Per 
It was an entirely normal day for Richard Reser.
The blaring of the alarm clock jolted him awake at 7 am, as always, and he yawned as he brushed his teeth, ate his breakfast, and got ready for work.
His boss at the office was expecting his completed report on his desk by 8. Richard shuddered as he thought of the implications if he handed it in late. Thankfully, as he made his way to the office, he noted with relief that the roads were not too congested, and estimated that he could make it in time.
"In other news, an accident occured near Baker Street at around 9.05 pm yesterday, resulting in the death of 5 people. The cause of the deaths are still unknown, but the police have officially labelled it as a 'hit-and-run'. The investigation is still ongoing…" the voice coming from the car radio abruptly stopped speaking as he switched it off.
"That's better," he muttered under his breath, as he drove the rest of the way to the office in plain silence.
Richard awoke with a start. The room he was in was entirely pitch black.
With fumbling hands, he reached for the light switch. He found it, and the room was bathed in light.
He struggled to stand up and walk around the room. His head was continually throbbing with pain, and his vision was blurry as he stumbled around the room.
There was something at the corner of the room. With great difficulty, he bent down and scooped up the strange item.
It was a device, or at least it was when it was still functional. It looked like it had exploded, and bits loosely hung from the sides like little flakes of skin
Turning it over, he could make out part of a word on the piece of device.
-lityAn-
"Richard!"
Richard looked up from his computer and turned to face the source of the voice. Dave Keller, one of his colleagues and friends, was standing next to him, beaming widely, with one hand on his swivel chair.
He smiled, and replied, in the most enthusiastic tone he could muster, "Dave! How are you doing?"
"Pretty good, if I might say so!" Dave said, the same unwavering smile still on his face, "Managed to secure a deal with one of our important clients!"
"Who?"
"You know the guy who rejected your deal last time?"
"Oh, that one."
"Took some intense negotiating, but I finally did it! One more client secured, and I am on my way to that sweet promotion!"
"I'm really glad for you," he replied in the most non-cynical tone he could muster up. "If you're done, I have to get back to my work."
"Sure, sure," Dave replied as he began to walk out of the cubicle. Taking a few steps out, he stopped and turned back.
"We still heading for the station tonight?"
"Yup."
The radio crackled and buzzed as it whirred to life by Richard's touch. Silently heaving a sigh of relief, he placed the headphones over his ears and began speaking into the microphone.
"This is Opal Station. Can anyone hear me? Is anyone still there?"
The radio continued to buzz as he sat back in his chair, anxiously tapping his foot, waiting for a reply.
Suddenly, another voice came out of the speakers. It was faint, but he knew that it was indeed a person's voice.
"This is Amethyst Station. Reading you loud and clear."
A huge wave of relief washing over him, he eagerly grabbed the microphone and prepared to converse with what he knew was another survivor, like him.
"Amethyst Station. What's your current status?"
Richard and Dave were standing in front of a large, open field. Apart from a few large bugs and the occasional piece of trash, the field was completely empty.
Dave's smile was missing now, and the expression on his face was now one of pure confusion. "I don't understand. The station was right here! It's supposed to be here!" he loudly remarked.
Richard wasn't listening to Dave. He took a few steps forward, stepping on the open field.
"Looks like it doesn't want us to find anything here. They're cleaning house. They're trying to correct their mistakes," he muttered under his breath as he walked in a circular motion on the field, deep in thought.
"Fuck! I thought-" Dave paused in the middle of his outburst, unable to come up with anything to successfully continue his rant, leaving his remark in the air.
"It's alright, Dave, let's go. I don't think there's anything else we can find here." Richard nonchalantly replied as he walked back to the car that had brought the two of them to the field. Dave hesitated briefly before he turned back and walked to the car as well, and the car started up.
"You're still going to see the doctor?" Dave remarked as they drove down the dirt road.
"He hasn't shown up to any of our latest meetings. I need to check on him." Richard replied.
"Amethyst Station, are you still there?"
"Amethyst, please respond."
"Amethyst?"
The man was sitting in a chair, humming loudly as Richard walked towards him. He feared for the worst as he walked until the man was facing him.
A dirty, messy face adorned with a grizzly beard and long, greasy hair greeted him. As he squatted down until he was at face level with the man, the man stopped humming and tilted his head upwards, looking at him.
A few minutes of silence passed between the two heads before Richard cleared his throat and spoke.
"Dr. Logan."
The man didn't respond. Richard tried again.
"Doctor, do you remember me?"
The man stared at him intensely before silently shaking his head. Richard persisted.
"Doctor, do you remember me? I'm Officer Reser of the Temporal Department. We met before the Event, can you remember?"
The man shook his head again. Richard sighed, looked cautiously around to check for any other people who could overhear him, and deducing that he was safe, asked the man the important question.
"Do you remember the Foundation?"
It was a few minutes before the man replied.
"The Foundation doesn't exist. It never existed before the 11th of August. Any accidents of unnatural origin are not caused by anomalies. We were wrong."
Richard stood, disbelieving, in the light of the sun. Behind him, the door of the bunker he had just left was still open, hanging on its hinges as though it had been forced open by a great force.
He was not mistaken. He could definitely hear the noise of civilization. The city in the distance looked intact.
Confused, he began muttering to himself as he cautiously walked towards the city in the distance.
"The world didn't end? What happened then? What happened?" were the only words he could come up with in the situation.
When Richard returned home, he immediately went into his room and sat in his chair. A journal was still sitting on his table, flipped open and displaying a blank page. He picked up his pen and began to write on the page, scratching furiously at the blank spaces and filling it with words.
Eighteen months since the Event. Still no change in the situation. Anomalies still remain unchecked, and still no sign of the original Foundation. Looks like the predicament will take a little longer to solve.
T-Anomaly fixing timeline. Need to move fast. Have to find the cause of this fast, before it is too late.
As he scratched at the page with increasing ferocity, the words he was writing down began to repeat and began to become less legible.
I still remember. I still remember. I still remember. I still-
He finally stopped and stared at the mess of words he had scribbled in the book. The intense scribbling had resulted in the white paper becoming a jumble of dark blue.
As he stared at the mess he had created, he whispered to himself, "I know I'm right." He continued to whisper that line to himself even as the tears trickled down his face.
It was an entirely normal day for Richard Reser.
The 547th day of his continuing nightmare.
