Heartbeats and Time

uld'v

ase Turner the finger on the way down. But I didn't. I stood there in the

ral wa

of my brush remained, like the entire aft

e. And I don't s

ague. I've slept on rooftops in Seoul while a typhoon rolled in

somethi

d, earpiece, government energy. "Mr. Turner would like t

skipped

es

or shaft that led to the top floor. Where Cha

ay no. I s

s. And maybe, just

ng my backpack. "Lead

dn't

gu

int-streaked jeans, dark braid falling over one shoulder, green eyes too sharp for their own good. I look

held my h

me again. I wasn't a

.. I wasn

se

me different

woman seething with rage. No, Avery Cole walked int

d me more than th

seat,"

di

ed at me. The mural vanished. Either I'm having a bre

k slowly, hands in my po

course I remember

d you. We argued. You left. Then everything

ed, but no so

me, you didn't remember. But now...

ind of corporate test? A loyalty experiment? Because I swear, Chase, I wi

brilliant. And alive in a way

id, quieter now. "I think w

tared

. A short, dis

se that's tot

. It's meant to slow time around critical injuries. Medical appl

you're...

odd

me into your sc

't drag

eset. You said I didn't remember

aus

he only thing th

ough the static in my brain

. A lie. A half-truth. "Bu

wall of clocks behind me. "Let's say I be

"But every reset gets shorte

both stuck in a ticking tim

es

sat

na

," she said.

ry

ilence that comes a

lness. Like your brain refuses to p

rk while he told me the world was stuck on

idn't line up. Or maybe it was the feeling I had when I looked at that blank wall whe

etting shorter," I said. "

econd, three. This one... it's

e an hour and a half be

es

Then we be

e wh

broke," I snappe

want me to show yo

card right now? You said I'm connected

a long moment. Then

se

trailed behind her through the halls of TempoTech, wondering how the hell

ypassed security with no point in passwords w

or sli

stoppe

sleek metal, humming softly, surrounded by a

"Those clocks... they look exac

in the loop," I said. "I started tr

closer. "And

some kind of emotional tether. You painted the t

unreadable. "That sounds li

ly. "We might

old frame of the Resonato

ping you'

ry

sk to be p

an empire and a man too damaged to admit he's terrified. But I'm here. And as the

tarting

ut

ut

fate of ti

onator's core. It was vibrat

denly..

ot how to save us. But

ng isn't running on equations and circuits.

arted. "

ive them more time. But time isn't a machine, Chase. It's people. Feelings. Re

nt, something in

ser. "Then how

ed up

what had

ou built this to undo your father's death. I painted that mural to expose the t

w tigh

th

A

ed. The clocks be

op was

e we meet, tell me the truth.

d at me.

world

colla