muhammad Ghori and the Rajput's led by Prithviraj Chauhan and his allies.

And lastly, Joshua was sent to the 13th century in Western Europe to document how gunpowder overpowered the sword, the miscellaneous weapons propelled from gunpowder, the invention of guns from hand cannons and firearms, and also working of them. Although gunpowder foremost emerged in ancient China as an alchemical health treatment whereas was first transformed into a weapon in Europe.