《Brainwave X》


 Did I just... time travel?

    "A world that can be brutal and beautiful at the same time, that can be interpreted in many ways, that could be as small as a point or as large as infinity, where time doesn''t flow, is where I belong."


    He searched for the source of the voice, but all he ever saw was a cube-shaped mirror, a jagged crack splitting it down the middle, suspended in the dark void.


    .


    <12th FEB 2027 | 6:45 AM>


    "Ugh!"


    "Seriously! This again..."


    Arya Daxit woke up from his dream with a sudden, painful shock surging through his head.


    "Every single time it hurts bad. And lately it''s getting even worse..."


    A lone ray of sunlight, illuminating the swirling dust particles, entered through the partially opened window beside the bed.


    Sweat trickled down his forehead as he sat up; he threw the flower-patterned blanket aside and stood up on the floor. As he looked to his left, he saw a pile of dirty clothes. He sighed, turning away to his PC, which he had forgotten to turn off last night. As he moved forward, he stumbled over papers, wrappers and other clutter flooding the floor. Then his gaze landed on his study desk¡ªthe only thing that looked normal that morning.


    "Oh... right. Today''s the last day of school"


    "I should get ready."


    Climbing over his bed, he opened the window fully to let the sun brighten up his room... A small flowerpot rested on the windowsill with a single tulip.


    Arya then rushed to the bathroom as per his morning routine.Coming back to his room, he pulled out his uniform from the pile of clothes. Before putting on the uniform, he picked up a silver locket from his study desk and placed it around his neck.


    He put on his checkered shirt with blue and white stripes, plain grey trousers, a dark blue tie, and a blazer on top. He then grabbed his bag, walked out of the room, locked the door, and slipped the key into his shirt pocket... Then he looked down at the stairs and grinned.


    "Stairs! Let''s go!"


    He leaped down, skipping three steps¡ªthen again two steps, then three, four and so on.


    "Okay, my last record was five¡ªcan I go for six?"


    "Won''t know if I don''t try!"


    After taking a deep breath, he jumped off yet again. His foot barely caught the very edge of the sixth step, his body tilted. "Crap¡ª" he was about to fall on his face, but he balanced himself by grabbing the railing along the stairs.


    "YES! That was close¡ªbetter than the last time I broke my nose."


    "I''ve got a feeling that today''s gonna be a good day."


    Arya was quite experienced with this sort of thing, since he lived on the fifth floor of the apartment, it was quite a hassle for him to utilize the whole staircase.


    .


    As he was walking down the street, "Grandpa¡ª" the word echoed in his head. He stopped and turned back¡ªa little boy ran up to an elderly man.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    It triggered some memories.


    "As a kid, others used to bully me a lot because of my hair color. ''Grandpa''¡ªthat''s what they called me."


    He chuckled. "Well... now that I think about it, they were basically calling me superior to their dads. HA!... Hope I could''ve said it to their faces."


    "I was not into talking to people... so I had locked myself in my room and devoted my life to games, movies, anime¡ªall the stuff that would make me lazy and fat."


    "I thought my life would end in that room, and I was fine with that... Until Aadi appeared in my life."


    He snapped out of his thoughts as he reached the school entrance, "Well... whatever. I''m here now."


    <7:34 AM>


    "Let''s get goin¡ªUGH!"


    A shock shot though Arya''s skull again, more violently this time. His head felt like it was going to explode, his vision blurred, and a ringing noise echoed inside his head. His eyes closed reflexively. He fell to his knees, clutching his head.


    A few seconds later the shock disappeared, and the echoing noise stopped. "That was the worst one yet! Right in front of the school even... I have to get up now."


    He took a deep breath.


    "Cough! Cough!"


    Thick smoke flooded his throat. Heat seared his skin¡ªit was unbearable.


    His eyes shot open¡ªsmoke and flames surrounded him. It didn''t take long for him to understand that the school was on fire, and somehow... he was on the third floor.


    "W¡ªWhat... FIRE!? And how did I get here!? What''s going ON!?"


