The Anomaly

Dr. Dag Johnson stood in the living room of what was once his home. Everything looked the same, yet nothing was. He felt the beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. Wiping them away with his hand, he sat down on a chair.

Just this morning, his world seemed so ordinary. He headed to work at the Center for Physical Examinations, kissed Mary goodbye, and dropped off Jack at school. Their black cat, Merlin, with one eye blind, sat on the windowsill, keeping an eye on him with the one eye he had left. Merlin was thirteen years old, and Dag hoped with good care he'd live a few more years. He had found him one night coming back from the city, just a little kitten with head injuries. Since then, Merlin has become a beloved member of their family. Only the loss of his left eye served as a reminder of the cat's rough start.

Arriving at work, Dag noticed his team was on edge.

"The director called for an emergency meeting in 15 minutes," Lina said, tying her wavy blond hair into a ponytail.

Warren paced back and forth, chewing his lip.

"Okay, it might not mean anything," Dag replied.

"It's happening," Lina looked at him meaningfully with her green eyes. "They don't summon us like that."

"I never thought they would," Warren added thoughtfully, running a hand over his bald head.

Five years ago, the Secret Emergency Response Division was formed. They were the backup team. That's all they knew. They didn't even know who made up the main team and couldn't talk about it to anyone. Every day, the team did their usual jobs. They just spent a few days each month in an incredibly well-equipped laboratory located on the ground floor of the building. The team performed all sorts of experiments and simulations of saving the planet and the world they lived in. Sometimes their tasks seemed like products of fantasy, but they used their gray cells to try to solve seemingly unsolvable problems. Along the way, they had some fun too.

"Anomaly," the director said. "They've encountered an unexplainable phenomenon at the heart of a gigantic black hole—an anomaly of unimaginable power that threatens the very structure of the multiverse. If it were to engulf us, space and time would adopt an incomprehensible rhythm, and the laws of physics would cease to exist."

Dr. Dag Johnson absorbed his boss's words in silence, feeling the ground slowly slipping from beneath his feet. An anomaly at the heart of a black hole sounded like something out of a science fiction novel, but this time, it was a reality they had to confront.

"So, what's our role in this?" Dag asked, trying to maintain composure in his voice.

"Your role is to provide assistance to the main team currently investigating the anomaly," the director replied. "Deep understanding of quantum physics and quick reaction capability is required. Your team has been chosen for its expertise and readiness for challenges."

"It's going to be busy at work, I'll be back late. You'll have to pick up Jack. Love you," Dag said breathlessly, feeling a lump forming in his throat.

His team's quick steps followed him as they hurried towards the laboratory located beside a large hangar. Though they were excited, they were completely focused on the mission ahead.

"Anomaly at the heart of a black hole," Dag thought. "How is that even possible?"

"They're dead. Or they're gone," Lina said thoughtfully.

Dag and Warren snapped out of their thoughts and looked at her.

"The main team. Something must have happened to them," she added, sounding scared.

They were alone in the laboratory. It was always like this. They'd enter the lab, and all requests would come in through the computer chat. They hoped to find someone this time, but no one was there.

The team quickly got to work. Lina scanned the data collected by satellites, trying to detect patterns in the anomaly's behavior. Dag sat at the desk, reviewing graphs and diagrams. He pondered the incredible forces that shaped the universe. But this anomaly was something new, something beyond what they had known before.

A red dot appeared on the chat. The message had arrived. Lina opened it. She read it, and for a few moments, she was silent. Then she got up and opened the hangar door where the simulator was located. She looked at them. With a pale face, she said, "We have to go in."

"Into the simulator?" Dag asked.

"This is no longer a simulator," she said quietly.

Dag and Warren got up. In front of them stood a new Quantum Omnidirectional Transmitter, capable of manipulating quantum fields and traveling through space and time in all directions.

Warren approached the device, his eyes shining with excitement. "This is our chance to change the course of events, to stop the catastrophe before it's too late," he said with sudden determination in his voice.

Dag nodded, sharing Warren's conviction.

"With this spacecraft, we have the power to manipulate quantum fields and influence the flow of time and space. If we can properly calibrate the parameters, we can create a counterbalance to the force of the black hole and prevent its catastrophic expansion," Warren said.

"But we've only worked on the simulator so far," Lina said, surprised by Warren's sudden boldness.

"Let's get to work," Dag said, determinedly putting on his protective suit and oxygen mask. "There's no time to waste."

They took their seats, their hearts pounding. This wasn't a simulation. They didn't know what had happened to the main team, or what awaited them.

Dag looked at them. Warren and Lina nodded, and Dag pressed the red launch button. They were all aware that the responsibility to save not only their own world but all other worlds within the multiverse rested on their shoulders.

