Kai Atheris' eyes snapped open to darkness. The air smelled of metal and ozone. His arms were strapped to a cold, steel table, and above him, a digital countdown glowed in angry red numbers: 00:59:59.
"What… what is this?" he whispered, his throat dry.
The last thing he remembered was falling through the black portal beneath Sector Nine, the underbelly of Neo-City. And now… he was here.
"Hello, Kai," a voice crackled from nowhere, both calm and menacing. "Welcome to the experiment that will decide the fate of everything you know."
Kai struggled against the restraints. Nothing. They weren't just metal—they felt like they were fused to his skin. Panic bubbled up.
"Experiment?" he spat. "Who are you? What do you want?"
A shadow flickered at the corner of the room. In a heartbeat, it was gone. The voice continued, almost bored.
"You've been chosen, Kai. Chosen because you're… different. But time is slipping, and your window is closing. Solve the puzzle, or reality itself will fracture."
Before he could ask what "puzzle" meant, the floor beneath him shimmered. The walls stretched, bent, and glitched like a corrupted hologram. Kai's heart thumped. He blinked—and the lab was gone. He was standing in the middle of Neo-City, yet everything was distorted. Streets looped into themselves, buildings twisted at impossible angles, and neon lights blinked like faulty neurons.
A voice inside his head whispered: "You can move time… but every choice has a cost."
Kai stumbled forward. He could feel the countdown pressing against him like a living thing. Each second ticked louder, echoing in his chest.
Then he saw it: a figure standing on a rooftop, hooded, glowing faintly in blue, pointing at him. A flash of recognition—this wasn't the first time Kai had seen them, even though he couldn't remember when.
Run, the voice inside his head urged. Or die in every timeline.
Kai's muscles tensed. His mind raced. He didn't know if he could trust this city, these people, or even himself. But one thing was clear: the clock was counting down… and with every tick, the world he knew was slipping farther away.
He had exactly 60 minutes. One hour to escape a city that wasn't entirely real, solve a puzzle he didn't understand, and survive enemies that could be anywhere… or anywhere in time.
Kai took a deep breath, his fingers flexing. If he failed, all of reality would unravel.
And he wasn't going to let that happen.