    "Cough! Cough! Cough!"


    He dropped to the floor, pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and covered his nose.


    He could hear the screams, desperate and begging to be saved¡ªso horrifying that he froze for a moment... he felt the fear of death.


    "No... I can''t die here. I want to live!"


    A glass pane came crashing down in front of him breaking into many pieces. One flew straight at him slicing across his face. Blood dripped down, "Ah!... that hurt!", but he barely had time to flinch.


    He pulled out his phone, hoping to call for help."Someone must have already called the fire department, but just in case¡ª"


    *No signal*


    "What the hell?!... I have to find a way out."


    As Arya puts his phone away, something caught his eye¡ªthe time.


    <1:15 PM>


    His breath hitched. "W¡ªWhat!?"


    He pinched his cheeks and verified it wasn''t a dream."Ow... I didn''t have to be that hard on myself."


    He started crawling forward, keeping his nose covered, trying to make sense of it all.


    "I got teleported to a different location in my school¡ªand now, the time is different."


    Arya crawled toward the stairs leading to the second floor, but flames engulfed the path¡ªit was impossible to go down.


    Then, he heard a familiar voice at a distance.


    Hearing that voice, Arya got up and sprinted through the flames. His blazar caught fire, so he yanked it off and tossed it aside.


    "AADI!" he shouted as he rounded a corner.


    There, clinging to the half-broken balcony railing, was Aadi¡ªone hand gripping the metal for dear life, the other clutching a kid.


    Aadi felt a bit of relief seeing Arya.


    "Arya! Give me a hand¡ª"


    Before Aadi could utter another word, the balcony railing snapped. He was about to fall but Arya lunged forward, barely catching Aadi''s wrist in the last possible second. The weight was tearing his arm apart, but he refused to let go.


    "Arya, listen... just take the kid and go, I''ll be fine if I fall from here", Aadi said.


    "I can''t do that, you know it!" Arya tightened his grip.


    Before anyone could even blink an eye¡ªBOOM!


    An explosion ripped through the building. The next second, Arya was airborne. Debris filled the air. Through the smoke and dust, he saw Aadi... a metal rod piercing straight through his skull from left to right. Even at a distance, he could see the color wearing off Aadi''s eyes¡ªhe recognized the eyes of a dead man.


    Arya stretched out his hand toward Aadi in a desperate attempt¡ªjust then, something struck him from behind.


    Arya''s vision became blurry again, and that same ringing noise echoed in his head.


    .


    "AADI!" he screamed as he woke up in the nurse''s office.


    Aadi, who was sitting on a stool beside the bed and munching on some grapes, got startled so hard he tumbled onto the floor sending grapes rolling across the room.


    "Dude! I''m sorry for stealing your grapes, but you don''t have to yell like that!"


    "Aadi... you''re alive?" Arya felt relieved and puzzled.


    Aadi groaned. "I''m the one who should be asking that, you were collapsed on the corridor¡ªbe grateful I found you."


    "Wait... wasn''t the building burning?"


    Arya looked at the clock on the wall¡ª8:20.


    <8:20 AM>


    He then looked for his phone. "Here." Aadi handed it over to him. Arya checked the time on his phone¡ª8:20 am.


    Arya hesitated before asking, "Aadi... did the building caught fire anytime soon?"


    "Why did you think it would?" Aadi brushed off the question.


    Arya assessed the situation. He had seen the school burn, he had seen Aadi die¡ªthe time was 1:15 pm... But the building''s fine as well as Aadi, and the time was 8:20 am on the same day.


    "Did I just... time travel?"

 A dream seen during the day... come true

    "Did I just... time travel?"


    "No! I''m thinking too much... it was just a dream... a very bad one."


    "If you''re feeling alright now, shouldn''t you be heading to the award ceremony?" Aadi said.


    "Yeah..." Arya muttered, getting up from the bed.


    He looked for his shoes¡ªAadi slid them toward him, and then they both left the nurse''s office.


    The award ceremony was being held in the school auditorium on the first floor. It was organized at the end of every term to review the students'' achievements throughout the year and hand out their respective prizes.


