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uhh… I’d like to ask if you’re willing to test an invention of mine. I tried it myself, but I’d like someone else to try it, too.”
    Harry Neil taught physics and chemistry at Belmont’s local school and had invented several machines that Ashley proudly used. One of them was a little USB device that connected her to wireless networks without a password and then, of course, a special software that allowed her to use the web without the distraction of ads, which were growing in number every day.
    “I’d love to, but first you have to tell me what it is.”
    He hesitated and then said: “Come to my lab at eight tonight, and you’ll find out. Are you okay with the hour?”
    Ashley nodded. She wanted to know more about his discovery, but Harry had already left. He had the habit of not saying hello and goodbye.
    “He’s been acting really strangely and mysteriously recently,” she thought, but decided to take part in his experiment. She was scheduled to work until nine in the evening, but it was no problem for her to call her boss and think of an excuse to leave earlier. One of the few pros of her current job was how understanding her employer was. If he hadn’t been, she would have surely quit a long time ago.
    Ashley’s daily routine was monotonous and boring. But the idea that her band could perform a new version of its song had already nestled in her mind. After their meeting, she had wished for the universe to find a way to take her ten years back in time to their live showcase. Back then she had been a rising star, the band had been breaking through, and Wayne had managed to set up a live showcase at Hollywood’s most exclusive club, The Viper Room. The future had belonged to them. If anyone had told her back then that ten years later she would be a single mother serving tables at Starbucks, she would have laughed in their face. Now, however, she didn’t feel like laughing.
    Ashley finished work an hour and a half early and drove to Harry’s place in Belmont. She had no idea what kind of an experiment it would be, but she knew Harry well enough to trust him. He explained the essence of the test briefly: she was only required to relax and follow his instructions. Then he would inject her with UTST (Unique Time and Space Travel) – the chemical compound he had discovered. Soon after that, she would be able to choose a time and space into which she could be transferred.
    “UTST? What’s in it?” Ashley asked curiously.
    “ Galbulimima belgraveana and Homalomena leaves and my special top secret ingredient. There are no side effects; at least, I haven’t noticed any myself.”
    “And what’s this special top secret ingredient?”
    “I’m sorry, Ash, that’s confidential.”
    Ashley frowned and Harry had to reassure her: “I promise there is nothing dangerous in it.” He raised his hand and announced ceremonially, “I swear by my mother.”
    Ashley had nothing else to do but trust him.
    “Okay, Harry, let me see if I’ve gotten it right: while I’m lying on the bed relaxed, you’ll inject me with the chemical compound. When it starts working, I’ll be able to pick the time I’d like to go back to, right?”
    “Precisely so.” Harry smiled at the simplicity with which Ashley had described the work that had taken him a year.
    “And the whole time my mind will be somewhere else, my body will lay here motionless on the bed?”
    “Well, yes, yes,” he confirmed, squeezing his knuckles nervously.
    “And what if I want to cancel the experiment? How do I do it?”
    “Just make your mind focus on the sensation of your body. That will bring about a physical reaction such as the movement of your legs, and then I’ll inject you with an anti-compound. You should wake up a few minutes after that.”
    Ashley sighed and lay down.
    “Now close your eyes and relax. Riiight… Imagine that your whole body is growing heavier. Your arms, your legs,” Harry instructed her.
    After a while, he injected