Chapter 2: Fate
04:59
The red light in the engine core pulsed slowly.
In time with Aris's heartbeat.
04:58
The ticking sound no longer came from the wall clock.
It came from everywhere.
From the air.
From the table.
From inside his head.
Tick... Tock... Tick... Tock...
Aris took a step back, then two steps. His throat was dry. His mind tried to grasp logic, but logic was far behind his fear.
"This is just an illusion... just the effect of an electromagnetic field... just...."
04:41
The machine hummed louder. The air around it curved like a giant lens. The light from the laboratory lamps was drawn toward the metal core, stretching like thin threads. A red and blue mist began to appear slowly.
The research papers on the table began to shake.
Then...
FLOAT.
One sheet lifted.
Then ten.
Then all of them.
Aris covered his face as the sheets of formulas flew around the machine like panicked birds.
On the whiteboard, the red writing looked fresher.
DO NOT ACTIVATE AGAIN
As if it had just been written.
04:12
"Anna…"
The name slipped from his lips like a prayer. He remembered Anna was still at the restaurant.
If the timeline was going to collapse… if something was truly about to happen in five minutes… then the first public place filled with people was the most important place.
Aris looked at the machine once more. Its core pulsed like a heart about to explode.
"Don't touch that machine again…"
Aris, still wearing his slightly dirty white lab coat with a black T-shirt and black pants, turned and ran.
04:03
The laboratory door slammed open.
The hallway was dark and quiet. Sensor lights turned on one by one as he ran past them, like a room waking up from a long sleep.
The footsteps from his black shoes echoed too loudly along with his heartbeat.
Tok! Tok! Tok!
At the end of the hallway, the digital clock that usually showed the time and temperature now only displayed one red number:
04:00
Aris stopped suddenly.
"That's... not a clock..."
The number flashed.
03:59
His breath caught in his throat.
It wasn't just in his head.
03:32 - PARKING LOT
The night air was bitterly cold. The park lights flickered erratically, as if the world had lost its power supply.
The cars were parked silently, except for one. Its headlights were on by themselves.
Aris recognized it. It was his car, parked in front of the laboratory building. He clearly remembered turning it off.
The car engine was already running when he opened the door. The radio was on, emitting a faint static noise.
"...no... repeat... timeline... move away..."
His hands trembled as he turned off the radio.
03:10
The digital speedometer lit up.
It wasn't showing speed, but a countdown.
03:09
"Don't start either..." he muttered, then stepped on the gas.
02:41 - CITY STREETS
The city looked normal. Too normal.
The traffic lights were green.
People were crossing the street leisurely.
A pair of teenagers laugh on the sidewalk.
A pizza delivery guy yawns while waiting for an order.
No one saw the sky earlier.
No one heard the world almost tear apart.
But...
Every digital screen Aris passes LED billboards, ATMs, bus stop screens. All display a small red number in the bottom corner.
02:30
No one noticed.
Except him.
"That creature has seen you…"
The words echoed.
"Who is THEY?"
"Who is that Creature?"
"Or something closer?"
02:02 - IN FRONT OF THE RESTAURANT
Aris slammed on the brakes when he arrived in front of the restaurant.
The restaurant was bright and warm. Crystal chandeliers reflected golden light onto the sidewalk. Soft piano music drifted out every time a door opened.
It was the perfect place for a proposal. He got out of the car. Through the window, he saw a couple laughing. Waiters were serving wine. Steaming hot dishes. The glass door opened as he entered.
DING!
The doorbell rang.
A waiter turned around and greeted him warmly. "Good evening, sir..."
Then he stopped.
"Sir, are you okay? You look very pale."
Aris looked around.
"A woman... sitting alone. Long brown hair. Wearing a white dress. She arrived at seven o'clock."
The waiter frowned. "We don't have a guest like that tonight."
"Impossible. She called me from here!"
Another waiter approached. "Maybe you're at the wrong restaurant?"
Aris shook his head vigorously. "The piano, the marble walls, the painting of an old ship next to the bar."
They looked at each other.
"That... is a description of this restaurant five years ago," said the waiter softly. "Before the renovation."
Aris's blood seemed to stop flowing.
He turned to the wall.
There was no painting of a ship.
Instead, there was a modern abstract painting.
01:31
The restaurant's wall clock ticked normally.
But the shadow of the hands...
was moving backwards.
01:12
"Can I see the reservation list?" Aris pressed.
The waiter showed him the guest list tablet.
But Anna Heidegger's name was not there.
Aris backed away slowly.
"No... she's here. She's angry. She's waiting..."
Suddenly, the piano stopped.
All the sounds in the restaurant stretched out... slowed down... like a broken tape.
Glasses that were about to touch the table were suspended in midair.
Laughter turned into a low echo.
The waiter froze halfway.
Only Aris was still moving.
And from the reflection in the window...
he saw something standing behind him.
A tall figure. Too tall. Its face was blurry like an out-of-focus image.
Where the face should have been…
a clock hand spun rapidly.
Aris turned around.
There was nothing there.
The restaurant returned to normal.
The piano resumed playing.
"Sir?"
The waiter touched his shoulder.
Aris jumped and backed away.
00:48
He ran outside.
00:39 - INSIDE THE CAR
His hands trembled as he started the engine.
"If not here... then at her house"
Anna's house wasn't far from this restaurant. He then stepped on the gas pedal.
The street lights began to turn off one by one as his car passed by.
They weren't turning off, it was more like... they were turning on late.
The world began to fall behind by a few seconds.
00:21 - IN FRONT OF ANNA'S HOUSE
The two-story house was dark.
Too dark.
Anna was afraid of the dark. She always turned on the porch light.
Aris got out of the car. The night wind stopped.
It stopped completely. The leaves on the trees froze in the air.
