Frank is a clock mechanic, set out to replace a broken loop in 2018, but when Luz, the friend he shouldn't have made sees more than she should've, the simple tasks he was given turns into a mission to save the world.
*
The world doesn't live on beca...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Frank?"
Luz follows close behind me as I hurry to the side of the clockwork machine, pulling at the box protecting the second-hand piece I neglected to fix for over a week. With one hand, I rip open it's top, and with my other I reach in and grab a circular device. The orb fits perfectly in my hand as I wrap my fingers around it. Never thought I'd need this.
Luz stands at my side, watching me hover over the box. "Frank, what's going on? What do you mean fuck?"
My head shoots up and I look back at her, confused. Isn't what I said a human word? "Fuck," I say again, easier than the first time. "A feeling of disaster, ruin, pain."
It's all over human television. She should know this.
Luz's brows pinch close together. Her hands settle on her hips. "I know what it can mean, Frank. But why did you say it? What's going on?"
The orb in my hand warms after a moment. A light appears at its very top. I look down at it, eyes wide, and I smile. "We're getting out of here," I say.
"Okay, I think you got the good fuck confused with the actual meaning." Luz scoots aside as I stand and walk back towards the wall we had originally come through. "The way you said it is like—"
My thumb presses down on the red dot on the top of the orb. It pulsates in my hand before I press it against the bricks in front of me. "I know how I said it," I say, glancing at her, "and I meant it that way. I fucked up. I should have repaired the clock the second I arrived, I just..."
Luz bats her lashes. "Well, if all you have to do is fix it, then fix it."
What she says is so blunt, so straightforward, I blink. But it's not that easy.
I look back at the wall, at the orb. It's opened in my hand, wires slithering out from its insides. Those wires connect to the wall, spreading like black electrical vines.
She wants honesty, Frank. "If it were that easy, I would've fixed it by now. I should've fixed it the moment I arrived on Earth, but I prolonged my stay." I clear my throat and look back at her. "To get to know you."
For a moment, Luz's brown cheeks redden and she averts her gaze. She hums as she looks at the floor.
And my attention returns to the orb. I feel it shake. The building moves with it, as though the walls are made of waves. Oceanic waves, yet without the blue, harmonious beauty.
Black slime appears at my feet, oozing out of the wall like an infected wound. Forcing a dimension portal open was never good on a planet's aura. The orb was designed to be a Cog's last defense, in case of a worst-case scenario. What were they, I wasn't sure, because they never went over that in training. I just knew I needed to get her out of here.
And if something happens to her, that's worst case for me.
"Okay, fine." Luz's hand touches my shoulder. "And while I'm flattered you wanted to get to know me more, I... isn't this planet more important than some random girl?"
