3:36 PM
A Science-Fiction One Shot
'That cannot be right,' Mark checked the screen again. It read the same time. He brought the second counter which was frozen as well, next he checked the milliseconds. Those ticked up but when they reverted to zero the second counter did not change.
'What?' Daniel asked, checking the machine. He tapped various parts with a thermometer, each reading coming out as within normal bounds.
'The time isn't moving.'
'It'll be corruption. Check your wristwatch,' Daniel said.
Mark did so, watching the second hand tick round until it reached XII. The minute hand did not move. 'Still 3:36 PM.'
'Keep watching, it'll tick,' Daniel set the thermometer down and closed the lid. The machine hummed, a constant dull ringing that both men had long ignored. He joined Mark to watch time pass.
The second hand made another full rotation of Mark's wristwatch and once again the minute hand did not move.
'Bad watch,' Daniel said. He pulled back his shirt sleeve. Three watches ticked on his arm all reading the same time. He stared at them, the hands synchronised. Three hands reached twelve and no minute hands moved. His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.
'Time's frozen,' Mark said.
'That's ridiculous we only just turned the machine on!' Daniel raised his voice. 'No, no, something else is the matter,' he left the room and headed out into the yard. He was banging something around.
Mark returned to the computer to check the software, the words “Lost Connection” dominated the centre of the window. 'That's odd,' he checked the internet connection. There wasn't one. He uncoiled an old Ethernet cable from the pinboard full of old cables and adapters and trailed it from the computer across the room to the router. The router LEDs shone blue to show it was connected. A quick change of settings and Mark tried to access the software again. “Lost Connection” remained on screen. He opened up a browser and searched “time”. The browser window said “No connection to the internet.” Mark ran to the door and shouted, 'Daniel, get in here!'
Daniel returned with a cut on his hand. 'What?' he snapped.
'Can't connect to the internet either.'
'Because of the time?'
Mark shrugged.
Daniel reached for his phone. 'No signal. No internet.'
The machine hummed.
Mark and Daniel both looked over at the aluminium box they'd spent two months building after countless nights designing it. 'Switch it off,' Daniel said. 'We need to switch it off,' he hurried over.
'Wait! You can't just unplug it!'
'Why not?'
Mark's mind drew a blank. 'What if something goes wrong?'
'Something has already gone wrong,' Daniel pulled the plug.
The machine hummed.
'Backup battery,' Daniel opened the lid and reached inside to pull the lithium ion batteries out from their bay. The cables clicked out one by one.
The machine hummed.
'Check your watch,' Daniel stared at the trio of timekeepers on his arm.
The second hand ticked round and reached XII. The minute hand did not move. 'No movement. You?' Mark said.
'Nothing.'
'Let's go out,' Mark said.
'What?'
'Let's go out. Maybe it's localised,' Mark said. He grabbed his keys, wallet, and phone and headed out.
'Alright. Let's go out,' Daniel followed, his words laced with annoyance. The pair passed through the kitchen on the way to front door, 'Had a beer this morning?' he pointed to an open bottle on the side.
'No, must have left it out last night,' Mark said, leaving the bottle where it was.
Mark left his house and walked down the path in his front garden. Two red cars drove by, one blasting EDM. A woman in a long puffer coat walked some rat of a dog across the street. Leaves rustled in the wind. 'See, localised.' He looked down at his watch. The minute hand did not move. He headed down the street, toward The Greyhound.
'We going for a pint?' Daniel said.
'Why not?' Mark threw his arms in the air. A few minutes later they arrived at The Greyhound. The pub clock ticked above the bar. 'Pint of Bombardier please, Ian. What you having?'
'Red Sands,' Daniel said. He stared at the clock over the bar, 'that's a different time.'
'Pub clocks are always fast,' Mark said. He reached for his wallet.
'Alright, suppose you're right,' Daniel reached for his pint as Ian placed it on the bar. 'Why did we stop here?'
'Nearest pub. Next pint is at The Farmer's Arms,' Mark handed over a note, left a tip, and reached for his pint. 'Either there is a hard wall where time moves on one side but not the other or there is a gradual change where time speeds up the further we move away from the machine.' Ian dropped the coins of his tip into a glass next to the till, ignoring Mark and Daniel's conversation as he always did. Mark stood at the bar staring up at the clock, the hands moved normally. Mark checked his watch, 'Check yours.'
Daniel pulled his sleeve back. Ian raised an eyebrow at him for wearing three watches but the barman knew better then to ask questions. The second hands spun but the minute hand remained stationary. 'Right, that is neither of your options.'
'Not necessarily. Is your phone working?' Mark pulled his own phone out to check the signal. Nothing.
'No.'
'What's the time?'
'Still 03:36 PM.'
'Same. Watch and phone,' Mark sipped his pint of bitter, sitting calm in an armchair with a fraying seat. 'What do you think it means?'
'I think we have an EMP that only damages clocks,' Daniel said.
'Seriously.'
'Seriously? No clue, what good is a machine that stops clocks.'
