(Part III of V)

There was an incredible amount of danger involved with operating an incomplete time machine.

Outside, the temperature was enough to make his blood boil still Emmett McGillicutty kept his hands firmly grasped to the heated rungs of the ladder. Sweat dripped down his forehead. No reason to turn back now. Not since the Time Machine had been prematurely activated.

He climbed on, found himself immersed within the shield of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. For the thirteen-year-old scientist, it was a long way to the top. But it was worth it, he thought. It was worth the sacrifice to make everything right again.

Emmett heard his baby sister cry, pleading for him to come back down to safety. He would not succumb to her pleas. He would not succumb to anything other than his desire to fulfill his mission. As soon as he reached the top, Emmett pushed open the hatch and slipped through it.

In the suffocating inferno, the boy was prepared to surrender, one hand grabbing onto the lever, determined than ever to push it down to a ninety-degree angle.

Mission completed. The time was set. Emmett breathed out a chuckle of relief and closed his eyes.

He could only wait for the inevitable explosion.

.

.

"I once had a brother. We called him Emmett. He was the first time-traveller in the McGillicutty family."

"Where is he now?"

"I wish I knew. He never came back."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's not really a bad thing. If it wasn't for Emmett, things wouldn't have changed for the better..."

"What has changed for you since your brother time-travelled?"

"Me."

"I don't understand."

"You see I wasn't born human. While my mother was pregnant with me, my father injected into her womb with something he called the Intelligence Boosteriser. It worked on me but with serious consequences. And no matter how hard she tried, Mother couldn't bring herself to love me. Because...well, I wasn't the daughter she wanted. I was something else. Emmett was the only one who really cared about me. He brought up the idea of altering the past for me with the help of Father's time machine."

"So you could be born human..."

"Yes."

"I see."

"My father, Robert McGillicutty was responsible for the invention of the first Alpha State. It was his biggest secret. But even after twenty-seven years, it was still a work-in-progress. He never had time to work on it since he became too preoccupied with his other projects. I was only several months old when Emmett first activated that time machine. It malfunctioned and exploded while he was operating it from the inside. My parents were devastated thinking their son had been killed but his body was never found. That's when I knew the Time Machine actually worked. Emmett succeeded and had earned his one-way ticket to the past! I was so relieved!"

"Was that why you had the Alpha State rebuilt? So that your brother could return to his present time?"

"A year after Emmett left, I wrote a farewell note to my bereaved parents and went on my way. I knew they'd be better off without me. So I set up my own little workshop at the old Scooter Warehouse, just a few blocks away from home. I wanted somewhere close by so I could still keep an eye on them. I studied my father's notes and dedicated the next seven years of my life to rebuilding the Alpha State for Emmett. It was finally completed in 1997, the same year I met your brother Raphael, at this very spot..."

"But now that your life's path has been altered, where do you see yourself going from here?"

"That's the problem. I can't see where I'm going. I don't even know this life. Right now, I just feel like a different soul trapped in a world of memories I hardly recognise. I find myself doubting my own existence. I don't feel real at all."

"Well Dale, you seem very real to me. And I shall do my utmost to help you to find your purpose here."

"I know you will, Don. I know you will."