Time Loop Science Fiction: An Exoplanet Exploration
Dive into a thrilling time loop science fiction tale where astronaut Steve’s mission to save humanity from Earth’s extinction takes a bizarre turn. He encounters his future self, caught in a deadly loop. Can he break free?
The year is 200256. We are still doing our research in Astrobiology in Exoplanets and trying to find a replacement of Earth for, our oldest home is on the verge of its extinction. So, Steve, the newly recruited astronaut has been bestowed with the task of finding a new planet suitable for human habitation. A young prodigy, he is the youngest astronaut in the history to be selected.
He feels like being on top of the world. In less than a few seconds, the spaceship left the Earth’s atmosphere and entered into the pre-designated orbit, travelling at a speed 30 times faster than sound. “We’re steering beyond this universe……Over!” messaged Steve to the control. This is his maiden venture into the abyss.
The Voyage
Steve began feasting his eyes as earth seemed like blue resin marble ball, tiny though, with a serene hue’s whispers. Variegated motley of green, blue and white appeared to be dancing in irregular shapes on the enormous blue marble. It was a breathtaking mosaic of colours.
Bubbles of appreciation and joy thronged his heart after viewing this fantastic glimpse of earth. Simultaneously however, the thought of leaving his home and settling in another universe occasionally coughed up in his mind, turning him little glum.
Our young prodigy’s mission, as stated earlier, is to explore and find another earth-like planet suitable for human habitation. Since childhood, as robots taught him intricacies of metaphysics and complexities of exoplanets in the laboratories, Steve always had only one ambition – break free from this earth and explore, discover and settle in another universe where he could make friendship with humanoids.
Despite being a prodigy, Steve is still an amateur. So, obviously, he is quite nervous and all stressed. Would he be able to complete his mission?
Orbital Debris & A Script
Suddenly, a storm of orbital debris snapped his communication with the space control. Then he heard an unusual knocking at the craft’s windshield…TAP! TAP! When he checked, there was nothing. May be his own hallucination.
Steve was alone; was he really so?
During a routine exploration of the spacecraft drifting near an assorted asteroid belt, Steve discovered a rolled script pasted on the exterior of a compartment. As he manoeuvred the heavily-folded script, it revealed a strange inscription dotted with illegible codes which Steve found hard to decipher.
Along its edge, a small but detailed doodle of what appeared to be the Titanic was etched. The eerie connection to the historic maritime disaster left Steve both puzzled and uneasy. How could this be related to his latest exploration bid? Who left it there… and why?
Day Two
On the day two, while he was floating inside the spaceship for a routine exercise, a cracking voice greeted his ears: “Do you copy Steve? Do you copy?” It was coming from his command control! It was a miracle since the previous day all means of communication was shattered.
Suddenly, all the alarms started ringing and stopped at once. A video got playing on the screen. Steve could see himself; his own face gave him an unblinking stare back at him. The Steve in the video looked pale, exhausted, lips withered and eyes sunk deep into the sockets.
The other Steve opened up: “I hope this video has reached you. It’s a trap; this hellish loop is going on and I am your future self. I have already died twenty times. So will you. I have named this phenomenon ‘Return by Death’ syndrome.”
“They view us as mere experimental tools. Hunt us down & kill. Then time for a reset comes. Now listen carefully to the details if you don’t want to spend your entire life in this Erebus……”
A Sudden Jerk & Shrill Noise
A sudden jerk almost threw him down as a warning buzz popped up on the monitor. And the video? The video which was playing, simply vanished!
A few meters ahead lay a field of asteroids, posing the stark risk of a collision. Even small asteroids could be deadly. Steve somehow veered his craft out of the deadly zone. He felt quite relieved; the thought of the video kept bugging him though.
Shortly thereafter, he crawled out of the spacecraft into the open to investigate if there was any damage. A strong metallic cable was the link between Steve and his craft.
All on a sudden, a shrill noise broke the silence of the space and quickly got absorbed into the vacuum. Steve latched up still; it was quite eerie.
His instincts were prompting him something must have gone wrong. A cold shiver ran down his spine. In the all-pervading darkness, Steve witnessed something bizarre — a brightly lit speck.
A Macabre Encounter
When he reached close, he was flabbergasted, eyes wide open. “Hello? Hello Captain? Can you hear me?! This is code red.”
“I can sense someone’s presence right in front, an object am unaware of, is staring at me.” Steve volleyed within himself. “A different creature. Maybe far superior to us…. Its gaze is fixed at me kind of….glass green eyes, enormous….Over!” radioed Steve back to control.
Steve had heard of the UFO regions earlier and multiple accounts of grey alien entities and researched about them; but the reasons behind this encounter he is unable to fathom. He could only see a lump of smoke…and nothing else.
As he almost fainted, Steve’s future self appeared floating in front and hoisted him back to the craft. “Your time’s up,” was all that he could manage to hear.
What's Your Reaction?
