I - THE CLOCK THAT TICKED BACKWARD

It was 11:47 p.m.

Netra was supposed to be asleep.

He wasn't.

He was hiding under his blanket with a torch.

This was not because he was scared.

Obviously.

He was conducting an extremely important scientific experiment.

At least, that's what he had told himself.

The experiment was called:

How Many Biscuits Can I Eat Before Anyone Notices?

Current result:

Seven.

New personal record.

Netra reached for the eighth biscuit.

And then—

TICK.

He froze.

Another sound came from somewhere in his room.

TICK.

Netra slowly lowered the biscuit.

His room was completely dark.

He switched on his bedside lamp.

Nothing.

His books were on the table.

His schoolbag was lying on the floor.

His telescope was near the window.

Everything looked normal.

Then—

TICK.

Netra looked at his wall clock.

The second hand was moving.

But something was wrong.

Very wrong.

It was moving...

backward.

Netra stared at it.

The hand went from 12...

to 11...

to 10...

to 9...

Netra blinked.

He rubbed his eyes.

The hand continued backward.

“That's not how clocks work.”

The clock replied:

TICK.

Netra jumped.

“Okay. Very funny.”

He got out of bed.

The clock showed:

11:46

Then:

11:45

Then:

11:44

Netra stared at it.

“Why are you going backward?”

The clock continued.

11:43

11:42

11:41

Netra walked closer.

The clock wasn't plugged in.

There were no batteries.

He pulled it off the wall.

The ticking stopped.

Netra smiled.

“Ha!”

He turned around.

TICK.

The clock started again.

Netra slowly turned back.

The hands were moving.

Backward.

Faster.

TICK-TICK-TICK-TICK-TICK!

The numbers on the clock began glowing blue.

Then a tiny symbol appeared underneath the twelve.

It looked like this:

∞

Netra frowned.

“Infinity?”

The symbol changed.

It became:

3... 2... 1...

Netra stepped backward.

“Uh-oh.”

WHOOM!

The clock exploded.

Not into pieces.

Into light.

A bright blue circle appeared on the wall.

Netra stared at it.

“What am I supposed to do with that?”

A voice answered from behind him.

“Preferably, don't touch it.”

Netra screamed.

“AAAAAAAH!”

He spun around.

Nothing.

He looked under his bed.

Nothing.

Inside his cupboard.

Nothing.

Behind the curtains.

Nothing.

Then he looked at the clock.

The blue circle was still glowing.

The voice came again.

“Excellent.”

Netra jumped.

“You're inside the clock?!”

“No.”

“Then where are you?”

A tiny metallic object rolled out from underneath his bed.

Brrrrrrrrr.

It stopped in front of Netra.

Netra stared.

The object unfolded.

Two little wheels popped out.

Then two mechanical arms.

Then a round head.

Two glowing eyes switched on.

The robot looked up at him.

“Hello.”

Netra stared.

The robot stared back.

Netra pointed.

“You're a robot.”

“Yes.”

“You were under my bed.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

The robot thought.

“Excellent question.”

“Thank you.”

“I don't have an answer.”

Netra narrowed his eyes.

“Are you a spy?”

“No.”

“Alien?”

“No.”

“Evil?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

The robot paused.

“I have a 94.7% confidence level.”

Netra raised an eyebrow.

“What about the other 5.3%?”

“I prefer not to discuss it.”

Netra folded his arms.

“What's your name?”

The robot's eyes flashed.

“QUARK-7.”

Netra smiled.

“Quark?”

“Yes.”

“Like the tiny particles?”

“Correct.”

“Are you made of quarks?”

“No.”

“Then that's false advertising.”

Quark-7 looked offended.

“I contain many quarks.”

“So does my sandwich.”

The robot paused.

“I do not know how to respond to that.”

“Good.”

Netra pointed toward the glowing circle.

“What is that?”

Quark-7 turned.

His eyes widened.

“That shouldn't be there.”

Netra smiled.

“Finally! Something that shouldn't be there.”

Quark-7 rolled toward the wall.

He scanned the blue circle.

BEEP.

Then another beep.

Then another.

The robot became very quiet.

“What?”

Quark-7 looked at Netra.

“That is a temporal doorway.”

Netra waited.

“A what?”

“A doorway through time.”

Netra stared.

