Miranda Bailey or Mandy as she was affectionately called was sitting in a tree reading a book when something strange started to happen. Someone just appeared in front of her. The person removed their helmet and shook their hair out. Mandy could now see it was a woman.
She looked oddly familiar but considering this woman just appeared out of a flash of light and was wearing some sort of jumpsuit she was very wary of her. The woman looked around as if she was looking for someone. Mandy stayed quiet and watched the woman.
"I've arrived" She talked into something on her wrist. Mandy wondered what it was. The woman looked around some more and smiled "Traveling to the past is possible"
No, it's not Mandy thought to herself. You can only go forward not backwards. She wanted to climb down and talk to the strange woman but she knew better.
"Great, now come back" A voice came from the thing in her wrist
"Well, I would like to explore some"
"Chief respectfully. This mission was purely experimental. We aren't sure how sustained the portal would be. You must come back down or risk being lost in the past" The voice spoke with worry. Mandy was wondering what she was witnessing. The mission? She thought to herself. Portal? It was like she stepped foot in a sci-fi movie.
"The reader says it is stable. I will stay for a bit mission control" She responded
"Standing by" The voice responded
She put her arm down and sat her helmet on the ground. She looked down at her feet at the leaves under her boots. She closed her eyes and listened to the crunch. When she raised her head Mandy was worried she would be spotted but the woman's eyes were closed.
She inched a little further on the branch to look closer but lost her balance and fell off the branch. She anticipated hitting the ground but the woman caught her and stood her up. The woman looked at her with an intense stare. She was grateful for the closer look at the strange woman. Her jumpsuit was grey and black with patches on the sleeves. She didn't know what the symbols meant. She noticed a utility belt across the woman's waist. She wondered what each tool was. One was unmistakable. It was a gun of sorts. She looked at the front of the jumpsuit. On one side were the letters EBI and the other side held another patch. Chief M. Bailey. Under that were the words. Head Technician and Founder.
"M. Bailey" She whispered
"Chief Miranda Bailey. Head Technician and founder of Elena Bailey Industries" The woman nodded "You must be little Mandy Bailey"
"Wait" She was very confused
"This must be very confusing" Miranda laughed
"You're Miranda Bailey" Mandy stammered "Is this a joke"
"No, it is not. I am you from the future"
"But traveling to the past isn't possible"
"Looks like I made it possible" Miranda laughed. She pushed the button on the thing on her wrist. Uhh mission control"
"Yes chief"
"Little me has made contact"
"Enabling the timeline scanner"
"This is so sci-fi" Mandy laughed. She couldn't believe what was happening in front of her "Wait I thought versions of yourself shouldn't interact"
"That's why we're scanning the timeline"
"It appears that there are some anomalies. You may want to get out of there now and say nothing else to her"
"Noted" She put her arm down and leaned down to grab her helmet
"Wait you're leaving" Mandy asked her
"I don't want to risk the timeline" She nodded "It was nice to come back here. I miss being a child and climbing trees to read" She chuckled
"What do you do now"
"I run research. I won't give too many details but you can guess what it includes"
"So we don't become a surgeon"
"We do"
"So how'd we end up like this"
Miranda sighed and looked at the kid version of herself. She knew she wasn't supposed to say anything more about the future but her big inquisitive eyes were so captivating
"Life brought us here"
"How old are you"
"Old enough to have adult kids and decide to spend all my money on researching time travel"
"Good investment. You're a mom"
An alarm started ringing and it slightly startled Mandy. Miranda checked the source of the alarm.
"Get out of there now" The voice sounded through the thing on her wrist
"I must leave" She put her helmet on "My only way home is destabilizing. If I get stuck here who knows what could happen"
"Last question"
"Okay" She started pressing buttons on the thing on her wrist. Mandy watched her intensely
"What's that" Mandy pointed
"My control pad and transmitter" She typed something and then looked up "It does so much. Was that your last question really" Miranda asked "I don't think it was"
"What happens to us in the future?"
Miranda knelt to her younger self and smiled.
