The "Chronos_Cache" wasn't just a folder on a hard drive; it was a digital vault of Arjun's torment. He didn't need a screen to see the future anymore. The visions attacked him everywhere, at any time—in the quiet of his apartment, walking through the bustling Jaipur streets, even in the brief, fitful moments of sleep that offered no true respite. His mind, once a personal sanctuary, had become a terrifying window onto the Earth's unraveling.
Each time a new, catastrophic future solidified, it was like a cold, raw shard of ice piercing his consciousness, pulling him into a vivid, horrifying glimpse of what was to come.
He saw the Great Drowning of Jakarta, not as a distant news report, but as the rising, brackish water creeping up high-rises, engulfing ancient mosques and modern skyscrapers alike, people clinging to rooftops before being swept away by currents that once were bustling streets. The sheer scale of the water, claiming vast swathes of human habitation, choked him.
He witnessed the Saharan Dust Storms, not as a minor weather anomaly, but as apocalyptic, continent-spanning red blizzards that devoured entire cities in days, rendering vast regions uninhabitable, choking crops and lungs alike. The taste of grit and the smell of ozone filled his senses, even as he stood thousands of miles away.
He foresaw the Emergence of the Deep Sea Bioluminescence, a terrifying, pulsating glow spreading across the Pacific, accompanied by massive, impossible creatures, vaguely reptilian and utterly alien, rising from depths previously unexplored, disrupting ecosystems and scattering global shipping. The primal fear they inspired was bone-deep.
He endured the Arctic Thaw and Viral Bloom, seeing ancient permafrost melt not just into water, but into shimmering, unseen clouds releasing dormant pathogens, unleashing plagues that bypassed modern medicine, spreading with terrifying speed and lethality through unprepared populations. The chilling coughs and feverish faces were burned into his memory.
Each vision was a personal assault, a confirmation of the world's accelerating demise. He would gasp, clutch his head, or stumble, momentarily disoriented by the vivid horror. His physical body in Jaipur would react, even as his mind was immersed in the apocalyptic scenarios unfolding thousands of miles and days away. After each episode, as quickly as he could regain his composure, he would access his system, not just to mentally process, but to meticulously log and convert these raw, terrifying experiences into data streams and video fragments, storing them within CHRONOS_CACHE.
It was a growing library of despair, a grim testament to the future he was desperate to prevent. Every entry was a wound, a further burden on his already strained humanity, hardening his resolve with each new glimpse of the unavoidable destruction