    <8:25 AM>


    As they entered through the exit door, a classmate of theirs ran up to them and handed Arya a sheet of paper.


    "You''re up for the speech!" he said before quickly running off.


    "What?!... Come back! I''m not doing it!" Arya shouted, but it was too late¡ªhe had been trapped. He turned toward Aadi.


    "Don''t look at me, I have my own work to do," Aadi said, rejecting whatever Arya was about to ask of him.


    A teacher approached them as they were talking. "Aditya, come help me in the library, and Arya, bring an extension cord from the storage room." He handed Arya the keys to the storage.


    "Yes sir... as you wish." Arya sighed, took the keys, turned around, and walked away.


    .


    As Arya was heading to the third floor, where the storage room was, he walked upon the stairs that he had once seen engulfed in flames. Reaching the hallway of the third floor, everything seemed normal. He looked at the glass pane that had shattered in front of him¡ªit was perfectly intact.


    He continued towards the storage room. On his way, he came across the balcony where he had seen Aadi.


    "So... this was the place."


    "WAIT¡ª" Arya noticed something. The balcony railing¡ªbroken, it was broken from the base. He pushed it gently¡ªit wobbled like it would fall apart at any second.


    "It makes no sense! I have never seen this broken, so how could it appear in my dream, or whatever it was, exactly the same?!"


    A cold shiver ran down his spine.


    "Well... there''s an old saying..."


    "A dream seen during the day... comes true."


    He shook his head to brush off the thoughts and continued toward the storage room.


    After a few more steps, he arrived at his destination. He pulled out the keys from his pocket, but there was no lock.


    "Did someone forget to lock it?" he muttered, pushing the door open.


    The room was dirty, opening the door made the dust fly around. Everything was just lying around, unorganized. He started searching for the extension cord.


    After rummaging through all the shelves and boxes, almost an hour had passed before he finally found it.


    Looking at that extension cord, he had a thought. "Could an electrical malfunction be the reason for that fire?"


    "I''m feeling uneasy right now."


    <9:35 AM>


    Arya rushed down the stairs with the extension cord in his hand. A little boy passed him on the way. Something about the boy made Arya stop. He turned around.


    "Hey kid!" he called that boy.


    The boy turned. Arya recognized that face¡ªit was the same boy Aadi had tried to save while hanging from the balcony. "Wait¡ªbut I have never seen him before in my life; the first time I saw him was in that dream, or whatever. Am I hallucinating?"


    Stolen novel; please report.


    "Could you not go up there? You know the third floor is restricted for primary students."


    The boy didn''t reply and walked away. Arya watched the boy until he was out of sight. Then he calmed down a bit and continued downwards.


    Eventually, he returned to the auditorium, but the ceremony had already started. The host was going on about something and a few awards had already been distributed.


    "Who takes one whole hour to find an extension cord?!" Aadi teased him as he approached.


    "The storage is a mess! Nothing is in place; everything is scattered around! How was I supposed to find it without digging through piles of junk?!"


    "Just give it to me... I''ll get it to the library." Aadi took the extension cord and headed off.


    Arya sighed and dropped into a seat in the last row. The ceremony continued for a long time. Many awards and certificates were distributed.


    <11:30 AM>


    "This year''s ''Athlete of the Year'' award goes to someone whose dedication, passion, and sheer determination have inspired us all. Please give a huge round of applause for Rayna Keshwara."


    Rayna appeared from the backstage; she had rare green eyes and black hair. The crowd erupted into cheers, especially the boys since she was considered the so-called beauty of the school.


    "Of course, it''s Rayna again! She''s the best athlete like every year."


    "Not only just athletics, but she''s good at studies too, second in the whole class, of course right behind Aadi, the first one. And what was my rank¡ªtwelfth?"


    "You do realize this might be the last day you''d see her, when are you gonna talk your feelings with her?" Aadi said as he appeared behind Arya.


    Arya jumped off his seat. "Where were you all this time?!"