"You become a stronger you. You become a brilliant woman. You face trials and tribulations but you overcome them. Things will get hard but you'll be okay because you're Mandy Bailey"
"See you, Chief Miranda"
"See you future Chief Miranda" She winked and pressed the button sending her away. In another flash of light.
Mandy stood there. Where the woman once stood there was an indent in the leaves. She picked one up and put it in her book. She looked up at the sky. She knew she couldn't tell anyone about this day. She wasn't even sure what happened. She had so many questions. But she figured they all would one day make sense.
"Chief how was it" One of the technicians asked once Miranda arrived back in her own timeline
"It tickles"'She took off her helmet tucking it under her arm and walked to the main control panel
"Did I cause too much damage?" She asked the main controller
"No the anomalies are sorting themselves out" He replied
"Well, some are. There still are some holes but they aren't important" Another technician added
"Suspend all time travel trips" She ordered "Time is fragile right now" She took her seat at her control.
"Chief your hair is greying"
"We stopped aging though. As a side effect of the time tests" Someone pointed out
"Well it looks like traveling to the past has reversed that" She looked at her reflection in her helmet's visor
"It's reversing" They watched as the grey went away.
A technician scanned her "Your cells aged and then deaged. Technically you're both our timeline's Bailey and another timeline's Bailey"
"Time authorities aren't going to like that" She stood up "Lock us down"
"M. Bailey you are in breach of time code 11-01. You went to the past and altered the timeline" The authorities showed up
"How do you all get here so fast" She stood up
"I see the future" Their leader stepped forward.
"Because of my research you traitor" She shrugged
"Don't be like that my love" Ben raised his visor and smiled
"You lost the right to say that when you made them" She gritted her teeth
"The timelines are fragile Miranda. Your research is a threat. I asked you to stop this. And now you've really done it. You went back in time and changed something"
"I had to know if it was possible"
"A leaf is now in a book that isn't supposed to"
"What harm can a leaf cause"
"Butterfly effect"
"Is a false narrative" She shrugged "and I won't be arrested for something you can't prove"
"I can prove you traveled to the past" He crossed his arms "Just come with us"
"No" She walked to her seat.
"Miranda, don't"
"I have to. My work isn't done" She sighed
"Damn, woman" He lowered his visor "I will see you again"
She put her helmet on "I love you"
"I love you too. I wish we weren't on different sides of this" He sighed
"Change your mind eventually" She shrugged
"Press the button and we'll see" He sighed knowing things wouldn't change
She pressed the button at her controls effectively resetting their timeline. They were stuck in this time loop. She figured out to how reset time and once she unlocked that power she effectively made this time bubble. Ben wasn't sure what his wife was trying to figure out with this new development in her research he prayed she was getting closer to figuring it out. He was tired of being stuck in this loop. Worse only he and her knew that their timeline truly didn't exist. It was a fabrication she created but he wasn't sure why she created it. Ben had begun to forget why he was here with her in this loop. Their true timeline had long since left them. They were supposed to be long dead. He wasn't even sure where time outside of this loop stood. All he knew was this loop. He started the opposition in hopes of stopping his wife's obsession. Their helmets are engineered to protect their minds from the reset. So they never forget previous interactions in the loop. But everyone else thinks time is functioning as normal.
As Ben woke up he found himself back in his bunk. He checked his electronic pad. The date was the same. She did it he sighed. He got up and got dressed in his gear. As he walked out to the catwalk his troops were standing around waiting for him
"Today's mission is to stop Elena Bailey Industries and restore the timeline" He announced to them. They all cheered with excitement. Ben sighed as he walked down to the control panel. If only they knew this mission was doomed to keep repeating over and over again.
Miranda smiled and went about more research. The last loop's breakthrough was big. She traveled to the past. She was getting closer to her main goal. She walked to the catwalk and addressed her employees.
"Today's mission. Go Back and time and fix the timeline" She smiled. They all cheered. They weren't sure what they were fixing but they were excited to be working on time travel and that was good enough for them.
She took her seat at the controls and pulled up an image on her mini panel on her wrist. It was her ultrasound.
"Every loop is a new opportunity to change the outcome, to navigate through our choices and find a better path," She said to herself " A path to you"