Hopes X Desires

Aris Zimmer, a scientist researching quantum time gaps, woke up in his laboratory at exactly seven o'clock in the evening—the same time his girlfriend, Anna, was furious because he hadn't shown up for an important dinner that was supposed to be his proposal night. But something was wrong. The clock on the wall showed a different time from the outside world. His whiteboard was covered in warnings he didn't remember writing. And his experimental machine—which should have been shut down—was active again. As the sky began to spin and reality stuttered like a damaged video, Aris received a mysterious call from someone. The warning was simple: don't touch that machine again—because something outside of time had seen him. The countdown began.