The officer's device kept flashing red.
TRAIN COLLISION — 04:03
Mira stared at the countdown.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
Liya grabbed Ethan's arm.
"Four minutes?"
"That's impossible."
"We can't even reach the station in that time."
Ethan closed his eyes again.
The visions were getting clearer now.
Louder.
Faster.
A train racing down the tracks.
Passengers standing.
People checking their phones.
Completely unaware.
Then—
Impact.
Metal folding like paper.
Glass exploding.
Screams.
He opened his eyes sharply.
"…It's not just one train."
The officer looked up.
"What?"
"Two."
Her fingers moved quickly across the device.
She pulled up the rail system map.
Two trains appeared on the screen.
Both heading toward City Central Station.
Opposite directions.
Same track line.
Her face went pale.
"…He's right."
Mira leaned closer.
"Well that's bad."
"How fast?"
The officer checked the speed data.
Her voice dropped.
"Train A — 180 kilometers per hour."
"Train B — 165."
Liya whispered,
"…If they collide inside the station…"
"Hundreds dead."
Ethan stepped toward the window.
The tracks curved through the city far below.
"…We can't reach them."
Mira nodded.
"No chance."
The officer frowned.
"There might be another way."
Everyone looked at her.
She pointed at Ethan.
"…Him."
Ethan blinked.
"…Me?"
"You're synced with the timeline now."
"So?"
"So your temporal field might reach farther than you think."
Mira crossed her arms.
"You're suggesting he stops a train with time powers."
The officer nodded.
"Yes."
Ethan laughed nervously.
"I literally just learned I have these powers five minutes ago."
"Well."
Mira shrugged.
"Perfect time to test them."
The countdown continued.
03:12
Liya looked at Ethan.
"You said you can feel time."
He nodded slowly.
"…Yeah."
"Then try feeling the trains."
Ethan hesitated.
"What if I mess up?"
Mira answered bluntly.
"Then two trains turn into a pile of metal spaghetti."
"Very comforting."
Liya squeezed his hand.
"Ethan."
He looked at her.
"You stopped the tower collapse."
"You can do this."
The officer added,
"You don't need to stop the trains."
"Just slow them."
"Even a few seconds could prevent the collision."
The countdown dropped again.
02:41
Ethan took a deep breath.
"…Okay."
He closed his eyes again.
The blue glow around his hands intensified.
This time—
He didn't resist the feeling.
He leaned into it.
Thousands of ticking seconds filled his mind.
Moments flowing through the city.
Cars moving.
People walking.
Clocks turning.
Then—
He felt them.
Two powerful lines of motion.
Racing toward each other.
Two trains.
Two streams of time moving at deadly speed.
His eyes snapped open.
"…I see them."
Mira blinked.
"…You what?"
"I can feel their timelines."
The officer's device started going crazy.
TEMPORAL FIELD EXPANSION DETECTED
The blue glow around Ethan spread slightly across the floor.
Like invisible ripples in water.
Liya whispered,
"…Ethan."
He lifted his hand slowly.
"…I just need to slow one of them."
The countdown continued.
01:55
Inside Ethan's mind—
The trains grew clearer.
Train A.
Passengers talking.
A child looking out the window.
Train B.
A conductor pulling the brake lever.
Nothing happening.
Panic spreading.
Ethan focused on the second train.
"…You're the one."
He pushed his hand forward.
The blue energy surged outward.
Across the city.
Across the tracks.
Across the rushing steel.
Inside Train B—
The conductor suddenly felt something strange.
Like the world had thickened.
The train began slowing.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
The officer stared at her screen.
"…Speed is dropping."
Mira's eyes widened.
"No way."
The countdown hit zero.
00:00
Everyone held their breath.
Seconds passed.
Nothing exploded.
The officer refreshed the system.
The collision warning disappeared.
A new message appeared.
TRAINS PASSED SAFELY
Liya gasped.
"…You did it."
Ethan slowly lowered his hand.
The glow around him faded slightly.
He looked exhausted.
"…That was… weird."
Mira laughed softly.
"You just slowed down a train from five kilometers away."
"Yeah."
"That's officially weird."
The officer checked the stability meter again.
REALITY STABILITY: 95%
The future projection updated.
TIMELINE OUTCOME
1️⃣ Loop Continues — 51%2️⃣ Timeline Collapse — 18%3️⃣ Stable Future — 17%4️⃣ Unknown Outcome — 14%
Liya noticed the numbers immediately.
"…The stable future almost doubled."
Ethan smiled weakly.
"Good."
But Mira wasn't smiling anymore.
Because her device showed something else.
Something worse.
She turned the screen slowly toward them.
A new event had appeared in the timeline.
Not a tower collapse.
Not a train crash.
Something bigger.
Much bigger.
The message read:
TEMPORAL CONVERGENCE EVENT DETECTED
The officer frowned.
"…What does that mean?"
Mira answered quietly.
"It means the timeline is done playing defense."
Ethan felt a chill run through him.
"…And?"
Mira looked up at the sky.
"…Now it's going to attack."
Far above the city—
The clouds suddenly began to spiral.
Like the sky itself was twisting.
And deep inside Ethan's mind—
A new vision appeared.
A moment he had never seen before.
The entire city…
Frozen in time. ⏳