Here's Chapter 7 rewritten with simp Chap
(OPENING)
Elias ran. Red alarm lights flashed like angry eyes. Loud sirens screamed in his ears. His body hurt everywhere – his skin felt raw and tight from the healing burns, his lungs burned like fire. But the pocket watch pushed him forward. It pulsed against his chest like a second heartbeat, pulling him deeper into the giant medical building. *Down, down, down.*
He found stairs leading below. The air got colder and smelled like rust and chemicals. This was the Old Metro – dark, broken tunnels filled with trash and danger signs. Glowing green liquid leaked from cracked pipes. Strange machines buzzed and sparked on the walls.
The watch pulsed harder. It was guiding him.
(DOWN IN THE DARK)
The deeper Elias went, the weirder things got:
Ghost Sounds: He heard screams and gunfire – sounds from the war trenches – but they faded like echoes.
Ghost Sights: For a second, he saw gas lamps and old brick walls (London!) instead of dripping concrete.
Ghost Smells: The stink of rotting garbage was suddenly replaced by the smell of coal smoke and horses.
The watch buzzed angrily each time this happened. Elias felt dizzy. The world felt thin, like paper tearing apart.
Suddenly, a bright blue light shot past him! A laser blast hit the wall, spraying sparks. He turned. Tech Reyes stood there, breathing hard. She wasn't in her armor anymore. She wore simple dark clothes. Her blue braids were messy. She held a small energy gun, but it shook in her hand. Her eyes were huge with fear and confusion.
"You!" Elias gasped. "Why are you following me?"
"I saw it!" she yelled over the sirens. "The symbols! The shop! It wasn't data... it was *real*! You broke my world! Tell me what's happening!" Her voice cracked. She looked lost, like a child.
Elias didn't have time to explain. "That watch you saw? It's pulling me. Something important is down here. Something that might explain this madness. Follow or shoot me, but I'm going."
He turned and kept running into the dripping dark. He heard her footsteps follow.
**(THE SHOP'S SIGNAL)**
They ran through giant tunnels filled with broken trains and piles of trash. Strange, rat-like machines with glowing eyes skittered away. The watch pulsed like a drum.
Then, they saw it. Ahead, in a huge, dark cave under the city:
A shimmering, blue, see-through picture. It looked old and broken. It was the **Hourglass Shop**! But it was flickering like a bad TV signal. Behind it, Elias could see glimpses of other places: muddy trenches, snowy London streets, even the bright lights of the city above them. It was like looking through broken windows into different worlds.
"It's... impossible," Reyes whispered, lowering her gun. Her tough tech act was gone. She just stared.
The pocket watch jumped in Elias's hand. It was icy cold now. It pointed straight at the flickering shop image.
"This is it," Elias said. "The thing that's always there. The reason... the reason I keep losing her."
"Losing who?" Reyes asked, her voice small.
But Elias was already walking towards the ghostly shop. As he got closer, the air buzzed. The flickering image got brighter. The watch felt like ice in his hand.
(THE COLLAPSE)
CRACK!
A huge chunk of concrete fell from the ceiling right behind them! Dust filled the air. The whole tunnel shook. More cracks spread like spiderwebs across the walls and roof. The glitching shop image flickered wildly.
"It's collapsing!" Reyes screamed. "The instability... it's breaking everything!"
They ran for the shop image. It was their only hope. Another massive piece of ceiling crashed down, blocking the way they came. Dust choked them. Rocks rained down.
"ALMOST THERE!" Elias yelled, grabbing Reyes's arm.
They were ten steps away from the glowing shop door when the worst happened. With a terrible grinding roar, the roof above them gave way. Giant slabs of concrete and twisted metal beams plunged down!
Elias dove forward. Reyes tried to jump.
CRUNCH.
A falling beam slammed into Reyes's legs, pinning her to the ground. She screamed – a sound of pure agony.
"ELIAS!"
He skidded to a stop and turned back. She was trapped, her legs crushed under tons of rubble. Dust covered her face, streaked with tears. Blood pooled around her.
"No! NO!" Elias scrambled towards her, ignoring the rocks still falling.
"Stop!" she gasped, pain twisting her face. "It's too late! Look!"
The pocket watch in his hand was glowing with cold blue light. The flickering shop image was getting brighter, more solid. But the ground shook violently. More cracks opened everywhere. The whole underground world was breaking apart.
"The shop... it's calling you," Reyes choked out. Blood trickled from her mouth. "Go! Before it's gone!"
"I won't leave you!" Elias yelled, trying uselessly to lift the beam. It wouldn't budge.
Her hand found his. Her grip was weak, cold. She looked into his eyes. For a second, he didn't see the tough tech. He saw Aria. He saw Lily. He saw Eleanor. That same brave, kind soul.
"You saved me... from the gas," she whispered, her voice fading. "Now... save yourself. Find her. Stop... the breaking."
Her eyes closed. Her hand went limp in his. Tech A. Reyes was gone.
(THE VOID & THE EMPTY SHOP)
The watch flared with blinding blue light! It sucked Elias forward like a magnet. The rubble, Reyes's body, the collapsing cave – everything vanished into white noise.
The light faded. Elias stood swaying. He wasn't underground. He was on a quiet street. Birds chirped. Sunlight warmed his face. He wore his own old jeans and jacket. No burns. No pain.
He knew this street. The ordinary shops. The rusty fire escape. The smell of baking bread from the corner cafe.
*His street. His original time.*
His heart pounded. Aria. Was she here? Alive? Before the accident? Hope, sharp and painful, stabbed him.
He ran. Around the corner. To the spot where the strange shop with the hourglass sign always appeared.
He stopped. Stared.
The shop was there. But it was... wrong.
The windows were dark and dusty. The golden hourglass sign hung crooked, rusted, and covered in grime. The door was boarded up with thick, rotting wood. The whole place looked dead. Forgotten. Abandoned for years.
Elias stumbled forward. He pounded on the boarded-up door. The wood felt damp and rotten under his fists.
OPEN UP! he roared, his voice raw with grief and rage. "I'M HERE! I CAME BACK! TELL ME WHAT TO DO!
Silence. Only the sound of a distant car and the birds.
He slammed his fist against the wood one last time. It splintered slightly. Nothing moved inside. No shadow. No voice. Just empty, dusty darkness.
The pocket watch felt like a dead weight in his pocket. Cold. Silent.
He was alone. Truly alone. The shop – his only guide, his only constant through all the madness – had left him.
He sank to his knees on the cracked sidewalk, the warm sun feeling cold on his skin. The chase had ended. He was back where it all began. And he had nowhere left to run.
(END CHAPTER 7)