I work in a Time Travel Lab. A lot of things go unexplained.

I work in a time travel lab. We receive messages from our future selves - not the same future for everyone, but each person's own personal future. <br><br>I was needed at the lab in an emergency, because my future self had died while executing a Time Travel, needed to be replaced, and I was an ideal candidate for the job. I was rather young, I was only eleven - but I was glad to be out of school. <br><br>They didn't give me many instructions and expected me to pick up on most of the job on my own. I was repeating the same exercise over and over again, especially in the beginning. <br><br>They told me that sometimes a Time Traveler would be replaced by their future self. All you would see was a flash of light, and the person's eyes would flicker for a moment, until you would know that it had happened. But I had never personally experienced it. <br><br>Even though I had Time Traveled several times and had only found myself replaced once, I was still scared because the flash of light that I saw in my eye was so bright that I had to cover my eyes. <br><br>I was very disoriented. I was standing in a hallway, staring at a white wall, and had no idea where my lab was. I had no idea what had just happened - not even who I was. Looking down, I saw that I was an adult now. <br><br>I kept moving down the hallway, hoping to find someone who could answer my questions. This turned out to be a mistake. <br><br>I wandered the hallway for what felt like hours before I finally found a door. It was locked with a fingerprint lock, but I pressed my fingerprint down on it and the door opened. <br><br>I gasped as I took in the sight in front of me. This place was *the lab*, but it was completely changed. Everything was new, and I could tell that I had been here for a while. <br><br>I was starting to remember things now, and I was realizing that I had been here for much longer than I had thought. I was twenty-eight now. But I had also been my 11-year-old self, my 18-year-old self, my 21-year-old self, and my 25-year-old self. I had learned so much in that time. I had done so many things. <br><br>I was scared, because I had been told that, no matter what, a Time Traveler was never to Travel to a time when they had already lived. If they did, there would be two of them in the same place at the same time. <br><br>I knew that wasn't the case here. I had been many different ages since I was eleven, but I had never been the same age twice. <br><br>I was scared, but there was someone I trusted more than almost anyone in the world. My friend Emily. Emily and I had been friends for almost all of my life. We had been friends since we were children. We had met in kindergarten, and had been inseparable ever since. I knew that she would know the truth, and she would be honest with me. <br><br>I made my way to Emily's office. She was sitting at her desk. She looked up at me and started to cry. <br><br>"Amelia," she sobbed. "Damn it. I was so close. I was going to make it this time."<br><br>"What are you talking about," I asked, confused. <br><br>"You're dead, Amelia. You have been for months. I'm trying to get you back, but I can't. I keep losing you. I never get past 28. If I do, you won't reach 30. You'll never reach 30."<br><br>"You keep losing me?" I repeated. <br><br>"Yes. This isn't the first time I've met you. Amelia, you don't remember because you can't, but I've known you your whole life. You were born with a gift, and that gift was me. You have been with me forever. I've known you. I know exactly how you'll react to any situation. You are my only hope, Amelia, and I needed you to grow up, to be strong." <br><br>"Strong? I'm not strong at all," I protested. <br><br>"No, you are. Amelia, you need to be strong because you are going to save humanity. Yes, you're only 28, but you need to do this, and you need to do it now. Now is our only chance, Amelia. <br><br>"Don't you see, Amelia? I'm playing a game of chess with fate. I need you to make one move, and I can take over from there. I'm your future self, Amelia. At least, I'm one of them. There are so many futures, Amelia, and in all of them, you are the key. <br><br>"But I can only see one future at a time. I can only live one future at a time. I need to be able to see the futures ahead of me, Amelia. That's why I'm doing this." <br><br>"I don't understand," I said. <br><br>"Yes, you do. You just don't want to admit it." <br><br>"How are you planning on getting me to 30?" I asked, exasperated. <br><br>"I'm not. I'm going to kill you," Emily said matter-of-factly. <br><br>"If you are going to kill me, why did you get me back?" <br><br>"I need you to do one thing, and then I need you to die. I need you to become my assistant. I need you to help me kill you. Yes, it's needed. It's needed for our survival, for our fate. <br><br>"I need to be able to see one future. All the other timelines must die. <br><br>"And I can only do that if you die. <br><br>"So, will you be my assistant?" <br><br>I nodded. <br><br>It didn't take long. <br><br>"You can choose how you die, if you want," she said. <br><br>"No. That's okay," I replied. <br><br>It was over in one fraction of an instant. <br><br>But my eyes flickered. <br><br>My life passed in front of my eyes. <br><br>Before the light stopped flickering, I saw Emily's reaction. <br><br>"No," she whispered. "I failed. I'm going to have to do it all over again..." <br><br>The flickering stopped, and I was gone.