The Project – Chapter 12

Chapter 12

 

“ATTENTION. THIS IS DYAN MOORE, AND I AM PUTTING THIS FACILITY UNDER EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN. PLEASE REMAIN CALM.”

The Project Delay

I’m delaying The Project until I can both write more chapters and actually write them well, which I cannot do at the moment. So, no chapter this week. I will either reduce the chapter count by one, or post two chapters next week, or something, but this is a better option than releasing another subpar chapter. (Also, I’m not sure if anyone is still reading this serial in the first place, to be honest, so I’m not sure if delaying the chapter means anything to anyone besides me.)

The Project – Chapter 11

Chapter 11

 

Richard saw only gray in front of her. The landscape of Antarctica was generally very much harsh and white, but now it seemed that little had changed except the color of the harshness. She thought it would at least have some life around here…

She looked at Dyan and saw her very odd expression. Richard didn’t think that Dyan was expecting the future to look at all like this, so she guessed it was a shock to her too. 600,000 years in the future, and several species should have evolved considerably by now, especially the more rapidly-reproducing ones, but Richard saw no real evidence of any evolved species.

In fact, she didn’t see any species at all.

The Project – Chapter 10

Chapter 10

 

“You did WHAT?”

“I didn’t think you’d–”

“Of course I would! How could you say it just ‘happened’?”

“It did! I mean, he’s still the same…”

The Project – Chapter 9

Chapter 9

 

“I really wish you would talk to me more about all this,” Future Stephen said. “The past few weeks, I feel like you’ve just been…” he trailed off, and never tried to pick up where he left off. This version of Stephen just didn’t sound like the Stephen that Future Stephen used to know, with his hesitant attitude and constant sighing. Future Stephen was almost too disconcerted to bother talking to him.

So all she said was, “I don’t feel like there’s many people I can talk to anymore.”

Future Stephen took quite a few seconds to respond. Finally, he said, “And I guess I’m not one of those people,” and stood up, ready to leave.

The Project – Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 

“Thanks for telling me about this,” AI Dyan said to Future Richard. “I’m the only one, right?”

“Yes,” Future Richard said to the tiny hologram, projecting from an outlet in the hallway. “I don’t know if I can trust anyone else with this. I don’t know for sure if I can trust you.”

The Project – Chapter 7

Chapter 7

 

Richard entered one of the many small, “local,” coffee shops littered around the facility. She wanted to get something to drink, but mainly to focus on everything she had been thinking about the past few hours. As she stood in line, she went deep into contemplation.

Another version of herself coming back in time was already changing the project a ton, but… just seeing another her was really hard to reconcile with in her mind. Another person, exactly the same as her, but with two weeks more experience in life that apparently dramatically changed everything– it was really weird.

She remembered back when she was still a kid, maybe a teenager, she used to dream about time travel and all its amazing concepts almost constantly. She was able to wrap her head around the infinite strands of the multiverse even at a young age… And that led her into even greater curiosities, as to how the universe would change when certain elements would change. If you kill one mouse in the woods, how much of the forest is impacted ten years in the future?

The Project – Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“Alright, let me get this straight,” Stephen said, sitting in the middle of the ISRFA infirmary. “There are two versions of me now, and it’s all because this secret time travel project you’re working on went to shit?”

“Pretty much,” Richard said. “I had no idea about the going to shit thing until now either, though, so don’t ask me about it. Ask her.” She pointed to Dyan.

“I honestly don’t know. Future Richard is still out cold, and Future Stephen is too preoccupied with taking care of her to answer any of our questions. So I guess we’ll know in a few hours, assuming nothing goes to shit on our end.”

“Well it wouldn’t surprise me if it did,” Stephen said, standing up from his chair. “You guys are trying to play God, for what purpose? Science?”

“Yeah,” Richard said.

“Basically correct,” Dyan said.

The Project – Short Hiatus

For the next two weeks, “The Project” will be on hiatus so that I can help make the rest of the story even better. Sorry about that, but it will help a lot.

In the meantime, another story will replace it as the main Saturday post– a short two-part serial written by Kenny. You’ll see what it is in exactly one week.

Also in the meantime, you should comment on some of The Project chapters. Tell us what’s cool and what sucks and all that good stuff.

The Project – Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 

Richard could barely think before she felt the explosions from across the window. The stomps grew closer and closer, and she heard several bellowing roars. Dyan backed away slowly and–

The west entrance of the observatory hall exploded, The structure detached from one of its four hinges, and Richard saw a massive figure rushing to where the group of employees were standing.

It was a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex.