Stretched With Time

25th January 2058

I have finally finished the closed-loop chamber. I have done every check possible without actually stepping in and travelling through time. From all I've researched, worked on, calculated and configured, I think the chamber should finally be ready to actually transport me into the future. Almost every physics book, lecture, professor, and theory points to this all being impossible, but I know this can work; Einstein's theory of relativity supports it. I will step into what looks like an unassuming giant metal cylinder covered in wires, sockets and machinery. And by the press of the one button inside, an electromagnetic charge will be generated at such a high strength that time and space will be bent at will around it. I do not go into this lightly or without hesitations and reservations, the list of things that could go wrong are endless and all incredibly graphic. But I have no choice. Desperate times call for desperate measures and my sole driving force of late seems to be nothing more than a clawing, frenzied, animalistic desperation.

26th January 4.53 am 2058

It seems to have worked! Everything I calculated was correct for my first successful time jump, no adjustments. Everything here has remained as it was when I left, the lab is untouched and the clock shows 4.53 am. When I stepped through the chamber it was 4.51 present time, and as I've measured, I have spent 5 whole minutes in 2100, which shows a 2-minute delay between here and there. Nowhere near enough time to find a university, laboratory, or the information I need to figure out how to fix this. But I will. I have to. Everything was so much more similar than I'd imagined; buildings, cars, even the people looked very much the same, staring into whatever new black square offered the newest thing. The cynic in me rolls my eyes, but the hopeful feels kind of disappointed. Innovation continues to progress and excel, but humans seem to stagnate at best, rot, decline and destroy at worst. As expected, my physical form is imposing some serious limitations on how much I can progress. The longer I seem to spend in the future, the further my body is stretched against time and the more time goes on, it's inevitable that I'll be unable to withstand the pressure. For now, physical symptoms are extremely mild: sore bones, heat rash, mild headache. All expected, all unavoidable. My next scheduled jump will be tomorrow at the same time, where I hope to be able to spend longer to hopefully interact with someone and find out everything I possibly can.

27th January 5.57 am 2058

The time is now 5.57 and I entered the chamber at 4.51. My time spent in 2100 was calculated at one minute. I've been racking my brain, working through an intense pulsing headache trying to recalculate these sums to see where I could’ve made a possible error but I can't find any. The time dilation looks to be stretching in unpredictable ways that seem to defy all logical explanations. My physical symptoms include: a bad headache, my skin all over appears to be very red, as if I've been scratching at myself with a cheese grater, and my bones are particularly achy. Things are getting worse here, and I didn’t manage to find one human being when I travelled. I ensured I landed in the same place: a street in the United Kingdom was as specific as I could manage, but it was the same one as my first travel, buildings, cars, pavements, trees, but no people. For my next jump I plan to enter the first building I see when I arrive, continuing through any pain or feelings of disorientation.

28th January 3 am 2058

I don’t know what to say, things are becoming so complicated and cruel, as if my own ideas and calculations are mocking me. I’ve lost track of time. When I jumped again, I’m sure I spent longer, but I couldn’t be certain. This should be simple, it should be so simple, but every time I come closer to finding the solution to this I find myself more lost than I could have possibly been before, like I'm losing sight of what I'm doing at all. My hair is gone. All of it, along with chunks of my scalp and skin all over my body, exposing hot red flesh, like I’m being burned from the inside out and peeled apart, I'm being spun against the clock, and my body can't resist the force. I'm sure I've sustained some internal injuries, but I'm not a doctor, so again, I couldn’t say for sure. It sure seems like I'm betting my life on guesses and estimations, gripping at ideas in the stream only to open my hands and see it inevitably slip away, never to be found again. I couldn’t have guessed my body would be pretty much ruined from a mere 3 jumps, and to not have found what I need is the worst thing of all. I am terrified of what will happen to me when I go back. I am certain that this will be the last time. And I know that I must make it count, but the thing that terrifies me the most is failing.

29th January 2058

I barely managed to find the pen when I got back

I travelled I could feel my body reaching its limit but I stayed talking to a lady I was almost there but it was too late I was dragged back through the portal to the chamber

My eyes have popped out of their sockets I can't see a thing and the pain is excruciating

I can feel my body slipping away from me as I lie here I can feel the wetness of the pool of blood that surrounds me I can taste it

I can't see

I can't move

There is nothing I can do

I'm out of time