00:14
He pressed the doorbell. But there was no sound.
He then knocked on Anna's door.
"Anna! It's me, Aris!"
There was not a sound. It was very quiet.
The door was unlocked. Aris pushed it open slowly.
00:09 - INSIDE THE HOUSE
It smelled like an empty house that had been uninhabited for a long time. It wasn't a house that had been left for a few hours. There was a thin layer of dust on the table. There were no photos on the walls. The bookshelves were empty.
The carpet had a square mark where the sofa used to be.
"No... no... no..."
00:05
There was one object on the living room table.
A small red velvet box.
Aris's hands trembled as he opened it.
His engagement ring was inside.
But the ring had been in his jacket pocket earlier.
He reached into his pocket, but it was gone.
00:03
Under the ring box was a piece of paper.
Anna's handwriting.
But the ink was faded, like it had been written decades ago.
"I'm sorry for leaving you before you had a chance to come."
00:02
Aris trembled. "Before I... came?"
00:01
Underneath that sentence was a date.
6/2/2021
That was five years ago.
00:00
Time stopped.
Not like before, not slowing down, not going backwards.
It broke.
Aris felt his body being pulled into an invisible point, like a thread being sucked into a needle hole. The world collapsed without a sound. There was no light. Only the sensation of falling without direction, without end.
Then...
THUD.
He slammed into the hard ground.
Air rushed into his lungs with a strange smell: wet earth, wood smoke, and something fishy... blood, perhaps. Aris coughed violently, his palms touching the rough, rocky surface.
He opened his eyes.
The gray sky stretched low. Clouds moved quickly, as if being chased by something. There were no buildings. No street lights. No sound of engines.
There were only screams.
Aris woke with a start.
Surrounding him were wooden houses with thatched roofs. The dirt roads were covered in mud. People dressed in coarse brown and gray cloth ran around shouting in a language that sounded ancient, but he could still understand.
"Take the sick out of the city!"
"Don't touch them!"
"Pray! We need prayers!"
At the end of the road, a bell rang frantically.
TONG...TONG...TONG
It wasn't beating. It was calling.
Aris looked down. His scientist's coat was gone. He was now wearing a worn dark tunic, rough leather shoes, and an old belt. His hands trembled as he touched his own face, which was still the same.
"What year is this...?" he whispered.
A bearded man ran past him carrying a small child who was limp. The child's face was pale blue, his neck swollen with black lumps.
Aris froze.
He recognized it from history books. From pictures. From statistics.
But never from this close.
"Water! Help, water!" shouted a woman.
Aris reflexively moved forward, then stopped.
This is not my time.
This is not my world.
But his feet moved on their own.
He followed the crowd to the village square. There, a wooden pole stood with a pile of firewood beneath it. An old woman was tied up, her head bowed. A priest stood in front, holding a symbol of an eye.
"This disease is a punishment," he cried. "And the cause is those who play with God's time."
Aris' blood froze.
Those words...
He heard a whisper behind him.
"They will come again. They always do"
Aris turned around.
A young boy stood alone. He was probably ten years old. His eyes were too calm for a child his age.
"You... can see me, right?" asked the boy.
Aris nodded slowly.
The boy smiled. It was a strange smile. As if he knew too much.
"Good. That means you're not from here."
"Where am I?" asked Aris hoarsely.
"Daconia," replied the boy. "The year of God 0110."
Aris staggered.
"This... is impossible..."
"Time is never straight," said the boy lightly. "Only humans like to pretend it is."
The bell rang again. This time faster.
TONG...TONG...TONG...TONG
Aris felt something pulsing in his chest. Not his heart.
Something else.
He reached into his chest and found a cold object beneath the fabric.
A pocket watch with many symbols he had never seen before.
He opened it with trembling hands. The hands spun wildly, then stopped.
Pointing to a symbol that wasn't a number.
"Everyone who touches the core of your machine," said the boy, "always ends up here. Or in a place like this."
"What do you mean, always?" Aris stared at him sharply. The boy turned toward the wooden pole. The old woman screamed as the fire was lit.
"The origin," the boy replied softly. "The turning point. The year when there were too many deaths, too much fear. Time became... soft."
The fire burned. Aris wanted to scream. He wanted to stop it. But his feet felt rooted to the ground.
"Who are you?" he whispered. The boy stared at him for a long time.
"My name is Savitar," he said. "At least... it used to be."
The air around them trembled.
People froze. The fire stopped moving. Smoke hung like a painting.
From behind the giant bell, something emerged. A tall figure. Too tall.
Its shadow curved unnaturally in the light. Its face was blurred, and above its head was...
the silhouette of a giant clock facing downward
with hands spinning in the opposite direction.
Tick... Tock... Tick... Tock...
Aris trembled.
"What is that creature?" whispered Aris.
Savitar nodded.
"We call it KALA," he said. "It doesn't kill. It just makes sure."
"Makes sure what?!"
"That no one returns before their time," replied Savitar. "Including Anna."
"Wait, how do you know about Anna?" said Aris.
Savitar was silent... he didn't answer the question.
Savitar stared at the pocket watch in Aris's hand, not his face.
"That watch chose you," he said finally. "Not because you created the machine... but because you lost something."
"You haven't answered my question," Aris pressed. "How do you know about Anna?"
Savitar stepped closer. The ground didn't creak. It was as if the boy wasn't really touching the world. He pointed to the pocket watch.
"Try listening," he said.
Aris lifted the watch to his ear.
There was no ticking.
Instead... there were whispers.
Not one voice, but many, overlapping each other. Cries. Prayers. Broken promises. Names spoken halfway, then fading away.
And among them all, one was clear...
"Aris..."
His breath caught.
"That... that's Anna's voice."
