Ethan Cross never believed in fate.
To him, life was a game of probabilities—choices leading to predictable outcomes. But tonight, that belief shattered.
One moment, he was sprinting down the rain-slicked streets of New Avalon, weaving through crowds beneath the towering skyline of neon and steel. The next, everything stopped.
The rain froze mid-fall, each droplet suspended like crystal in the air. Traffic halted. A sea of people stood motionless, their expressions locked in time. The electric hum of the city—a constant companion—vanished, leaving behind an eerie, suffocating silence. Even the air felt wrong, as if reality itself had taken a deep breath and forgotten how to exhale.
Ethan stumbled to a stop, gasping. He reached out, his fingertips brushing against a raindrop. It didn't move. Didn't even ripple.
"What the hell…?"
Then it came. A voice, low and mechanical, whispering inside his skull like an ancient echo.
[The Paradox System has been initialized.]
Ethan flinched, his eyes darting around the frozen cityscape. His vision blurred as glowing text unfurled before him, lines of pulsating data floating in the air.
[User: Ethan Cross detected.]
[Current Reality: Unstable.]
[Correction Required. Select an Action:]
1. Rewind Time (Cost: 3 years of lifespan)
2. Accelerate Time (Cost: Unknown Side Effects)
3. Observe Paradox Events (Risks: High)
The words hovered, glowing with an unnatural light. Ethan swallowed hard, his throat dry. "No," he muttered. "This isn't real."
But the silence persisted. The world refused to move. His pulse pounded in his ears. He took a shaky breath, eyes locking onto the last option—Observe Paradox Events.
His finger hovered in the air, trembling. If I'm losing my mind… might as well see how far it goes. He tapped the option.
[Observe Paradox Events selected.]
The world fractured.
Reality around him shattered like glass, fragments of possibility spiraling outward in an infinite web. Ethan's knees buckled as visions poured into his mind—
Isaac Graves, the informant he'd been chasing, lying dead in a dozen different ways. Stabbed in an alley. Hit by a speeding car. Poisoned in his own apartment. One version showed Isaac standing over his lifeless body, a bloody grin stretched across his face.
Ethan staggered, gripping his head. The visions collapsed in an instant, leaving him gasping for breath. When he opened his eyes, the world had returned to normal—or at least, the illusion of it.
The rain resumed falling. Cars moved again. Neon signs flickered. The sounds of the city came rushing back in an overwhelming wave.
And then there was Isaac—alive, standing just a few feet away, panting heavily as if nothing had happened.
"Cross?" Isaac's voice trembled. "You okay, man? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Ethan didn't answer. His mind raced. I saw you die. He swallowed, trying to ground himself, but the voice in his head wasn't done.
[Timeline Stabilization in progress. Interference detected.]
A shiver ran down his spine. "Lila," he whispered, tapping his earpiece.
Static. Then a response. "Ethan, what's going on? Your signal glitched out for a second."
He exhaled. "I think I just... saw something I shouldn't have."
"Define saw something," she pressed.
Ethan's eyes darted to the shadows at the alley's edge. A figure stood there—no, not a person. Something else. Its outline flickered unnaturally, like it wasn't supposed to exist in this reality. Every instinct in him screamed run.
The system pulsed again.
[WARNING. Unidentified anamoly approaching. Survival rate: 12%.]
Ethan's grip tightened around the pulse pistol holstered at his hip. "Lila, I think I'm in trouble."
"Where are you?"
"Downtown. Near the old Zenith Tower."
"Stay put. I'm on my way."
Isaac, oblivious to the danger, shuffled closer. "Listen, Cross, I found something big. You were right—the disappearances, the data leaks, they all lead to the same place. But it's way worse than we thought. It's like someone—"
His words cut off as a piercing screech tore through the air. Ethan's heart skipped a beat. The figure in the alley shifted, moving toward them in jerky, disjointed motions. For a split second, Ethan could see through it, as though it belonged to another plane of existence entirely.
Isaac paled. "Oh god… what is that?"
Ethan didn't have an answer.
The voice returned in his mind, colder this time.
[Entity Classification: Unknown. Temporal Displacement Detected.]
The thing lunged. Ethan reacted purely on instinct, yanking Isaac aside and drawing his weapon in one fluid motion. He fired. The pulse round seared through the air, but the entity barely flinched. It twisted unnaturally, its hollow eyes locking onto Ethan.
Then the system spoke again.
[Time Distortion Imminent. Would you like to rewind?]
Ethan clenched his jaw. "Not yet," he growled, raising his gun again. "Let's see what you're made of."
The creature let out a distorted wail, and Ethan braced himself.
This was no longer just a chase. This was survival.