The Oculus

Image by brands amon from Pixabay

Tory stepped over a chunk of crumbling concrete, taking in her horrific surroundings. The devastation was complete. Not a soul could have survived this blast—not even a skeleton remained in the wrecked car ahead of her.

Twisted metal torn from ruined buildings poked out of the ground like a ribcage, the ends glowing a dull red and reminding Tory of the intense heat. There was no sign of fire though. The blast had consumed all the oxygen within miles of ground zero.

“We’re still too far forward,” Tory said, removing the VR goggles.

She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the envirochamber. Malcolm peered down at her from the observation booth above. “Only by a day or two though. Can we make a correction that fine?”

The sound system clicked on as Malcolm reached for the microphone. “Take a break. I need to discuss this with Dr. Peters. If we overshoot the other direction, you may have to spend a week in there.”

Tory placed the VR headset on the mannequin’s head next to the door. She’d sync up after a bio break and a protein shake.

Time travel wasn’t like in the movies from her youth. The opening to a wormhole was subatomic, so going through it would be fatal. However, it makes a fantastic oculus connecting their time to the past, and the VR headset of the same name painted a great picture.

It also held a laser microphone so Tory could hear what she was looking straight at.

She had faith in Dr. Peters and Malcolm. They’d get the time differential this time, then she’d find whoever was about to set off the device, and then they’d test the third function of the modified Oculus.

Tory would maser the bastard before he could decimate mankind.

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If you enjoyed this story, check out Beyond the Rail and Other Nightmares. Thirteen tales of horror and dark fiction certain to keep you reading just one more.

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