“Right there,” he said and with a quick gesture Alex summoned the system controls in mid air beneath his open hand. The HALO playback paused, a shimmering holographic projection of a man, eyes closed, head against a mirror froze before him. He was walking through his past.

High-energy Articulated Lensing Oculus, HALO. He didn’t know how it worked, didn’t care. All he knew was the machine had tore a hole through space/time and this would be his only chance. This time will be different.

“Injection point Alpha, optimal outcome,” the AI stated coldly, “proceed?”

Was she worth it? Paradox, the destruction of an entire timeline for a single woman… “Proceed, priority override Phoenix1.”

Somewhere deep within the molecular machine the Heisenberg Engine sprang to life, infinite waves of quantum calculations folding space and time. The resulting wormhole stabilized into a singularity.

“Connection completed,” the AI confirmed, “transmitting sequence.”

Blinding light, then…