    "I told you earlier¡ªI have my own work to do. And don''t try to dodge the question!" Aadi said.


    "It''s none of your business¡ª" as Arya spoke, the host called his name.


    "Before we move on, Arya Daxit would like to give a speech. Please welcome Arya Daxit on the stage!" the host announced over the mic.


    "Oh, crap! I totally forgot about the speech!" he frantically searched his pocket but couldn''t find the speech paper.


    "Arya Daxit, come on the stage please." the host repeated.


    "Seems you have no other choice now... it''ll be fine, come on!" Aadi encouraged Arya to proceed.


    "Easy for you to say."


    With a deep breath, Arya got on the stage. He stepped up to the podium and grabbed the microphone.


    "So... Umm... I''m not good at this kind of thing, but I''ll try my best."


    "If I had to say one thing that I''ve learned over the years, I''d say... time moves fast. For many years we''ve known each other, and now all of a sudden, we''re on our separate paths."


    "If I looked back at it now, we had so much fun together¡ªwe organized events, went on trips, and I could say those days would always be the best times of my life. "


    "If I could go back in time, I would for sure¡ªto enjoy this life once again..."


    He muttered in a low voice "...and to avoid some mistakes that I shouldn''t have made..."


    *sniff*


    As Arya was giving his speech, he got interrupted by a smell¡ªlike rotten eggs.


    "Is it gas?"


    "N¡ªNo way!"


    He looked around him¡ªeveryone else had noticed it too. A thick tension settled over the room.


    He dropped the mic and jumped off the stage. The teachers started guiding students to leave the building.


    "It''s natural gas." Aadi came up to Arya. "It contains methane, which is highly flammable, even a spark could ignite the whole thing¡ªGo and pull down the circuit breaker."


    Aadi was about to leave, but Arya grabbed him by the shoulder.


    "And where are you going?" he remembered Aadi''s face in that explosion.


    "The school gets gas through a pipeline, that must''ve leaked. If the leak was on an upper floor, the gas wouldn''t have come down here¡ªmethane is lighter than air. I have experience fixing pipes, so you know what I''m going to do."


    "Why do you always have to play the hero?" Arya tightened his grip, looking at Aadi angrily.


    "As long as you pull down the circuit breaker in time, nothing will happen to me... probably." Aadi pushed Arya''s hand away and took off. Arya didn''t argue further and ran to the electric panel.


    He ran all the way there. He opened the panel and pulled down the circuit breaker¡ªeverything went dark inside the building, the only source of light being the windows.


    "The smell got even stronger, hope Aadi''s doing alright."


    Suddenly, he heard shouting. He rushed to the building''s main gate¡ªit was a sliding grilled gate. It was closed, and all the people were still inside.


    He asked one of them what was going on.


    "Someone locked the gate from outside!" he spoke.


    "What about the other gates?" Arya asked.


    "Every single one of them is locked!"


    "Wait¡ªis it intentional? Setting the school on fire?"


    Meanwhile, Aadi had brought duct tape and scissors from the arts and crafts room. He went to the chemistry lab and turned on the burner that was directly connected to the gas pipeline. However, he didn''t light it for obvious reasons. Covering his nose with his hand, he placed the open end of the burner below it.


    *sniff*


    He smelled nothing from the burner.


    "I knew it! Gas isn''t coming in this school, the gas line in this area has been under maintenance for the past few days!"


    "Something''s going on here."


    At that moment, Arya tried to recall any important details he might have seen in that dream¡ªor whatever it was.


    "Did I have that vision because God wanted me to save all these people? If that is the case, then there must be some way to stop this!"


    "The explosion that flew me away and Aadi¡ªwhat exploded?"


    Gathering his courage, Arya started moving towards the third floor. The smell grew even worse, making it harder to breathe. As he approached the stairs, he saw that boy again¡ªthe one from his vision¡ªthe one whom he had earlier seen on the third floor. The boy was holding a lighter, his thumb resting on the wheel, ready to ignite it.


    Arya''s heart skipped a beat, he started sweating.


    "W¡ªWhat do you think you''re doing?!"