Master Of Time

He takes a small paintbrush and paints a strange symbol onto the front of a bullet. This same bullet is then loaded very carefully into a handgun before firing at the ground in front of him.

The gunshot forces everyone to pull out their personal firearm, but what remains of the ground makes them all speechless.

The moment the bullet impacts the earth, a chunk of the ground is vaporized. A semi-spherical hole is what remained.

There is no sound or explosion.

The ground is simply gone – annihilated.

I slow down my perception of time to see exactly what had happened.

When the front of the bullet pressed against the hard dirt, the symbol glows brightly. Powerful energy radiates from the symbol, forming a black sphere. The sphere shaves away the ground and vanishes.

All of this happens within a fraction of a microsecond. To the outside observer, the earth just vanishes shortly after the gunshot.

"Please demonstrate it again, Mr. Mercer. This time, someone please record the action so our esteem scientists can explain to us why magic couldn"t possibly exists."

I am open-minded despite being somewhat of a scientist myself. There are still many things out there in the universe that science cannot explained yet.

Although science will have a plausible explanation for them eventually, I still want to believe that G.o.d works in mysterious way.

Oh, I am not religious. I am not an atheist either.

I just believe there is a higher being. That being is to blame for everything s.h.i.+tty happens in my life.

The being is probably the one who has granted me my power, so it balances out.

Hydra scientists are speechless after viewing the recorded video at a slowest playback speed.

Within a fraction of a second, a black hole is magically formed and dissipated. It absorbs the ma.s.s from the ground, crus.h.i.+ng the dirt and gra.s.s into a singularity before fading away.

"Where did the energy go?"

One of the scientists asks, referring to Einstein theory of ma.s.s-energy equivalence.

The man theorises that ma.s.s must have been converted into energy by the black hole. This energy will be released since energy cannot be created or destroyed – only is transformed.

While the Hydra scientists are debating and exchanging their theories, the military side of Hydra sees things more practically.

"If this is just an application of magic aiding their technology, I a.s.sumes that their technology is not at the level that we have given them credit for."

Thomas points out.

He also makes a comment about how primitive the submachine looks. The evolution of gun design has make the model obsolete even by 1990s standard.

Its bullet capacity as well as rate of fire cannot compare to the 21st century firearms let alone the 25th century – this is the current level of Hydra technology.

I agree with his a.s.sessment as I scrutinize the glowing blue liquid in a vial.

The discovery of magic regardless of how unfathomable that might have sounded has allowed n.a.z.i Germany to bypa.s.s some of the technical aspects in their scientific progress.

Their seemingly endless supply of nuclear weapons is also likely have something to do with the utilization of magic.

If magic can create black hole effortless, splitting the atoms shouldn"t be too difficult.

As long as they have the technical knowledge and the right theory, they just needed to make it work somehow.

There is probably a spell symbol or some sort of rune that when activated tells the uranium atoms to split and release all the thermal nuclear energy and radiation.

Is it that simple though?

Say fire and there shall be fire. Sound magically – it is magic.

I suppose that this is the advent of Magic Tech – Magitech?

Let"s go with that for now.

"It appears that there is a sufficient reason to go ahead with the operation, Supreme Commander. Whatever this substance is, we should utilize it for ourselves. It will helps us in our goal of securing our place in the universe."

I look at the man and simply smile.

"You mean this, Mr. Whitaker?"

I demonstrates by duplicating the vial containing liquid mana.

On the table, one vial becomes two, and two becomes four. Within a minute, I have more than a thousand vial on the table.

It is exponential growth.

This is the power of temporal duplication.

It doesn"t work for people who are still alive, however. One simply vanish when there are two of them in the same timeline.

There might be something as a soul – an indivisible substance. That means the Church is right. Clones do not have a soul.

"It is not a good enough reason. As long as I have a sample, I can duplicate it as much times as I please without needing to send our men and resource to an alien world. Although, I am curious about how the symbol works. If the n.a.z.i can figures it out, I am sure that we can also figure it out. Our scientists is more smarter than the n.a.z.is once they stop wasting time and working together to solve a problem."

The last statement is directed at the scientists.

They are really wasting time, trying to qualifying the science of magic. There is a reason it is called magic. It cannot be explained by science, so there is no need to waste brain cells on the matter.

I should put a stop to that.

"I don"t know about you, but I am a believer. I suggest forming a new group that dedicate themselves to the creation and advancement of magic. Let"s call this group by the code name Mystic. As for n.a.z.i Germany, anyone else have a good reason why we should expend our forces and resources?"

The men looks at each other, trying to think of a reason based on what they know of me. Eventually, one did speak up just for the heck of it.

"How about it is the right thing to do, Supreme Commander."

I stare at Alex. Despite his status as the head engineer, he didn"t bother taking a seat at the table. He likes to be an observer, watching everything unfolding before him.

Everyone chuckles at his suggestions. They all know that I would let millions die if doing so justify the end. No one is above the cause.

"Good enough."

I response, making everyone to stare at me.

"While we are at it, we should locate a certain person named Sandra Bullock. I have my eye on her, and I will not let time and s.p.a.ce take her away from me."

However, to mobilize all of Hydra on something like this is illogical.

It is also not possible without alerting the entire world.

A division of S.W.O.R.D with support is probably sufficient for the task. Since there is a chance of death – permanent death – the liberation operation is for volunteers only.

Even so, thousands of Hydra personnel sign up to fight the n.a.z.i and return freedom to America. Some did mention the world instead of America.

There is a snag in the plan, unfortunately.

"I don"t think it is possible to send this many people, Lord Maxwell. Unless you are planning for a one way trip..."

Hammond tells me.

He didn"t shut down the temporal rift like I have told him to. It isn"t possible to do so once it have been stabilized. At least not without dire consequences.

"We have been monitoring its energy level. Every time something solid go through the rift, its energy drops significantly. Even now, its energy level is diminis.h.i.+ng. We have checked the number again and again, but we believe without a way to power the rift, it will eventually collapses."

In other words, I cannot send an army through the rift.

And once they are on the other side, there is a chance they will never be able to return home.

"You have all heard him. Still want to be a hero?"

At my announcement, the volunteers drop to almost zero.

No one wants to be stranded on another world – especially ones fill with n.a.z.i.

Even if they manage to defeat the n.a.z.i with limited support, it is still a long road of rebuilding.

Everyone have spent the better part of the last four decades working their a.s.s off to get Hydra to where it is today.

To give all of that up as well as their family – no one in their right mind would.

"It isn"t really our responsibility, Supreme Commander."