text: My eyes opened as the sun rays pierced through the glass pane windows. It was another new day. Lately time seems to be getting shorter and shorter for my 800-year-old self. I needed to fulfill my final task. My gaze panned across the table top that was beside my bed. It stopped when I saw my phone rested on a knitted mantel. I grabbed and swiped the screen in a secret pattern. The phone unlocked. I tapped on the reminder of what I needed to do today. Among them were things that I was unable to do. Visiting Auntie Mary was one of them among the other stuff. I peeled away my thick blanket and glad that the bedding was recently washed. I stood up and looked at my image on the mirror. I have a habit of looking at myself in my younger years. All was well and as I stood there staring, I noticed something strange from the reflection. A trail of blood was dripping down the wall. I’m not one to be easily startled especially at my age. Curious, I turned around to investigate. But as soon as I turned around, the wall was dry and bare. I took a deep breath and gave an annoyed sigh. My day had always started this way ever since I was 540 years old. For breakfast, I headed down to the kitchen. In it were just four vending machines of different colors and a table and chair to where I would sit. The red vending machine contained hot & cold drinks. The orange one contains instant meals like noodles & rice toppings. For dessert, the yellow vending machine contains pizza and cakes while the rainbow colored one contains candies. These would dispense a uniform portion of drinks and meals in the shape of cubes. It also has a feature to monitor my food supply and keep track of my food cost. Oh, the wonders of technology! After quickly having a hot coffee and egg sandwich, courtesy of my vending machines, I pushed the disposable utensils and packages into the opening of a trash bin. Before I left home, I turned to an android named Nora and commanded it to auto-set the home security to the alone setting. Then, the main door swung open. It was Petro who haphazardly dashed inside the house. “Master, you only have till midnight before the New Year will be ushered in.” He said. I remained calm. Time may not be on our side, but the formula and set of equations had already been inputted to the controller ahead of time. All is still going according to plan and it would be complete before the clock strikes midnight. The future awaits us soon. I told him not to worry about it and Petro trusted me. He then left bearing witness to my oath declaration to complete the task. I then walked outside towards the garage. Inside it, there were numerous vehicles from your standard flying car to the solar powered motorcycle. I made a decision to ride motorbike as this will make my trip quicker. There was a cabinet in the corner of the room and I opened it. Inside hangs a body protect outfit and a full-face helmet with a go-pro perched on top. I eagerly fitted into it and hopped onto the motorbike. I reached for the start button and pressed on it. A loud engine comes to life. On the way to the site, the scenery was a mountain range of red granite stones peppered with periwinkles. The strong wind was cold as I drove down the long winding road. I reached the foot of the Starcrust mountain in just a few hours. There was a valley in between the huge mountain that opens to a vast desert that reaches as far as the naked eyes can see. With a click of a button, the motorbike wheels transformed into a set of tanker tracks. It sped fast in the desert towards the horizon. I can see desert animals getting strewn about as soon as the motorbike’s rolling tracks passed by. Several hours passed by before I could see some lights ahead. I unmounted from my bike as the rest of the way can only be reached by foot. I opened the quantum compartment from the motorbike and pulled out a machete. I then chopped my way pass the tall metal-like grasses. This artificial grass was so thick and glossy that you could not see what was ahead of you. Even though I remember the path, I still had to constantly look up to find the North star to guide me to the right direction. A few more hours passed before I saw a huge digital billboard was glaring down on me. It was broadcasting live news featuring the current disasters and calamities that was going on right now. This was the result of mankind tinkering around with fruitless scientific experiments. The outcome was disastrous such as plants becoming sterile as a side-effect of genetically modifying plant cells. Radioactive waste under the ocean slowly leaked and killed the sea life. Antibiotics that created super-pathogens which mutilated our body’s natural defenses. Numerous factories dumping chemicals and city garbage polluted the river and its banks. Humans were blinded by amassing material wealth. Now the so-called material wealth of metal coins was a useless heap of metal mountain, rusting away and had no value to anyone. I felt my cheeks starting to get wet... Tears were the only relief to the pain. The memories of the yesteryears when the earth was thriving were now gone. Even I myself succumbed to some of these ill effects. I rubbed the annoying lump in my shoulder. I get easily bruised for no reason and my chronic cough does not go away. Courtesy of my vending machine lifestyle. This is the new normal of the regular gal. Then I heard a flying saucer overhead. A robot hovered down from it to meet me. A laser reader scanned the identity chip on my head. It coldly gave me a green light to pass. A pathway then guided me to some sort of an elevator. I entered and as soon as it descended, it felt like an eternity before I felt a thud. I reached the bottom of a volcanic pit. I have been inside a volcanic molten lava of 1,000 degrees temperature as part of a tour once. But now things were different. The elevator served as a protective capsule. A joy stick was then popped up from the control panel. It allowed the passenger to traverse freely within this lava pit. After some time, I arrived at a chasm where I exited the elevator. Air filters and a few lighting turned on as soon as I put my foot down. But the stench of sulfuric acid still lingered around. On top of this it was still dark so I had to turn on the flashlight from my helmet. I can hear moans and cries deeper within this chasm. It felt like hell as mankind knew it. As I walked closer to the sounds of the moans, the temperature started to cool down. A bluish smoke was rising up in a twirling motion. Here, other people are present and milling around with their own work. They had hollow cheeks and empty eyes. They all look like soul-less bodies. I saw one turn to look at me with desperation but I immediately looked away. Suddenly I heard a grave like scream. “You.” Everyone stopped and looked at my direction. “You are the bearer of mankind’s rescue. Reveal it now or you shall perish along with us.” I was stunned and stood motionless. It was eerie silence. My emotions are so hyped up. I started to speak up. Then people crawled towards me to lend me their ears. “I traveled far and wide. With a time ticking like a bomb set at midnight. The Plan needs to be executed now or forever mankind will be wiped out on the face of the Earth. Do we comprehend that this is our end? There is nothing else we can do to reverse the damage that we inflicted on our adopted planet, we called Earth. Now, we all just need to continue like zombies, rot in whatever small time left. So, did we learn our lesson? We thought we are smart. Now we know all bad things we done is a curse on ourselves.” Everyone started to bow their heads in resignation. I continued. I screamed “No! mankind will not end, not today, not on my watch. I arrive here and with me is our last resort. Please look up above, the invention that I bring, is a time machine.” A loud cheer erupted. Everyone was in tears. I pointed up to the time machine before I pressed the button. A bright blinding light started to flood the dark pit. Then one by one, the people in the room began disappearing into a mist. The mist was then sucked into the time machine. It was set so that when everyone was on board, it would emit a greenish glow. It took a while but we were just in time. Minutes before the clock struck midnight, I immediately pulled the heavy lever to send us back to the past to reset this current future. One last chance for mankind. Every memory flashed and spinning before me. It all then fell into what seemed like a black hole. There was darkness and all was quiet. “Wake up! Wake up!” They said. It was a young and familiar voice. I had tears trickling down my cheeks before my eyes opened. I then saw my children jumping on my bed. “Hurry up mummy, you promised that we will visit the strawberry farm today.” Krissy, who was my daughter said. Tommy, my son on the other hand saw my face wet with tears. “Mummy are you okay?” he asked. Overwhelmed with joy I then hugged Tommy and the rest of my children. “It is okay my children, we will take care of our planet Earth.” I said as a huge smile was shown across my face. The future is ours.