“You mean…”

“Yes.”

“It can take me to the past?”

“Yes.”

“The future?”

“Yes.”

Netra's eyes widened.

“Can I go back to yesterday and stop myself from eating my last chocolate?”

Quark-7 considered this.

“That would be a terrible use of time travel.”

“It was an important chocolate.”

“I understand.”

Netra stepped closer to the blue circle.

It shimmered like water.

But there was no water.

He could see something through it.

A room.

A dark room.

With strange machines.

“What's on the other side?”

Quark-7 scanned it.

“I don't know.”

“Can we find out?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because the doorway is unstable.”

Netra nodded.

“Okay.”

He took another step.

“Netra.”

“Yes?”

“Do not touch it.”

Netra stopped.

“Why?”

“Because we don't know where—or when—it leads.”

Netra looked at the doorway.

Then at Quark-7.

Then back at the doorway.

He smiled.

“I'll only touch it a little.”

“That sentence has caused enormous problems throughout human history.”

Netra reached out.

His finger touched the blue light.

WHOOSH!

The room disappeared.

---

Netra was falling.

Not down.

Not up.

Just...

falling.

There was no floor.

No ceiling.

No bedroom.

Only darkness.

Stars appeared around him.

Millions of them.

Then billions.

He stretched out his arms.

“QUAAAAARK!”

The robot flew past him.

“I AM CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING A SIMILAR PROBLEM!”

“You said it was unstable!”

“Yes!”

“You could have mentioned that earlier!”

“I DID!”

“You said 'don't touch it!'”

“That was a very clear warning!”

Netra grabbed Quark-7.

The robot's wheels spun uselessly in space.

“This isn't space!” Quark shouted.

“Then what is it?”

“Spacetime!”

Netra stared.

“What's the difference?”

Quark pointed around them.

“Space tells you where you are.”

He pointed downward.

“Time tells you when you are.”

He waved his tiny mechanical arms.

“Spacetime is the combination of both.”

Netra thought.

“So it's like a map?”

“Exactly.”

“But maps have roads.”

“Spacetime has something much stranger.”

“What?”

“Gravity.”

Netra looked around.

“I don't see any gravity.”

“That's because gravity isn't a rope pulling things through space.”

“Then what is it?”

Quark hesitated.

“Imagine a giant trampoline.”

“Okay.”

“Put a heavy bowling ball in the middle.”

“Okay.”

“The trampoline bends.”

“Right.”

“Now roll a marble nearby.”

Netra nodded.

“The marble curves toward the bowling ball.”

“Exactly.”

“So gravity is like the shape of the trampoline?”

“That's a simple analogy for how mass and energy curve spacetime.”

Netra thought about that.

“So planets aren't being pulled by invisible strings?”

“Not in the simple Newtonian picture. In Einstein's description, objects follow paths through curved spacetime.”

Netra grinned.

“My brain hurts.”

“We have not even started.”

“Oh, excellent.”

Suddenly—

FLASH!

Something enormous appeared ahead.

A clock.

Not a normal clock.

A gigantic clock floating in darkness.

Its face was wider than a city.

The hands were spinning.

Backward.

Quark-7 became completely silent.

Netra looked at him.

“What?”

The robot's eyes flickered.

“That clock…”

“What about it?”

“I have seen it before.”

“Where?”

Quark-7 didn't answer.

The giant clock suddenly stopped.

The hands pointed at:

11:47

A message appeared across its face.

NETRA — YOU ARE 87 YEARS LATE.

Netra stared.

“Eighty-seven years?”

The clock changed.

A photograph appeared.

It showed a laboratory.

A strange silver spacecraft stood in the centre.

And beside it...

was a boy.

Netra.

Same face.

Same hair.

Same age.

Netra's mouth fell open.

“That's me.”

Quark-7 slowly moved closer to the photograph.

“No.”

Netra looked at him.

“What do you mean, no?”

Quark-7 scanned the image.

His eyes flashed red.

Then he whispered:

“That photograph was taken 87 years ago.”

Netra stared at the impossible picture.

“But…”

The giant clock began ticking again.

TICK.

TICK.

TICK.

And somewhere inside the darkness, another voice spoke.

A voice that sounded exactly like Netra.

“Whatever you do…”

The stars disappeared.

“…don't let Quark remember.”