Ethan had never seen numbers move like this before.
His laptop screen glowed in the dim apartment as the Helios chart continued climbing.
Helios Technologies — $1.79
Just a week ago the stock had been less than a dollar.
Now it looked like a rocket leaving the atmosphere.
Ethan refreshed the page again.
$1.82
His account balance updated.
$108,943
He stared at the number.
Six digits.
A strange mix of excitement and disbelief washed over him.
Not long ago he had been calculating whether he could afford groceries for the week.
Now he had more money than he had ever imagined.
And yet…
His mind wasn't calm.
Because of the message.
What comes next is bigger.
Ethan leaned back slowly in his chair.
The future phone had never exaggerated before.
If it said something bigger than Helios was coming…
Then the opportunity might be enormous.
But there was a problem.
Future Ethan couldn't remember the company name anymore.
Only fragments remained.
Three weeks.
Energy storage sector.
One company.
That was it.
No ticker.
No price.
No details.
Just a direction.
Ethan tapped his pen on the desk.
"Energy storage…"
He opened a new browser tab and began searching.
Battery companies.
Energy grid startups.
Next-generation storage technology.
The results were endless.
Hundreds of companies appeared.
Public companies.
Private startups.
Research labs.
It could be any of them.
Which meant one thing.
He would have to find it before the market did.
Hours passed.
Charts filled Ethan's screen.
He opened company after company.
Most of them looked ordinary.
Some were already overvalued.
Others barely had trading volume.
Nothing stood out.
Nothing screamed future explosion.
Ethan rubbed his tired eyes.
"This is impossible."
Without the exact name…
He was searching blindly.
Then he remembered something.
Future Ethan's words.
The move will make Helios look small.
Ethan sat upright.
Small.
Helios had already doubled his money.
For something to be bigger…
The price movement would have to be insane.
He opened another search tab.
This time he looked for something different.
Not stable companies.
Not famous ones.
But ignored companies.
The kind nobody believed in.
Just like Helios.
The hours slipped into night.
Outside, the city lights flickered across the rain-soaked streets.
Inside the apartment, Ethan's desk was covered in notes.
Stock tickers.
Price charts.
Energy companies.
Finally…
One name caught his attention.
Voltis Energy Systems
Ethan frowned.
He had never heard of it.
He opened the company page.
Stock price:
$0.64
Another penny stock.
But this one looked even worse than Helios.
The company had almost no media coverage.
Very low trading volume.
Most analysts ignored it completely.
Yet something about it felt… familiar.
Ethan opened the company description.
Specialization: Grid-scale energy storage technology.
His heart skipped.
Energy storage.
Exactly the sector mentioned in the future message.
He kept reading.
The company had been developing a new battery design for years.
But there was no major announcement.
No upcoming event.
Nothing that explained a potential explosion.
Ethan leaned back slowly.
"Could this be it?"
Or was it just another random company?
If he was wrong…
He could lose everything.
His eyes moved to his account balance again.
$109,321
More than one hundred thousand dollars.
For the first time in his life, Ethan had real money.
Security.
Opportunity.
A future.
But the future phone had also given him something else.
A temptation.
The possibility of turning one hundred thousand…
Into millions.
Ethan stood and walked to the window.
The city stretched below him, glowing with thousands of lights.
Somewhere out there…
People were working late jobs.
Driving taxis.
Cleaning offices.
Trying to survive.
Just like he had been doing weeks ago.
But Ethan had something none of them had.
A message from the future.
The question was simple.
Did he trust it?
Or not?
He returned to his desk.
His mouse hovered over the trading platform.
Voltis Energy Systems.
Price: $0.64
He opened the buy order window.
His heart started racing.
If he committed everything…
If this prediction was real…
The profit could be life-changing.
But if the timeline had truly started shifting…
Then the message might already be wrong.
Ethan's finger hovered over the keyboard.
Buy.
Or wait.
His thoughts raced.
Play it safe.
Or go all in.
The safe choice would be simple.
Sell Helios soon.
Lock in his six-figure profit.
Walk away.
But another thought whispered in his mind.
You didn't come this far to play safe.
Ethan smiled slightly.
The future had chosen him.
Or maybe he had chosen it.
Either way…
He wasn't stopping now.
His fingers began typing.
Buy Order: Voltis Energy Systems
Shares: 150,000
Estimated cost: $96,000
Nearly everything he had.
Even bigger than his Helios bet.
Ethan stared at the order screen.
His heartbeat echoed in his ears.
"This is insane."
But insane was exactly how he had turned $214 into over $100,000.
Slowly…
He pressed the confirmation button.
Trade Submitted.
For a moment nothing happened.
Then the screen updated.
Order Filled.
Ethan exhaled deeply.
"Well…"
He whispered.
"Let's see if the future still works."
At that exact moment…
The mysterious phone vibrated again.
Ethan froze.
He grabbed it quickly.
The screen lit up.
New text appeared.
But this message looked different.
The words appeared slowly.
Unstable.
Like a signal struggling through time.
Future Ethan:
Wait…
Ethan's eyes widened.
Did you already buy it?
His heart skipped.
"What?"
The next line appeared.
If it's Voltis…
The message stopped.
The text flickered.
Then the screen went dark.
No explanation.
No warning.
Just silence.
Ethan stared at the phone.
A cold chill spread through his chest.
He looked back at his trading screen.
Voltis Energy Systems — $0.63
Down one cent.
His new position was already losing money.
Ethan whispered quietly.
"…What did I just do?"