The Time Train

Chapter 5

Two days before the wedding, a couple decades into the future: Mumbai 2018

It is almost midnight, but in Bhindi Bazar on a normal weeknight it still looked like 8pm. People swarming in from all directions enjoying the night market and its delicacies were naively unaware of being in proximity to the governments most well-kept secret.

Two men were leisurely smoking next to 'Dilbar Sweet Depo' when a text message pinged on their phones. They looked from their phone to each other, hastily their cigarette away and rushed into the shop. Reaching the counter one of them said "5 barfi, 3 kilo Theplas and 10 lassis in that order perfectly packaged in 6 bags". With this the cashier nodded her head and shouted for a worker to replace her.

Cashier: "Follow me."

The two men followed her through a set of doorways towards what seemed like a normal kitchen which had seen its fair share of rush hour cooking. She led them in front of a walk-in freezer.

Cashier: "Go to the end of the freezer and tap this in the space next to the light switches."

What she handed to them looked like an arcade game token. They looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders and continued.

Cashier: "One thing before you go, whatever you see inside is classified and if you disclose anything."

Man1: "It'll be like we never existed, yes we attended orientation thank you very much."

The cashier nodded her head and left them alone. They went insider the freezer and put the token next to the light switches as instructed. On que, the wall next to the switches pushed back and aside revealing a dark tunnel with no end in sight.

The men looked at each other, sighed and stepped in.

The doors closed behind and soon the whole tunnel flooded with lights. The duo started walking, turning with the tunnel, until they reached a huge hall.

There were doors on all sides, they walked on searching until they found the door marked 5B3T10L6.