I traveled here from the year 2052. Time travel has only recently been discovered, but there are caveats. Lots of expensive machines are involved, a huge complex had to be built in the Swiss alps, you can only travel backward, and it is a one-way trip.
So why would I leave behind everything and everyone I know just to travel back to 2022? Well, a great war breaks out in 2032 lasting until 2035. Most modern nations do not survive, new nations are formed from the remnants of the old world order. Poverty and hunger are widespread, life is suffering for the vast majority of humanity while the ultra-rich live in opulent wealth that would make Caligula look like a mild-mannered peasant.
But, that is not why I am here. No, the reason I am here is that around this year, people with psychic abilities are starting to be born. Though their powers will not begin to manifest for a couple of years at least. The people ruling the world after the war will experiment on these children, they did inhumane things. But none of us really mattered to them. One of these children, his power was beyond any like the others.
They call him the Astralmancer.
Nothing could stop him when he began his rebellion against the ruling class. Waves of soldiers, monsters, and machines were sent to deal with him, and they all either switched sides or were annihilated. After six months he took over the nation, and it only took another four to dominate the rest of the world. The first literal ruler of the entire world in history. People were lifted out of poverty, wealth was redistributed, and world hunger was ended. No doubt the quality of life greatly improved. But no dissent or questioning of the regime was allowed. Any form of “treason” was a guaranteed death sentence.
I joined the rebellion against the regime. We lost hundreds of thousands of rebels in just the span of two weeks. This man, when he invades your mind, it is the most terrifying thing I have ever experienced. Our entire rebellion did not last more than a month. We realized we could not overthrow the regime, so we made our final stance in the alps. We stormed the facility used for time travel, and I was sent back to 2022 to take out the Astralmancer as a child, making sure the regime never comes about. My fellow rebels gave their life for this opportunity. I am the last person able to stop the regime.
But, something followed after me. A bipedal monster standing 7 feet tall with a shiny black chitin exoskeleton, needle-like teeth, and dagger-like claws, called a reaper. They were biologically engineered by the rich elite, ironically, to put down the Astralmancer, but now they do his bidding.
I ended up in some factory, lights flickering before the bulbs exploded. Mere seconds later I heard the horrible cry of the reaper. It was close. It was outside. I carefully and quietly made my way through the back entrance. Reapers can’t see but they have an unrivaled sense of smell and hearing.
Standing outside I saw something I only know from history books, the statue of liberty. I hear a loud beeping sound and see a truck backing up towards the factory. The reaper noticed, too.
I saw the driver get out of the truck and looked away, as I heard the reaper run towards the man. I heard his screams of utter shock and disbelief which were soon followed by the sound of a dying man, the tearing of flesh, and the breaking of bones. It only lasted for about a minute. But that was all the time I needed to try and make my escape. Unfortunately, I heard the loud cry of the reaper and saw him charging at me.
I had my gun of course, but bullets are no use against a reaper. All sound around me seemed to fade, all I heard was the rapid footsteps of the reaper and the sound of water behind me. Time slowed down for me. “My life will end here, no one will know who I am or why I am here, and I will have failed my mission.” I thought to myself. Suddenly it hit me.
Water
Reapers aren’t built for water, which is a lot rarer in my time. I braced myself and as it was coming ever closer, I focused. All it took was a single mistake and it would all be over. The reaper was mere inches away, its arms outstretched getting ready to dig its claws into me and tear me apart.
At the last second, I stepped sideways, and the reaper, unable to stop his sprint in time, dashed ahead through the fence behind me and straight into the river. Terrible screeches echoed throughout the otherwise silent night. It was desperately trying to keep its head above water, however slowly but surely it disappeared beneath the water. The reaper was still flailing and struggling in the river, causing violent movements of the water, until it became as calm as if nothing at all had happened here tonight.
Besides my gun, all I had with me was about 10.000 US dollars. With that money, I managed to rent a room from a lovely woman named Mary. Her eyes were mesmerizing, brown and warm, like what I assume chocolate to be like.
I do hope she leaves New York before the war starts.
To blend in I got a job as a security guard for an industrial complex. Now while the reaper may be dead, I have no idea how to go about finding the Astralmancer.
So, any suggestions?