For a moment, no one spoke.
The hallway lights hummed quietly above them.
Computers in nearby offices beeped softly.
Normal sounds.
Normal reality.
But Ethan didn't feel normal anymore.
He looked down at his hands again.
The blue glow pulsed faintly beneath his skin.
Not painful.
Just… heavy.
Like holding something far bigger than himself.
"…I can feel it," he said quietly.
Liya stepped closer.
"Feel what?"
He searched for the words.
"…Time."
Mira tilted her head.
"Explain."
Ethan closed his eyes for a second.
Then spoke slowly.
"It's like hearing thousands of clocks at once."
"Every second."
"Every moment."
"Moving."
The chronal officer's eyes widened slightly.
"…That's not good."
Liya frowned.
"Why?"
"Because humans aren't built to process temporal flow."
She pointed at Ethan.
"If his brain is syncing with the fracture…"
"…he's literally perceiving time differently."
Mira smirked slightly.
"So basically he's running on timeline Wi-Fi now."
Ethan opened his eyes again.
"…That's actually not a terrible description."
The officer checked her device.
New readings appeared.
TEMPORAL SYNCHRONIZATION: 18%
She muttered,
"…It's already happening."
Liya looked worried.
"How fast?"
"Too fast."
Ethan rubbed his temples.
"…I can see things."
Mira's smile faded.
"What kind of things?"
He looked down the hallway.
"…Possible futures."
Silence fell instantly.
Liya whispered,
"…Like visions?"
"Yes."
"But not exactly."
He pointed toward the elevator.
"For example…"
"In one future, the elevator opens right now."
Everyone turned.
The elevator stayed closed.
Ethan continued.
"In another one…"
"…the lights go out."
Nothing happened.
Mira crossed her arms.
"So which one actually happens?"
Ethan hesitated.
"…Neither."
The elevator doors suddenly opened.
A confused office worker stepped out.
The hallway lights flickered once.
Then stabilized.
Both futures happened.
Just seconds apart.
Mira blinked.
"…Well that's unsettling."
The officer looked at her screen again.
The synchronization meter climbed higher.
TEMPORAL SYNCHRONIZATION: 21%
Liya grabbed Ethan's hand gently.
"Does it hurt?"
He shook his head.
"No."
"But it's getting louder."
"What is?"
"Time."
Mira walked closer to him.
Studying him carefully.
"…If you keep syncing like this…"
"…you'll eventually see entire timelines."
The officer added,
"And when that happens…"
"…you'll stop experiencing life normally."
Liya frowned.
"…Meaning?"
"Meaning every moment will feel like it's happening at once."
Ethan laughed weakly.
"That sounds overwhelming."
"Exactly."
The officer's device suddenly beeped again.
She looked down.
Her expression shifted immediately.
"…That's new."
Mira leaned over.
"What now?"
The screen showed a new anomaly marker.
Not at the tower.
Not at the hospital.
Somewhere else.
TEMPORAL DISTORTION DETECTED
LOCATION: CITY CENTRAL STATION
Ethan's stomach dropped.
"…Train station."
Liya looked at him.
"What?"
He spoke slowly.
"…I just saw it."
"Another future."
The officer frowned.
"What happens there?"
Ethan looked shaken.
"…A crash."
Mira sighed.
"Of course."
"Time always escalates."
The officer checked the projection.
A train route appeared on her screen.
Then a flashing warning.
COLLISION EVENT PROBABILITY — 92%
Liya whispered,
"…How long?"
The officer checked the countdown.
Her voice dropped.
"…Thirty minutes."
Mira groaned.
"Seriously?"
"We just stopped a skyscraper collapse."
"And now we're preventing a train wreck?"
Ethan stared at the glowing energy in his hands.
"…No."
Liya looked at him.
"What?"
"This one is different."
"How?"
He looked toward the window.
In the distance, the train tracks curved through the city.
"…This crash doesn't happen in the original timeline."
The officer frowned.
"What are you saying?"
Ethan answered quietly.
"This accident exists because of me."
Silence.
Mira raised an eyebrow.
"…Explain."
Ethan swallowed slowly.
"Every time I change something…"
"…the timeline pushes back somewhere else."
The officer's eyes widened.
"…Temporal recoil."
Liya whispered,
"…So stopping the tower caused the train crash."
Ethan nodded.
"…The universe balancing itself."
Mira sighed deeply.
"Well."
She grabbed her helmet again.
"Guess we're saving a train now."
But Ethan didn't move.
Because the visions in his head suddenly became stronger.
A flash of steel.
A scream.
The sound of metal tearing apart.
He grabbed his head.
"…Wait."
Liya rushed to him.
"Ethan!"
He looked up.
Eyes wide.
"…We're too late."
The officer checked her device again.
The collision timer had updated.
TRAIN COLLISION EVENT
TIME REMAINING: 04:12
Mira whispered,
"…That's not thirty minutes."
The officer nodded slowly.
"No."
"The timeline just accelerated again."
Outside—
Far across the city—
A high-speed train was already approaching the central station.
And its brakes had just failed. ⏳