A masterpiece from the past

"Now listen to me carefully. This is what awaits you if you don't obey," said Mr. Aguilas.

"Who do you think you are? You just killed our friend! That's unjust!" said Assoulil.

Assoulil seemed ready to attack Mr. Aguilas, but Amnay intervened to calm the situation. "Okay, Mr. Aguilas, as the leader of this team, I accept the mission, whatever it is," said Amnay.

"Good boy. Look at the real leader," replied Mr. Aguilas.

The rest of the team looked at Amnay in a sad and confused silence. Erna understood why Amnay made this decision—he had seen the pure evil in Aguilas' eyes.

"I agree with Amnay," said Erna.

"I don't want to see my friends dying," Titrit said, wiping away tears.

Arinas remained silent, paralyzed by the crisis, with no option but to follow.

Assoulil turned back to look at Assirm's face and thought to himself, This criminal will pay, sooner or later.

Amnay gently laid Assirm down and stood to face Mr. Aguilas. "Tell us what we have to do," he said.

"You are going to search for some documents from the past, twenty years ago. On April 5th, 2005, at night in this museum, you'll find a masked man with a black backpack. Those documents are vital to me—bring the backpack to me," explained Mr. Aguilas.

"We'll do it, but don't hurt any of my friends," Amany insisted.

"Mano, check the time machine," ordered Mr. Aguilas.

"Yes, sir," replied Mr. Mano.

As he inspected the time machine, he noticed a small inscription above the stone wheel: One turn equals one year ago.

"It's just as he told us," said Mr. Aguilas.

"But how will we return after traveling?" asked Assoulil.

"The time machine will travel with you. Once the mission is complete, you'll return to the same spot," explained Mr. Mano.

"Good. Call the team to set it up," said Mr. Aguilas.

Mr. Mano whistled, summoning six men. Two carried Assirm's body, two supervised, and two began turning the wheel of the time machine—one turn, two turns, and so on until they reached twenty turns. The stone cylinder transformed into a glowing blue gateway, radiating a magical aura.

The team stared in disbelief, their eyes wide with wonder.

"The gate will close in one minute," said Mr. Aguilas. "Today is April 4th, 2025. You'll travel to April 4th, 2005, giving you one day before the mission starts."

The men forced Amnay's team toward the gate, pushing them through one by one. After they entered, the time machine vanished.

Mr. Mano turned to Mr. Aguilas. "It's just as Detective Amayk said," he remarked.

"Yes, but I still don't understand why he told us his story and claimed he's coming for revenge. I think he's lost his mind," said Mr. Aguilas, laughing.

"But sir, how can you be sure it's him sending the letters and not someone else pretending to be him?" asked Mr. Mano.

"No, I'm certain it's him. Amayk was clever—almost clever enough to expose my crimes to the world. But I stopped him, locked him away in that place. I didn't realize the myths about the time machine were true. In just one week, he found it. My mistake was not supervising him carefully. And I made another mistake when I let his friend steal the documents that incriminate me!" Aguilas shouted, firing his gun toward the ceiling.

"His friend had evidence I kidnapped Amayk. He worked in silence, without going to the police. He stole the documents and tried to save Amayk, but I caught him. I searched everywhere but found neither the documents nor Amayk. Do you remember, Mano? Do you remember what I did?"

"Yes, sir. You killed him," said Mano.

"Yes! With this very gun," said Aguilas, laughing maniacally.

Suddenly, one of the men carrying Assirm's body burst into the room, panting.

"Sir! Sir!" he shouted.

"What happened?" demanded Aguilas.

"He's still alive!"

On the other side, Amnay, Erna, Assoulil, Titrit, and Arinas felt as though they were falling from the sky—weightless, as if drifting in a dark void without stars. They heard strange, distorted sounds mixed with their own screams. Suddenly, a light appeared—it was the sun. The sensation of falling stopped abruptly, and without warning, they found themselves seated in a public garden, dressed in unfamiliar clothes. It felt magical; none of them could believe what had just happened.

"Guys, have we really traveled to 2005?" asked Assoulil.

"But wait… why are we dressed like this?" Arinas added.

"Hold on! Where's the time machine? Aguilas told us it would travel with us," Erna said, scanning the area.

"This bag I'm carrying feels really heavy—there might be something inside it," Amnay said. He took it off and pulled out a stone cylinder.

"Is this even possible? I always thought time travel was a myth," Amnay mused.

"I'm going to find out today's date," Titrit said, raising her hand to call over an old man walking nearby.

"Wait, Titrit, what are you doing?" asked Arinas.

"Why not? There's no harm in asking," Titrit replied.

"I think we should keep this a secret," Arinas cautioned.

"We belong to this time now, even if it's not ours," Amnay reasoned.

"Yes, my child, who called me?" the old man asked, stopping by.

"Me, sir," Titrit said politely. "Can you tell me today's date?"

The old man chuckled and replied, "Children these days forget so easily. It's April 4th."

"And the year?" Erna pressed.

"2005," the old man said. Then he added, "I wish I could forget or go back 20 years—maybe I could fix my mistakes. But never mind a senile old man like me. Live your lives and never forget why you live. That will push you forward. For me, it's too late. Goodbye, children."

His words resonated deeply with Amnay's team, inspiring them to face their challenges head-on.

"Thank you, sir," Titrit called after him.

"No worries," he said before vanishing from sight.

"First, let's figure out where we are. Does anyone recognize this place?" Amnay asked.

"I think we're in the National Garden. I've been here before, but it looks different," Assoulil said.

"That's normal—we've gone back 20 years," Erna explained.

"Our first priority is to hide the time machine. We can't carry it everywhere we go," Amnay said.

"You're right. Let's look for a hiding spot here," Arinas suggested.

"This place is full of people. Someone might notice it," Titrit argued.

"But no one would guess it's a time machine," Arinas countered.

"I agree with Arinas. Let's hide it in the children's play area. It's too heavy for children to move, so no one will suspect a thing," Erna proposed.

"Great idea! Now let's move—but first, I have a plan," Amnay said.

"What is it?" Erna asked.

Amnay shared his plan, and everyone agreed. Then, under Assoulil's guidance, they searched for the perfect spot to hide the time machine. Once the garden became quieter and the children went home, they carefully dug a hole in the sand where the children played. Assoulil placed the time machine inside and covered it.

"I think that's enough. No one will suspect anything hidden here," Assoulil said.

"Good job, Assoulil," Amnay praised.

"Now, let's leave this place," Erna urged.

"Our next step is to find the National Museum. We need to watch for anyone entering with a black backpack, steal it, and leave without harming them," Amnay instructed.

"Understood, Amnay," Arinas replied.

"We can do this, team," Titrit added.

Filled with hope and courage, Amnay and his friends left the garden, ready to face the tough challenges ahead.