Their spacecraft approached the dangerous black hole, aiming to prevent the catastrophe threatening the entire multiverse. Warren was at the controls, adjusting the spacecraft's parameters according to Dag's instructions. Lina analyzed the data, trying to find a weakness in the black hole that they could exploit.

As they neared the black hole, the tension in the cabin became almost palpable. Their hearts beat faster, aware that the burden of enormous responsibility lay upon them. When they found themselves at the edge of the black hole, they felt the incredible power it emitted. But their determination didn't waver. Dag gave the signal, and Warren activated the device. Light surged through the cabin, and their spacecraft plunged into the darkness of the black hole.

As they struggled against the immense forces surrounding them, they managed to properly calibrate the device and create a counterbalance to the black hole's force. After stabilizing the situation, the spacecraft slowly began to emerge. Their hearts were filled with relief. Now, as they returned to their world, they were aware that they had accomplished an incredible feat and prevented a catastrophe that could have forever altered the course of the multiverse.

They landed in the darkness outside the hangar. But the hangar was no longer there. Dag looked around. Everything looked similar, but nothing was the same. They took off their masks and tried to catch their breath.

"Did we land in the wrong place? The devices must have gone haywire; I'm not surprised," Lina said.

Since they couldn't find the hangar they were supposed to go through to get to the laboratory, they couldn't change out of their uniforms, so they rushed to the parking lot. But their cars were nowhere to be found.

"Something's not right," Warren said with apprehension.

They ran to their respective homes. When Dag arrived, he felt his legs giving out. He tried to enter. It was locked.

Dag rang the bell, but there was no response.

In panic, he ran to the basement window and smashed it with a large stone. It was dark, and he hoped no one from the neighborhood would see and report him to the police. After all, it was his house.

Dag broke all the glass from the window and entered. He climbed the stairs and rushed into the bedroom. Mary was nowhere to be found, nor was Merlin curled up at her feet.

In a panic, he burst into Jack's room and then was left breathless. He barely composed himself and sank into the living room.

Daf knew what had seemed odd to Warren in the parking lot. All the cars there were over 10 years old. Dag wondered if it had been several more years because there was no Merlin anywhere. He looked around and saw parts of old furniture he had replaced long ago.

"Damn," he said angrily.

He turned around to find the remote to turn on the television. Dag wanted to find out at least what year it was. In which world he had landed, he didn't know.

He found the remote under the couch and pointed it at the TV, but at that moment, a dizzying fog sucked him in. It seemed for a moment he was disappearing, and then he crashed to the ground. Dag was in shock.

He found himself on the ocean shore. The vast expanse of water stretched out before him. Behind him were palm trees and dense island vegetation. Dag couldn't believe what was happening to him. How many times in life had he thought he'd like to be on a deserted island and rest from everything? And now he was there, and he didn't want to be.

But was it really deserted? Uneasily, he looked around. But there was no one. Dag had read a book long ago, the name of which he couldn't remember now, about a man who, like him, ended up on a deserted island. It had taken him years to be saved. At that moment, it didn't seem comforting to Dag.

He only knew one thing. He and his team had messed up somewhere. Their entire familiar universe was in chaos. Dag was desperate. He felt defeated, both as a man and as a professional.

Suddenly, he felt as if a powerful vacuum cleaner was sucking him and the whole expanse of water into a powerful whirlpool. Dag closed his eyes. He felt like he was suffocating, and struggled with some invisible force. Suddenly, everything calmed down.

Dag opened his eyes. The familiar surroundings made his heart rate slow down. He was in his bed. Mary slept peacefully beside him.

"Thank God," he whispered.

He got up and went to Jack's room. Without turning on the light, he approached the bed. In the moonlight filtering through the window, he saw a sleeping child's face. Again, he felt a panic attack. He leaned closer to the bed. Hugging a teddy bear, a little girl slept.

Dag, breathless, rushed to the bedroom and grabbed his cell phone. Then he ran down the stairs, getting dressed along the way. He wanted to call Warren, but his number wasn't in the phone's memory. He called Lina. She answered sleepily.

"What's going on, Dag?"

"It's good that we found each other. I was on an island, and now I have a daughter. We messed up something," he said breathlessly.

"Are you okay? I don't understand anything," Lina said.

Dag hung up.

"How stupid of me! That's no longer her. That's not my Lina from my world!"

A flash suddenly lit up his vision. Dag was on the street in an unknown city. There was a newsstand nearby with newspapers.

"Who still sells newspapers?" he wondered.

Then he approached and looked at one in an unknown language. In the top corner, he saw the year.

"2024!" he exclaimed.

The year when everything went wrong and the whole world collapsed. It took 50 years for things to return to normal. And then this day happened.

Dag felt the whirlpool sucking him in again. This time, he didn't resist.