33 Endless Torture (1/2)

To my knowledge, this is the first time it has happened.

Stopping time – that is.

Stopping time is one of the most common power of time manipulation, as depicted in so many medias, such as science fiction books and movies.

However, as much as I have tried in the past, I couldn't stop time.

Traveling through time is easy.

I can do it in my sleep.

Bringing something backward or forward in time just requires a lot of concentration and willpower.

It is completely doable.

Atlantis can attest to this.

The island nation has not been destroyed by an active volcano directly beneath them yet.

It will likely wouldn't be for a very, very long time – or maybe never.

This is because Hydra is drawling all the necessary thermal energy from the magma chamber to power their underwater headquarter. This keeps the volcano completely under their control.

As for manipulating time of an object or a person, it isn't too difficult.

It actually comes very natural to me as I have practice it so much times. The foods I ate are always hot and fresh. The coffee I drank are always kept at a constant enjoyable temperature.

But stopping time completely?

That is incredibly difficult – almost impossible.

At least that was what I had thought previously.

A lot of my assumptions about freezing time are also wrong, demonstrated by my inability to breathe currently.

The universe and everything within it are completely frozen, meaning that air will not be entering my lungs, fuelling my cells, and keeping me conscious.

I would have passed out if I didn't pull myself off the ground.

Moving about seems to allow me to breathe normally. This is probably due to my body is coming into contact with the air molecules, allowing them to move once more.

Ignoring Selene's constant request for me to stay still as well as the excruciating pain pulsating all over my body, I cradle Antigone into my arms before staring at the vehicle speeding far in the distance.

When the vehicle runs me over along with a handful of people, it was speeding at more than 80 miles an hour.

It hits me head on without hesitation. A sane person would have stepped on the brake.

This is not an accident.

It is an assassination.

I am obviously the target.

I would have died instantly if it wasn't for the augmentation from the far future. Even so, the damage to my body is extensive.

How I wish I have died instantly. At least then, time would automatically reverse.

No, it wasn't about the excruciating pain. I have felt much worse before.

It is to stop the bloody image of my daughter's mangle body burning itself so vividly into my memory.

I will always remember it thanks to the enhanced memory due to my augmentation, even if no one else in the world will.

This is my torture – the weight of my sin.

People should rejoice that they have lived their entire life not knowing what horrors lies in the future unlike me. I have felt the destruction of the world along with trillions of lives.

Ignorance is bliss.

It truly is.

I close my eyes, trying to quench the burning rage within me. The strong emotion is causing my power to become unstable, causing constant ripple in the time stream.

What adverse effects this has on the timeline itself, I wouldn't learn of it until much later.

When I open my eyes again, I am sitting in the restaurant with Antigone.

My daughter is playing with a spoon, trying to scoop up the grinded vegetable soup. She would never remember how she was crushed by a 2-tons vehicle. I will not allow her to.

”Will there be anything else, sir?”