What happened
in 1984?
Words/Images/Sounds by Kevin Powell
Everything happened in 1984. It was the beginning of the end. The taste of power was on everyone’s lips as an experiment led to a discovery that would change mankind forever. A stolen synthesizer and time travel device takes Maxx from 1984 into the future to unravel the truth about the reclusive founder of the Rubix computer corporation and an attempt to redefine humanity as we know it.
“I now have the power to transcend space and time.”
– Daniel Rubix | February 7, 1984
As he ventured deeper into the bowels of the building, Maxx encountered time leaks–rifts in reality caused by the instability of Rubix’s time travel technology. These leaks distorted time itself, creating pockets of alternate realities that threatened to consume everything in their path. Maxx’s head throbbed with agonizing headaches, the side effect of his journey through time.
The underground facility of the Rubix Corporation pulsed with an eerie glow, a maze of metal and concrete. Maxx sprinted through a dimly lit corridor, machine gun fire tearing through the air as he zigzagged between pillars for cover. He spotted an access panel ahead. It was his only chance.
Gunshots narrowly missing him, he slammed the lever to open the airlock. There it was, he could see the Lamborghini at the end of the courtyard and raced through the rain towards it.
Alarms blared and cast an ominous red glow over the scene. Maxx’s breath caught in his throat as he fumbled with the key to start the car, guards closing in. With a desperate twist, the engine roared to life and his foot slammed the gas pedal, drowning out the sound of rain and gunfire as the Lamborghini rocketed forward into the exit shaft. A hail of bullets shattered the air where the car had been moments before.
The computer display on the dash flashed, warning Maxx of the awakening sentry drones as they buzzed to life. The drones now closing in, armed their weapons and locked in on the Lamborghini. Maxx’s fingers danced across the control panel, deploying a burst of blinding light that disoriented the pursuing machines. The drones faltered, their sensors momentarily blinded, and Maxx seized the opportunity. He swerved left, narrowly missing a wall, expertly maneuvering the Lamborghini through the labyrinthine shaft. Maxx flipped the switch cover open arming the rockets and slapped back the firing trigger.
Ahead, and explosion rocked the tunnel, sending shockwaves through the air. Debris rained down, but Maxx’s luck held, and he swerved past the final wreckage, the Lamborghini tires gripping the slick ground.
With a final burst of speed and a heart-stopping skid, Maxx burst out of the exit shaft and into the rainy, open air. The guards’ shouts and gunfire faded into the distance.
Maxx’s head still throbbed, his body ached, but he had escaped. As the Lamborghini roared beneath him, he knew that his journey was far from over, but for now, he had a moment of respite— a moment to savor the sweet taste of freedom.
As he sped towards the city, a tracking device blinked in the rain under the rear of the car as it transmitted Maxx’s location.
