T minus 5 years

Fragments of the future

"What exactly happened? What do you remember?" Rajit asked. Rajit called his office and told that he'll be available on calls and he had to take off due to an emergency.

"Well, not much before I woke up from the hospital" Vikram said. He narrated the story from when he gained consciousness in the hospital. "I was told that I fell down in a park. I can only assume that is a teleport and the focus was to get me to the city and nothing else. At least that's what I think"

"Do you know who sent you back?" Rajit asked.

"I can only assume some sort of leader. The words I remember are 'This time, change the future'. The problem is, I don't know what future I am changing but I think I need to figure that out first"

"Why call me, then?" Rajit asked.

"Honestly, Rajit. I do not know. All I can say is when I saw your name in my emails, I can say you were the person I needed to be with at least until I figure things out" Vikram said.

 "If you're struggling to remember the future, how do you remember demonetization or digital trail? It seems confusing to me, Vikram"

"Honestly, demonetization has been this failure that we've lived with ever since it happened. Coming to your question, I do seem to remember general things. I remember the food I want to eat. I still have my vocabulary. My muscle memory is more or less intact, I think. What I can't seem to remember is the specific event that has caused me to get here"

"Oh! That gives me an idea. If we can figure out what event that is, then you can go and fix it, don't you think?" Rajit exclaimed. 

"Yes, but which one would you choose? I do know demonetization. So, that's not it" Vikram said.

"I don't know. I didn't think this through. If you can try, can you tell me the scene when you traveled back?" Rajit asked.

"I could hear only the voice and nothing else. It was asking me to get into the transporter. It also said there's energy only for one trip. Which meant I can't go back the way I came. I have to take the long way around. Apart from that, I could hear a lot of wind blowing. The voice was struggling to be heard. There was desperation in the voice but I'm basing that on the message" Vikram said. "Let me try thinking" he added, putting his fingers on his temples to massage his head. Slowly, the darkness in the vision started dimming. He saw a lab, or what looked like the remains of one. The whole place was on fire and the sound of the wind was the big fan trying to stop the fire from spreading to a room marked 'De-Contamination center'. Vikram tried in his mind's eye to look around and the pain in his head hit him severely that he fell off on the ground.

Rajit threw a sprinkle of water on Vikram's face. "Vikram? Vikram, are you okay?" he asked. He held a bottle of water in his hand to sprinkle more water if needed.

Vikram slowly opened his eyes. His brow was covered in sweat. "Rajit! Rajit, where are you?" he shouted as he looked towards the ceiling. He flailed his hands, missing Rajit just by an inch.

"Vikram, I'm here. Stay still. Let me help you up" Rajit said, putting away the bottle of water he was holding. He held Vikram's shoulders and slowly helped him sit up straight on the ground. "Do you want to sit on the couch?" he asked.

"I don't wanna move, Rajit" he said.

"What happened to you?"

"I saw something more in that vision. But the pain came strongly and I couldn't bear it"

"What did you see?"

"I was in a lab, Rajit. The lab was on fire. I don't know where the lab was gonna be. I don't know why I was in the lab. But the lab was on fire. I saw a 'De-contamination center' in the lab and when I tried to look around, the pain shot up and I fell unconscious" he said.

"That tells us little about anything, right. Let me help you to the bed. I think you need to rest. I'll come in the evening and get some food along the way. If you remember anything until then, we can do something. If you don't, then at least I can help you figure out what to do next. Take rest" Rajit said, walking him to the bedroom. Vikram had one hand of his around Rajit's shoulder and walked slowly. Vikram felt his body growing weak by the minute. Is there a version of myself here or am I the version? he wondered. How would I explain any of this to a version of myself from this time?

A few moments later, Vikram found his back hitting the bed, and in an instant, his eyes fading to darkness. Rajit covered Vikram in a blanket and left the apartment, latching it from the outside. Need to get a lock for him.

The vision continued to come back to Vikram. One among the people trying to fight the fire was Rajit. He looked older but the similarity was startling. Rajit, he screamed in his dream. Rajit, be careful. He tried looking around to find more clues. The burning lab was making him feel hot too. He felt sweat dripping on his forehead. Rajit, he screamed again. Rajit! The fire was spreading. 

Vikram, we don't have time. Someone was calling out to him. He looked around. Vikram, you need to get into the transporter. There's no other way, a familiar voice said. He looked around to see where the voice was coming from. Before he could find the person, he heard a scream. A familiar voice, screaming. He turned towards the scream and saw the ghastly scene. Rajit was on fire. His clothes were burning and the fire extinguishers were out. Rajit was still fighting the fire and walked into it. A few moments later, he came back running as the fire started diminishing. More than half of Rajit's body was on fire and was charred. Within a few moments, he fell down on the floor, motionless. Rajit! Vikram screamed. Rajit! he tried to run towards Rajit but his legs felt glued to the ground. Rajit! Vikram screamed again with his hands stretched towards Rajit's burning body, tears running down his face.

"Rajit!" Vikram shouted as he woke up from the dream, his entire body drenched in sweat.