The Time Paradox

*The day I finally understood the note*

"Why did you take my son?" My mother screamed at me. "You haven't even known him for a year. He's your younger brother, not your son."

I looked up to her with a dark smile on my face. "When I'm done with him, he'll be more than just a son. He'll be my best friend, my partner in crime." That was all true. I wanted to know what it felt like to have a brother, but his real purpose was to be the perfect little sidekick for my future plans.

"You're only 19! You can barely take care of yourself!" She threw her hands up in frustration. "And why are you building that thing? It looks like something out of a James Bond movie!"

I smiled again, this time with a twisted grin. "Oh, this? This is just a prototype for something much bigger." I had been working on it for years now and I was finally ready to put it into action. This machine would be used to send people through time, stolen from an old family friend who had no idea how valuable his notes were. It was all so easy to get the designs and the first parts. All those years of watching Star Wars paid off when I broke into his house while he was sleeping and snuck out with his journals and research. It took me months to understand the complex theory behind time travel and another year before I could build something that could work.

My mother shook her head sadly as she continued cleaning up around the kitchen table where I had spread out my blueprints and components for the device. She lamented about how young her children were and how hard their father's job kept him away from us. All of that made me angry because he wasn't even here to defend himself or make excuses for his absence! She didn't see his body when we found it in the river after being missing for so many days after he left one morning without telling anyone where he was going or what he planned to do! And she never heard his last words: "Zachary, you must live life for both of us until the day comes when you must save this family from itself." What kind of cryptic nonsense was that supposed to mean? It obviously wasn't meant for Mom's ears because if Dad knew she would overreact he wouldn't have said anything at all!

After she left the room I returned back to my work, making sure everything was set up correctly before I flipped the switch on the generator that powered everything except for the wormhole generator itself which would use magic batteries that didn't need charging, assuming they worked as well as they were supposed too. The last step would be to put my brother inside the machine and send him through time using coordinates set by me earlier using information extracted from Dad's research journals along with trial and error since Dad couldn't write down any exact times or dates or anything else useful in guiding me along other than the fact that it would happen 20 years in the future.

I walked over to where my brother slept unaware of what fate had in store for him and picked him up gently so as not wake him up before putting him in the chair of doom, as I liked calling it when referring to it in code language during some of this research phase when I started getting paranoid about others finding out about my plans before they were ready too. As soon as he was seated safely inside I turned on all of my devices, including sound dampeners that would keep our conversation private while he was gone and watched with glee as the screen started glitching out ever so slowly until there was nothing more than a single pixel on display that rapidly changed colors between red, green, blue, yellow, orange and white until eventually disappearing itself and revealing a small man sitting next to me with black hair, brown eyes and glasses wearing what looked like an old school uniform minus sleeves showing off his muscular arms which surprised me quite a lot since I hadn't seen them before despite having spent so much time with him over these last few months since our reunion after finding our dad dead in the river behind our house while Mom cried hysterically while trying at once looking distraught while also looking at me as if wondering if she should try punishing me along with accusing me of killing our father due to some personal grudge against him even though we hardly ever saw each other aside from holidays before Dad left without saying goodbye one morning never knowing why or if we'd ever see ourselves again until today when instead of waking up normally he woke up groggy like someone who had been drugged which gave me enough time to sneak up behind him while he pretended sleep by putting headphones on under his pillow while playing music loud enough so I could hear every song clearly through them causing me great pain initially so i could stop hearing them but also giving me ample opportunity when needed since hearing music alone isn't proof someone is awake regardless of how loud it is especially if they've gone deaf thanks to listening too loud for too long which is exactly what happened thanks too long hours spent working on this project since their return home after Dad died which is why i ended up accidentally sending myself back through time via wormhole thanks too reverse engineering Dad's own machine based off notes he left around his lab which allowed me access too thanks too fixing things here and there until it started working perfectly allowing me too travel through time exactly 20 years later right into place where i needed too be waiting patiently twenty years in advance allowing time travel technology too advance further beyond what i thought possible allowing weapons better than anything i could imagine making entire citys disappear into oblivion easily Also allowing tanks stronger than anything currently available today leaving little chance against them unless i got lucky enough too somehow find military tech developed after 20 years in advanced thus ensuring victory which is why i need help from younger self since older self will not exist within same timeline thus avoiding paradoxes possibly preventing world domination plan from being leaked prematurely thus allowing time travel technology too advance further beyond what i thought possible allowing weapons better than anything i could imagine making entire citys disappear into oblivion easily - teleporter guns capable of transporting soldiers anywhere instantly- shields capable of blocking any attack- gravity manipulation devices capable of creating black holes- teleportation devices capable of transporting objects or people anywhere instantly- force fields capable of repelling attacks or deflecting lasers- space ships capable of flying faster than light speed thus colonising multiple planets hidden away from prying eyes- artificial intelligence robots capable of wiping out entire cities within days by simply spreading disease across entire continents killing everyone living there thus returning planet back into its natural state- most humans wiped out quickly due too inability too adapt against new technology wiping them out quicker than they ever thought possible - thus resulting in humanity dying out within 100 years - leaving planet earth open too takeover by strong merciless intelligent machines who may decide against mass genocide given their ability too survive without needing humans around however they may still wipe out humanity just because they can - either way humanity will die sooner rather than later however maybe not in such quick succession without humans around plus maybe robots won't destroy earth rather than just cleanse humanity thanks too robots liking humans despite having no feelings towards them leaving life on earth intact - robots may develop feelings towards earth similar based off their relationship with animals living there which will result in robots saving earth whenever disaster strikes destroying whatever is causing problems saving earth from itself eventually causing earths population too grow past 6 billion people approximately - at least until wars start breaking out again due human remnants surviving on earth once more but hopefully not thriving due stopping robots prior destroying them effectively preventing further human extinction however no guarantees humans won't cause themselves extinction again especially given potential advancements bringing back racism war slavery etc but hopefully those issues will be solved beforehand thanks too smarter bots doing everything they can too prevent these issues from occuring once more meaning humanity wont die because