[Third person POV, Year 1999, first loop, July 7th]
{Zane Alexander - Radio Silence Starts Playing}
Adrian was in his studio, surrounded by musical instruments that he now owned, while he was writing posts in some internet forums. The posts were speculative fiction disguised as innocent questions like "Could the WTC be a target of an attack by terrorists?" or "How would the U.S. react if a terror attack happened?" All of this, of course, while maintaining anonymity at all costs—using temporary emails for account creation, taping his laptop camera, using a VPN, and all sorts of complicated methods so that his location and identity remained completely hidden.
'After all, with a potential super artificial intelligence like Zola on the internet, we never know if he's aware of things. I want to minimize the possibility of him finding me as much as possible.'
Our protagonist was already at the 4th step of his plan to stop 9/11. In fact, as of right now, the plan could be said to be a promising success.
'Maybe I'll even do it on the first try. I just have to not get cocky.'
The reason for his confidence was what he had just heard in the news—three people who had been taking flight lessons were arrested in Florida.
'Knowing they took flight classes in the U.S. before the attacks made this so much easier… even more knowing when they arrived and where they took the flights. Sending those anonymous tips was worth the trouble.'
Done for the day with his posting, Adrian unplugged a USB stick from his laptop, then proceeded to begin a full system reboot before standing up from his chair.
"Alright, time for music to stop."
Reaching out mentally to his soul, a red glow was emitted from it—and the music stopped.
{Music stops}
With a satisfied smile, our protagonist exited the studio and slowly walked into the living room, where he found a singular hamster running across the floor.
"Bartholomew Chungus Gingersnap The Great! What the fuck are you doing outside of the cage?!"
Startled, Adrian screamed at his pet while immediately running after the slippery rat(Hamster) that it was.
"Come back here!"
After a while, Adrian finally caught the squeaky hamster in his hands.
"Bartholomew Chungus Gingersnap The Great, we already talked about you running out of your cage. How the fuck did you even escape this time? It shouldn't even be possible to get out without opening it from the outside!"
Letting out a big sigh, our protagonist walked to his room and placed the hamster back in its cage. The pet quickly began running in its wheel like nothing happened.
"You are really an energetic one, aren't cha?"
Deciding to kill some time, Adrian took an unsolved Rubik's Cube and started playing with it while thinking a little.
'Being rich is nice, even more when I get even more money and start dipping my hands into some companies.'
In fact, this was something he would start doing the day before he confirmed that his plan was a complete success.
'Now that the most important hijackers are arrested, the attack is like… 80% thwarted. However, because of possible Hydra influence in this, there's still a chance it might happen—just with different people. Maybe even with more planes than in the original timeline… I have to make sure that doesn't happen. I'll have to fabricate some leaks—make it look like they came from inside the terror group.'
He stopped playing with the Rubik's Cube—now solved, of course. He was the one who scrambled it days ago as a test for his memory. Now solved, it proved that even small details like this weren't forgotten.
'Now that I think about it… this can have horrible implications.'
Walking over to the window, he gazed outside. A tree's leaves were dancing with the breeze, and a man passed by walking his dog.
'Because that means… if, for example, I were to die right now, I'd remember every single bit of it. The pain would be unimaginable.'
Shaking his head, Adrian looked around his room. It was somewhat different than the last time he made his save. Having money now meant he bought a lot of stuff and changed the decoration layout. Then, he walked back to the living room and plopped on the sofa, grabbing the TV remote to turn it on.
"I need to develop the internet faster. Nine years of not having it—while it cured my brainrot—also means passing the time is harder. I don't wanna learn every instrument humanity ever created."
Being a time traveler has its downsides. No internet meant no access to nearly infinite entertainment and information. And while learning acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, drums, piano, trumpet, saxophone, bongos, and accordion had been fun… he wanted to watch some YouTube videos already.
"Maybe I should start writing a book after September. It'll make me even richer than I am now."
Suddenly, the door was being knocked
TOCK TOCK TOCK
"Oh, that should be mom with the groceries."
Standing up from the sofa, our protagonist walked to the door and asked through it, since he wasn't tall enough for the peephole.
"Mom! Is that you?!"
"Yes, it's me."
The voice was a little muffled due to the door, but hearing his mother's voice, Adrian opened it.
"Did you buy the chocolate I ask—"
Just as Adrian started opening the door mid-sentence, he was suddenly flung a couple of meters back. The wooden door was destroyed by the strike. Adrian, now on the floor, coughing and feeling pain in one of his ribs, looked up at the person who attacked him.
"Cough… God damnit… cough… Hydra?"
Seeing the man slowly approaching him, our protagonist asked—though he already had a good idea. After all, the one standing before him was none other than the Winter Soldier himself: Bucky Barnes.
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Author Note: Now we are finally starting with the marvel characters appearing, next chapter expect some action and even more, for now, this will be the end of the chapter.
ADD TO LIBRARY AND DROP POWERSTONES.