June 23, 2028
Sixteen year old Jeremy was having difficulty sleeping. In the adjoining room, his parents were fast asleep. The neighbourhood was silent, save for the occasional hooting of the night owl. The thought about tomorrow's story writing contest was the reason Jeremy could not sleep. As he lay in his bed thinking about the possible topics, his eyes went towards the door, and he almost froze.
For standing in the door of his room was that shadowy figure again. Before Jeremy could scream, the figure quickly crossed over to his bed and put a hand on his mouth.
"Please be quiet and listen to what I have to say. Otherwise I will have to hurt you." said a vaguely familiar voice. Jeremy nodded to express his assent and the figure removed his hand.
"I am not here to hurt you." began the figure, as if reading his mind. "On the contrary, I am here to help you. You are thinking about tomorrow's contest, aren't you?"
"How did you know?" asked a confused Jeremy.
"That is not important at present, What is important to know that the theme for tomorrow's contest is 'Adventure'. The contest starts at half past three. You know how to spend your morning."
Jeremy nodded.
"Good." said the figure. "I will visit you again tomorrow night, and let you know what we have to do next."
And with that, he exited the room and was gone. Jeremy ran after him but could not find him anywhere, nor did he hear the front door open and close. Jeremy went to sleep, thinking it all to be a dream.
The next morning, Jeremy decided to humour his previous night's dream and spent the morning coming up with a few plots for adventure stories. Imagine his surprise, when, the theme of the contest actually turned out to be what the mysterious figure had told him.
That night, the figure reappeared, as promised. This time Jeremy was more curious than afraid. The figure handed him a journal and an oddly shaped bookmark.
"You will keep this journal in the bottom drawer of your study table. From time to time, I will come and write instructions for you in it. You will understand this when you see the drawer slightly open. At that time, the bookmark will point to the page you should read from."
"But who are you?" asked Jeremy, taking the journal from the other's hand. "How do you know so much? Why are you doing this?"
"Patience my boy. You shall know when the time is right."
And with that cryptic message, the figure exited the door and vanished.
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May 09, 2044
Thirty two year old Jeremy was very happy today. His newest sci-fi/mystery novel, "A Stitch in Time", had become an international bestseller, making him one of the most established writers of his time.
As he sat down drinking his morning tea, Jeremy's mind drifted to the events that had led him to this fame and glory.
It had all begun, he recalled, when the mysterious figure had come to visit him for the first time. Knowing the topic had given him an edge over the other contestants, and had started him well on the path to becoming a successful writer.
And the mysterious figure had helped him all along. From time to time, there would be ideas about new stories in the journal, sometimes even advice about when he should release his next novel. And these little hints had helped him all through his career.
But who was this mysterious man? That was the question that had haunted him all these years. At times, he believed him to be a figment of his own imagination, and that he was suffering from some sort of multiple personality disorder. At other times, his imagination would lead him to believe that the figure was some sort of guardian angel, sent to watch over him.
Finishing his tea, Jeremy went to his study to continue work on his current novel. On entering, he found that the bottom drawer of writing desk was slightly open.
Quivering with excitement, Jeremy opened the drawer. There was the Journal in there all right, with the bookmark sticking out of it. However, this time, placed on the journal was a small key card, an identity card of some sort with his photo on it and a floor plan of a building on one side and an address on the other. This was something new, thought Jeremy as he opened the journal and began reading.
Dear Jeremy, I cannot even begin to explain the importance of the task that lies before you today, or that of the things you must do for the rest of your life. But before I begin, a little backstory.
You must be aware of 'Rewind Labs', the organisation which is extensively into time travel research. Well, turns out that, there was a huge explosion in one of their labs when one of their time travel experiments failed. On that fateful day, I was working as a janitor in the facility, as that was the only job I was able to get.
When the explosion happened, I, like a lot of other people, was caught in the blast. While the blast did not kill me, it did subject me to a most unexpected occurrence.
As the ceiling above me gave way, I jumped sideways to avoid it. And it was then I saw it.
For the portion of the upper floor that had caved in was the one containing the time travel device. And as it fell past me, I was subjected to the intense electromagnetic and gravitational fields it was creating.
For a moment, I felt like I was being torn apart a million times. I was in so much pain that even the thought of screaming was painful. But gradually, as the device bored a hole in the floor and continued it's descent, things started returning back to normal.
Or as normal as they could be. Later that night, as I was walking home, I found that I had somehow obtained the ability to time travel. Somehow, in that brief span of time, the machine had transformed me.
I found that I could travel back sixteen years in time. Don't ask me why, I still don't know yet (the mysteries of space-time are not yet fully known to us). Anyways, the fact of the matter was that I decided to make use of this second chance that I had been given.
I knew that a little over a month later sixteen years ago, i.e. on June 23, 2028...
Here Jeremy's heart almost skipped a beat. He was starting to have an idea of what this was leading to. He continued to read.
I knew that a little over a month later sixteen years ago, i.e. on June 23, 2028, I would be participating in a national level story writing contest, the top 100 contestants of which will get a chance to write a novel and have it published. I decided to use my newly gained powers to help my past self get a slight, shall we say, advantage over the others.
My efforts had the desired results, and I could immediately feel its effects as you went marching on your path to literary glory. I hope this continues in the years to come.
However, I feel that by now you have understood what it is that needs to be done. For our future to be secure, it is important for you to get exposed to the radiation of the time travel device as I had, sixteen years ago.
As you may have guessed already, the key card belonged to one of the janitors of the lab, who won't be needing it for the rest of the day, and will give you access to the place where I was at the time of the explosion, which is marked on the floor plan of the building (the address is on the other side). The identity card will get you past the entry gate and security checkpoints (I had added your details in their database some years ago as preparation for this day).
The explosion takes place at half past three today. Good luck. Your future depends on it.
Jeremy looked at his watch. It was close to eleven, and the lab was on the outskirts of the city, a two hour journey away. He would need an hour or so to get a janitor costume and a disguise to blend in. That meant he had to leave within the next hour.
"You shall know when the time is right." the figure had said to him.
He finally knew what that meant.
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