Chapter 1 1

Elias Carter had always been a time aficionado. Not in a purely philosophical sense - he didn't care about fate or destiny - but about control. Precision. An ability to recover from a mistake and try again.

And tonight, after years of counting, failings and near-failures, he was going to do the impossible.

His workshop was dimly lit, and the sounds were the steady ticking of several dozen clocks framed on the wall above him. At his workbench in front of him there were tools and scattered papers and the device that had consumed his life -- a small, unassuming pocket watch.

But inside, it held something far more powerful.

Elias wiped his palms against his work clothes. He 'd done the Rewind Mechanism hundreds of times under controlled conditions and everything seemed to be going well.

No more second-guessing.

He took a breath, pressed the button, and held it.

It hummed, and then a slight vibration ran up his arm and made his skin tingle, then the air moved in the room like all of the world just stepped out into the world - a breath - and was waiting to exhale.

The lights flickered. A high-pitched whine filled the space.

Then-click.

Silence.

Elias exhaled, blinking. Everything looked the same.

He raised his eyes to the nearest clock. The second hand hed been clocked on steadily. He checked the watch on his wrist. It was exactly three hours ago.

It had worked.

A slow grin spread across his face.

I did it.

Frightened, he turned to pick up his notebook to write down the results --

And froze.

Someone was standing in the corner, hard to see in the dark.

His fingers whirled around to the wrench on the table. "Who's there? "

The figure stepped forward. The light caught his face.

Elias's stomach dropped.

He was looking at himself.

Not a reflection. Not a shadow.

Himself.

His own expression, his own face... the shock in his eyes and confusion in his own head.

The other Elias blinked then inhaled heavily then walked back and spoke with a low, sharp voice. "What did you do? "

Elias couldn't answer. He couldn't think.

And then-before he could move, before he could breathe-

The other Elias vanished.

Gone.

Like he had never been there at all.