A reach of a millennium away.
A sprint of an era per second.
A sight of an eon into the distance.
Through the time-plane I ran, touching up each and every timeline, fixing each and every little mistake. I searched for the source, the place where it all began.
But why couldn’t I find it? My speed, my intellect, my power—are they not unlimited? How did I stray so far from my original timeline? How had I been thrown so far from that world?
Yet I continue searching for that place only in my memories. I knew what had happened. And I knew how I could fix it.
I had the opportunity, too, but I had wasted it. Now it was a million, a trillion, a centillion years away. Just how long would it take for me to fix this mistake?
All ten trillion to infinite versions of me closed our eyes. The memory played into our hive mind. A car driving into the town from the forest. This was how it started. It was the mistake that caused everything.
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“All right, ladies, let’s get to it,” Xiang said, turning towards the rest of his team, who were sitting around him in the van. The four teenagers were each holding a rifle, which would have seemed out of place to people to be held by high schoolers in regular clothing. This, however, was not at all out of place for them.
“We aren’t ladies, gentleman.” Xiang turned towards the speaker, Ben. He had a lean body, but a tall stature. Although it may not look like it, this boy was the best fighter in the team, combining a quick mind and sharp skills with the short knife he always carried on his waist. Ben was definitely mocking Xiang. With his arms and legs thick with muscle, Xiang looked nothing like a gentle-man.
“You know, there is a lady right here, and she finds that very offensive,” said the girl across from Ben. Diane was the only girl on the team. With a keen eyesight, she proved to be a prodigy with her rifle. However, she was equally beautiful, which earned the respect of the rest of the team.
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Wayne was the last member. He was looking out the window again as if he hadn’t heard the conversation that just took place. Although his short height and quiet nature made him seem harmless, he was the deadliest of them all. With any weapon, Wayne could kill three people in a blink of an eye.
“We need to win this, guys. Remember, this is only attempt number 176,335, and we are bound to win once.” That’s right, it was the 176,335th time they heard the car screech to a stop, the 176,335th time they saw the doors fly open, the 176,335th time they listened to the sound of feet hitting the ground as they ran, the 176,335th time they smelled the stench of gasoline and wet concrete, and the 176,335th time they felt the cool winter breeze in their faces as they rushed through the school gates, preparing their minds for battle.
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The school was riddled with security cameras, and the team had to erase all that was in their path. That was an easy task. The first one was right past the gates. Diane shot it with her rifle without even looking, hitting the wiring coming out of the camera. The sound, with help from the suppressor attached to the muzzle, was drowned out by the construction going on nearby.
The four shooters ran through the maze of hallways and staircases, with Diane rushing in the front, taking down the security cameras by memory. Any people irrelevant to the mission were shot down.
When the countdown reached zero in everybody’s head, the sound of a siren rang through the halls. Somebody had seen one of the bodies and pulled the trigger for the alarm. Now, the classes should be starting to barricade their doors and hide behind stacked desks. Most of them must have been thinking that it was only a drill or a false alarm, but many should also have raised questions about why a drill would be happening on the first day of school after winter break.
After a few more turns, the group reached their destination. Standing in front of room B513, Xiang went through the steps they had formulated again. “As always, direct your gunfire at the girl. She needs to die before we kill the boy.” Everybody nodded.
Xiang turned to Wayne. “Wayne, same as last time, run at the girl and try to kill her. Prevent her at all costs from reaching the boy. This time, use your new longsword.” Wayne turned towards the door, put his hand on the hilt of his sword, and bent his knees, getting ready to dash across the room.
“Different from last time, Ben, you go towards the boy and eliminate him with your knife. Diane and I will provide support for you two.”
“Come on, when’s the leader going to do something?” Ben whined.
“Diane and I are going to carrying the body, okay? Time is running out. And it’s already hard enough ordering you around. Get ready, everyone. I’ll count us down.”
Everybody got into their positions, and for the 176,335th time, they broke down the door and opened fire as they stormed into the classroom.