Rain drummed against the grimy windows of the abandoned building where Elyse Vega had taken refuge. The night was heavy, a blanket of shadows distorting the pale neon lights of Nova Citadel. She stared at the small metal case she had torn from one of the drones she repaired in the warehouse where she worked part-time. The circuits flickered faintly, powered by a makeshift battery.
Elyse sat on an old metal chair, her elbows resting on her knees, and frowned. For three weeks, something had been wrong. No, not just the hunger twisting in her stomach or the creditors harassing her. It was something else. These visions.
An explosion. Screams. The face of a man she didn't know. Then, a sharp pain in her chest. And everything went black.
She grabbed a cigarette from her jacket pocket and lit it, her hands shaking. The smoke mingled with the smell of mold and stale oil. She tried to ignore what was happening. What she was seeing. But it was getting harder and harder.
A clap of thunder shook the city, followed by a flash of light. Elyse looked up. It wasn't lightning. It wasn't natural.
"Shit… again."
She put out her half-smoked cigarette and stood up quickly, grabbing her bag. These "flashes" had become strangely frequent since the accident at Darven Corp, three weeks ago. The lab had exploded, leaving behind a quarantine zone where no one dared to venture. Well, except those who had nothing to lose.
Elyse hadn't followed everything. Darven Corp was a rich business, a business of guys who played with technology she didn't understand. But she knew one thing: she hadn't been the same since that day.
Later, in the alleys of Nova Citadel
The city was a jungle of concrete and glass, a mix of old and new, as if the future and the past had crashed into each other. The streets were full of people avoiding eye contact, street vendors shouting at the top of their lungs, and surveillance drones hovering like vultures above the crowd.
Elyse walked quickly, the hood of her sweatshirt pulled up. She knew she was being followed. She didn't know by whom, but for the past few days, she'd felt this weight, this icy sensation on her back.
She turned into a dark alley, her heart pounding. Then a voice came from behind her.
"You should stop running." That won't help you.
Elyse turned abruptly. A man stood there, wrapped in a black cloak. He was tall, with cropped gray hair and a piercing gaze, almost too calm to be honest.
"What do you want?" she said, her voice shakier than she would have liked.
"I want to talk to you about what you see. What you feel. You're not alone."
She narrowed her eyes, taking a step back.
"Okay, what is this? A cult? Some bullshit to fool me? No thanks."
The man sighed and pulled a small device out of his pocket, a silver disk that gave off an odd glow. He held it out to her.
"Look at this. Tell me what you see."
Elyse hesitated, but her fingers moved before she could stop herself. As she touched the device, a new vision exploded in her mind: a building on fire, figures collapsing, and the man in front of her, lying on the ground, his eyes empty.
She dropped the device, swearing, her breath caught in her throat.
"What the hell is this?!" she screamed.
The man stared at her, not angry, but with a heavy gravity.
"You have a flash, like me. Like others. It comes from the explosion of the "Chronicle Amplifier." These visions you have, they are not dreams. They are real. They come from the future."
Elyse shook her head, her back pressed against the wall.
"It can't be. None of this makes sense."
"And yet, you know I'm right. You felt it, right? These visions, they show you what's going to happen, and there's nothing you can do to stop them."
She stared at the man, her mind racing. Then she whispered,
"Who are you?"
He gave a bitter smile.
"My name is Kieran Halloway. And if you want to survive what's coming, you'd better listen to me."
Elyse opened her mouth to reply, but a thud interrupted their conversation. A drone had come to a stop above them, and a mechanical voice spoke,
"Suspects identified. Capture order imminent."
Kieran took a step forward, his cold gaze fixed on the drone.
"There's no more time for introductions. If you want to live, follow me. Now."
And before Elyse could protest, he grabbed her wrist and dragged her into the shadows of the alleys.
Chapter 2: The Gear
The alleys of Nova Citadel seemed to close in around Elyse and Kieran as they ran breathlessly. The drones above them beeped shrilly, flashes of light streaking the crumbling walls.
"What's your plan?" Elyse shouted, half-breathless, her shoes slipping on the wet pavement.
"Run until they give up," Kieran replied, not even slowing down.
"Great plan, really. You could have been a military strategist."
A loud bang cut short their exchange. Behind them, a ball of fire erupted into the street, sending debris flying in all directions. Elyse instinctively crouched down, covering her head with her arms.
Kieran pulled a small rectangular device from his pocket. He tapped on it frantically, like it was an old cell phone, then pointed it at the sky. A blue arc of electricity shot out of the device, disabling one of the drones, which crashed heavily to the ground.
"Not bad, huh?" he said, a smirk on his face.
"What's that thing?" Elyse asked, her ears still ringing.
"A portable EMP. Not exactly legal, but we do what we can."
They continued their escape, but this time Kieran led them to a metal door half-hidden behind trash cans. He shoved it open, and they plunged into a dark, narrow tunnel.
The inside was a mix of makeshift technology and chaos. Cables ran along the floor like roots, connected to screens that showed surveillance footage in real time. An old halogen light flickered above a metal table cluttered with gadgets.
"Welcome to my palace," Kieran said, closing the door behind them.
Elyse stared at him.
"You call this a palace? It looks more like a broom closet."
Kieran shrugged, clearly unconcerned.
"It keeps us alive, that's all that matters."
Elyse leaned against a wall, crossing her arms. Her breathing was gradually calming, but her mind was still racing.
"Okay, now you're going to tell me everything. These 'flashes,' the explosion, the visions… what the hell is going on?"
Kieran sat down in a chair, stretching like a man who'd been carrying too much weight for too long.
"It all started with the 'Chronicle Amplifier.'" An invention of Dr. Darven, supposed to capture fragments of temporal energy. Basically, they were trying to unravel the mysteries of time. The problem is, they succeeded.
"And that caused the explosion?" Elyse asked.
"Not exactly," Kieran replied, his tone growing more serious. The explosion was… a chain reaction. The "Amplifier" tapped into something it shouldn't have. Some kind of temporal rift. As a result, fragments of energy spread everywhere, infecting the people nearby.
He pointed at Elyse.
"You, for example."
Elyse raised an eyebrow.
"And you, are you one of those "infected"?"
"I prefer "affected." It sounds less like a disease. But yes. I have a shard too. My power is different from yours."
"Different how?"
Kieran hesitated for a moment, as if weighing his words.
"I can freeze time. Not for long, just a few seconds. But every time I do, it... leaves traces. Distortions."
"Distortions?" Elyse frowned.
"Let's just say it's not without consequences. The more I use my power, the more... unstable things become."
Elyse let out a bitter laugh.
"Great. So, in addition to the scary visions, we have powers that screw up our lives even more. That's really great news."
Kieran leaned forward, his gaze suddenly intense.
"These powers aren't a curse, Elyse. Not only that. They can also be a weapon. And believe me, we're going to need them."
"Need them for what?"
He stood up and tapped on a keyboard, bringing up a holographic map of Nova Citadel. Several red dots were flashing, scattered across the city.
"Argos."
"What's that? A brand of clothes?" she asked sarcastically.
Kieran didn't laugh.
"Argos is a man. Well, if you can still call him that. He's taken control of an extremely powerful shard, and he doesn't think humanity is worthy of choosing its own future. He manipulates the visions of others to build the future he wants. A future where he alone rules."
Elyse stared at him in disbelief.
"You mean he can… change the future? Like that?"
Kieran nodded.
"And he won't stop until he finds us all. Those with shards are the only ones who can resist him. But we won't last long if we stay scattered."
Elyse ran a hand through her hair, frustrated.
"What about me? I'm just a clueless techie who sees things she doesn't understand."