The Voice that He fell in Love with.

“What’s the delay, Trina?” asked Ron

“One moment, sir. There was a resurge. Fixing it in a few seconds.” replied Trina, the AI Bot instantly.

“We are ready to go, Ron. Which date you would like to visit?” asked the Trina

“Wait a minute. Let me refer to it one more time.” saying that Ron continued reading the manual. He was going through it for one more time, in case something went wrong in the future and he had to act on his own without Trina.

He dropped the book on the table and adjusted his backpack. That backpack contained all the necessary instruments required to survive the extreme or hazardous condition. He didn’t know what the future would be and that’s why he was taking all the precautions needed. 

“Okay Trina, I am ready. Let go to 3rd June of 2052” informed Ron

“Are you sure about that? My prediction is that there will be Ice Age at that time” predicted Trina.

“Don’t worry, This all that we need.” Ron pointed to the backpack.

“Okay, Take your seat and press the button whenever you are ready.”

“I was born ready, Trina. Let’s check the future” said Ron and then he pressed the button attached to the shoulder of his time-traveling suit. 

Ron was happy. He was about to travel in time and if that happens, he can fulfill his dream. That dream gave him all the motivation he needed to work on that time-traveling suit of his. His dream was about to turn into reality and he was happy about that.

He presses the button on the right side of his shoulder with the left hand and the suit started to emit light. The intensity of light started increasing. After 30 seconds the lights faded out but Ron was still there in his suit. 

He pressed that button again but the suit didn’t work. 

Disappointed and dejected due to this failure, he pressed that button repeatedly until Trina objected and put some sense in Ron.

He removed the suit and sat in the corner of his lab with a heavy heart and a broken dream. 

He was lost in the memories of his past. 

Rina, Ron’s wife was waiting for him in the park. It was their anniversary and they made a point to recreate their first date on every anniversary. 

He was late and he decided to make it up for that. He brought the tulips, Rina’s favorite flower. Ron was sure that after seeing the Tulips, Rina’s half of the anger will fade away. He reached the entrance of that park and his those tulips under the jacket that he was wearing. The surprise would be nice around mid-conversation instead of offering it in the beginning. 

He knew where she will be seated. He started jogging towards Rina but in between, he had to catch his breath. He was in his mid-thirties but age was not kind to him. Desk job made it sure. 

As soon as Rina saw Ron, she pointed her finger to the wrist-watch on the other hand. Ron touched his ears with one hand and apologized. They were only 50 feet apart and from nowhere a bullet pierced the face of Rina. The next bullet came and hit her in the chest, stopping her heart in an instant. She fell down from the bench that she was waiting for Ron. 

Ron saw this and before he could react, a bullet pierced his knee and he fell down. Lucky for him, the spray of bullets passed over him but others standing beside him were unlucky. A total of 18 people lost their lives because a religious fanatic was hell-bent on proving his religious superiority over others. 

The terrorist with his AK-47 was taken down by local PD but not before he shot down 18 innocent souls and wounded many others like Ron. 

That brutal day never fades away from Ron’s memory.

Although there were many sweet memories of her, Ron can never erase that day. That was the driving force that helped him reach this stage.

But, he was stuck for the last seven years. Luckily or unluckily, the insurance money helped him work on this dream and survive in isolation. 

He regained the lost confidence to begin the work. Working on that for almost three days, Trina analyzed that suit was 81% ready. Last time Ron proceeded with 72%. This time hope and probability were high. 

“But why the future? Let’s travel to past and change it” asked Trina

“I am not sure about this suit’s capability of returning back. In the future, there is a high chance of tech-innovations that can help me fix that. So after assembling all the pieces together, we will go back to the past and change it.” clarified Ron.

He took his position and pressed that button and the intense light filled the entire room. After thirty seconds, the light, suit, and Ron, all were gone.

“Trina, analyze the surrounding?”

“Analyzing…Air is above the toxic level. Don’t remove the helmet. There is no living organism in the vicinity. Let me connect to the satellite and scan for any clue.” said Trina.

Ron was looking around and all he can see was the barren land without any greenery. He thought he landed somewhere remote but the satellite showed him that he was in his own city. 

“There are heat signatures 2 miles north. The entire world is without electricity and only a few hundreds of heat signatures can be traced in the city. This is the case with the entire globe. It is like the world was annihilated by nuclear warheads and big egos.” said Trina

Ron Jet-packed his way to those heat signatures and those heat-signatures turned out to be a family of five living in a sealed bunker. They saw Ron and opened the gate. Ron was invited inside the bunker that was a habitable environment, thanks to some age-old renewable source of energy and science. 

“So, what happened?” asked Ron

“A war annihilated everything. We were lucky to make it to the bunker that sheltered thousands. But the radiation did its job afterward. The war took away the life of many and after that radiation poisoning made sure to continue on that. 

We were strong enough to survive both and we made this ourself with the help of some scientist living 50 miles south of here. They helped us build this and they are helping many like us.” said the head of the family. 

“So what triggered the war?” curiosity of Ron drove the conversation.

“A lunatic assassinated the President of our nation who was pardoned by him. He was to be handed over to his nation in a peace exchange program but he somehow shot the president during that exchange. That triggered the nuclear war in a month and here we are.” 

“Who was that Lunatic?” asked Ron

“A Terrorist who was about to launch an attack on a local park with AK47. Someone informed on him and he was nabbed. Although, he was imprisoned for 38 years only to be handed over to his nation under Peace Program. If only he was killed and not imprisoned.” sighed the head of that family.

Ron heard and was not happy after hearing him. If he alters the past by informing of that terrorist to the authority, then the future of all will be gloomy. He would not feel happy with the way he would be remembered. He was left with no choice. 

That terrorist, a religious fanatic, has ruined his life in all states of time: Past, Present, and Future. He cannot go to the Past, as that version was already a future and that future was not a bright one for anyone. 

He made some tweaks in the suits to prepare it for return travel. He wiped out the memory of that family with Neuralyzer. He returned to the present and decided to go to the Past to have one last glimpse of Rina. 

He couldn't change the past but no one can take that view away from here. He took his sit on the next bench beside the Rina. He was looking at him and enjoying every moment of it. 

Rina saw him once and felt uncomfortable.

Ron from the future noticed that and started looking towards the entrance. 

Rina saw Ron arriving late and jogging his way towards her. She pointed her finger to the wrist-watch on the other hand. Ron touched his ears with one hand and apologized.

Ron from the future saw the terrorist taking out AK47. Ron from the future stood-up and took out his Glock. One to the head and One to the chest. That Terrorist was long gone before he can know what was happening to him. 

Ron from the future pressed the button on his suit and he was back in his lab. 

The color of the lab was different. All the things were organized and well-placed. There was a car in his lab which can never be a possibility. 

“Ron is that you?” inquired a voice behind the doors. 

Ron knew the voice. It was the voice that he fell in love with.