Discarded scrap and junk laid bare on a wooden table, the distinct sound of grinding gears and various machinery churning into one algorithmic noise. Sua’s palms had long since turned callous, fingers having already accustomed to the feeling of cold metal biting into skin, as she tweaked the hunk of technology in front of her. All of this was for one objective, a mission Sua had devoted her entire life to.

Bringing back her lover.

It had been years since she’d last seen Mizi’s smile, and she was sure of that fact, since the date of their separation had been etched into her very mind and soul. But no matter the passage of time or the countless times she’d been encouraged to move on by reoccuring face, Sua continued researching. Prototyping. Building. Testing.

The process had repeated for countless times. She couldn’t even list the numerous fails or errors she’d encountered along the way. But alas, she was once again at the last stage of the design cycle. A time-machine, built up of an array of expensively unsustainable materials and elaborate mechanisms. Sua had even gone out of her way to paint it pink. And she knew it would work this time.

It had to.

And if it didn’t? She’d continue trying to defy the laws of nature and physics all over again, returning right back to the start as she had done many times before, if only to reunite with Mizi once again.

“…Finally.” A breathless sigh filled with tire left her, her body practically collapsing against the table leg behind her. It was the final portion of her routinely lab tests, and Sua was just about done with the machine in its entirety. “A break would be nice, but…”

She didn’t need to finish her sentence, the remaining words of longing already floating around in her head. Slowly, she stood up from her seat on the floorboards, glove-clad hands methodically moving down to brush off any lingering dirt from the white fabric of her lab coat. Sua carried herself over to the small table besides the time machine and hovered her fingers over it, aiming to turn it on…

Spshhh…—

A harsh hiss filled the room, followed by the acrid odor of chemicals. Sua’s eyes instantly widened, her body frozen as if suspended in time, and she could do nothing but watch as the contents of a test tube slowly seeped into the time machine’s circuits; frying the electric components.

It felt as if her heart had ceased to beat… And then, the fumes. Bursts of steam that practically blew the carefully screwed in bolts off the machine, all rising up to create a thick fog that blanketed the entire vicinity of her at-home lab. Yet despite this, she didn’t move. Instead, she observed in disbelief as a glow emitted from the machine, giving way to a silhouette she could only dare to deem as familiar.

“…Mizi..?”

When the fog finally dispersed and Sua’s eyes took in the figure, did the confusion settle in. It was Mizi.. yet not her Mizi. Rather, a carbon cut-out with similar features but an entirely different selfhood — and she looked just as confused as Sua did.