Four months after arriving in Antarctica, Xenia and Foxi finally completed the first version of the timeline device.
The machine was still small and experimental, but it was powerful enough to open a temporary viewing portal.
Inside the research chamber, the device hummed softly as energy swirled through its core. Small sparks of bluish-gold light danced along the metal rings.
Foxi carefully placed a camera and an apple inside the testing container.
"We send simple objects first," he said. "If they survive, we know the portal works."
Xenia nodded, eyes shining.
"Ready."
Foxi pressed the activation button.
A circular ripple of light appeared in the air, twisting and expanding until it formed a shimmering window into another timeline.
Through the camera feed, Xenia and Foxi saw something they did not expect.
A battlefield.
Soldiers crawled through muddy trenches. Smoke rose in gray clouds, mingling with the smell of gunpowder. Explosions echoed in the distance.
Foxi frowned.
"This… this looks like war."
One of the soldiers noticed the apple and the strange camera that had appeared nearby. He picked up the apple while another grabbed the camera, inspecting it with suspicion.
"They think it's some kind of spying device," Foxi whispered.
Moments later, the soldiers smashed the camera. The portal flickered violently and then collapsed, leaving the lab in stark silence.
Xenia stared at the dark, quiet machine. Her lips curved into a slow smile.
"It worked."
Foxi laughed, disbelief and excitement tangled in his voice.
"We just saw another timeline."
Both scientists looked at each other, hearts racing. For the first time in Dhuman history, they had observed a world beyond their own.
Neither of them realized that this small experiment—an apple, a camera, and a shimmering portal—would soon ripple across time itself.
The Human Paradox had just begun.