'Has it stopped the clocks? Take one of your watches off,' Mark leaned forward and rested his elbows on the round table between them.
Daniel rolled his eyes, 'Fine.' He unlatched the cheapest of the three, a matte black thing with velcro strap, and held it.
'Put it on the table,' Mark tapped the well varnished wood.
Daniel set the watch on the table. The pair watched as the second hand made its journey and when it reached its zenith the minute hand moved to 03:37 PM. 'Huh...'
'Put it back on. Quickly,' Mark said.
Daniel did so and the pair stared at the watch face again. The second hand moved has it always did and when it reached 12 the minute hand ticked backwards to 03:36 PM. 'What does that mean?'
Mark lounged back, 'I have no idea.' He couldn't stop grinning.
'Why are you happy about this? You don't even know what's happened! We're stuck. Stuck. That can't be good,' Daniel scowled.
'Can't be bad,' Mark shrugged.
'We don't know that!'
'Come on, we're still living. Still breathing. Still drinking beer and enjoying the sun.'
Daniel rubbed his face with both hands, 'Yeah. Sure, but what if...'
'What if what? We no longer age? Can't travel far? Can't tell people the time when they ask? Who cares!'
Daniel drank his beer in several large gulps. 'On to the next pub, I'm not waiting to find out if I'm going to be sucked into some vortex 'cause of this.' He strutted to the bar and set the empty glass on the side, 'Thanks, Ian. See you tomorrow.'
'Cheers, Daniel,' Ian said.
Mark rolled his eyes, downed the rest of his pint, and hurried after Daniel on his way to The Farmer's Arms. 'Thanks, Ian,' he was outside as he finished speaking. 'Daniel. Daniel. What's the rush?'
'What's the rush?' Daniel spun around in the middle of the road. 'You can't keep on living if your frozen in time it's not how it works.'
'Who says? We are!'
'No, our watches and phones are broken, that's it,' Daniel continued on to the next pub.
They reached The Farmer's Arms in silence, Daniel taking the lead and ordering two bitters. He paid and joined Mark by the door to the garden, he was with someone. 'Who is this?'
'Daniel meet Phillip, he used to work with us before you transferred. Hey could I borrow your phone,' Mark said to Phillip. 'Read out the time first.'
'Err, sure, 04:03 PM. You're not gonna text my wife are you?' Phillip handed over his phone.
'No, no, Daniel hold this,' Mark passed Phillip's phone on. 'What's the time?'
Daniel sighed and looked down. He frowned, '03:36 PM.'
'Hold it up for us to see.'
'Huh,' Phillip said. 'How did you change that so quick?' He reached for his phone and Daniel relinquished it. 'Wait, now it says, 04:03 PM again.'
'Weird, right?' Mark nodded arrogantly. 'What do your watches say?'
Daniel checked them as quick as he could, '03:36 PM.'
'Mark, what's going on?' Phillip said.
'Don't know exactly but we may have frozen our place in time.'
Phillip laughed, 'You always did like finding new software tricks. Anyway I've gotta go, good to bump into you again. We should catch a pint some time.' Phillip headed out.
'Sure thing,' Mark said. He waited till him and Daniel were alone, 'We've done it.' He was giddy.
'Done what?'
'Made something worth selling.'
'Selling what? What's the product? A clockbreaker? I don't think there's a market for that, at least not an expensive one,' Daniel said.
'You're hopeless,' Mark gulped his beer. 'After this we should head back, see what the machine is doing.'
'Hopefully nothing,' Daniel said. 'I don't like the beer here, always tastes watery.'
'Me neither,' Mark rushed the first half of the beer, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. 'Leave it, I've got beers in the fridge.'
Daniel admired the pint he didn't like, if only for the exorbitant cost. He drank a third, 'Yeah, fine. Let's go.'
They arrived back at Mark's house. Neither knew how long it had taken them, going by their watches it had taken no time at all.
'Beer is on the bottom shelf. Openers on the side,' Mark said, he rushed for what had been the dining room when he bought the house but now served as his workshop.
The machine hummed.
'Daniel, it's still on,' Mark reconnected the lithium ion batteries and plugged it back in.
Daniel came in, without a beer, 'What you trying to do?'
'See if we can overload it from the computer.'
'You want to break it?'
'Yeah, see if time moves. We can build another one if it gets fried.'
Daniel shrugged, 'Alright, but you couldn't connect to the internet before.'
'Don't need that to alter the power flow, needed that to properly shut it down.'
'Why did we make it like that?'
'I didn't have the raw power to run all the software at once so I overloaded some to a server for cheap,' Mark craned over the too low standing desk. 'Alright, let's see if this blows it.'
The machine hummed.
'Machine's fine,' Daniel said, he held a thermometer to the processor. 'Has the time changed while we've been away, like Phillip's phone did out of my hand?'
'That cannot be right,' Mark checked the screen again. It read the same time. He brought the second counter which was frozen as well, next he checked the milliseconds. Those ticked up but when they reverted to zero the second counter did not change.
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