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.
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The world doesn't live on beca...
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A shooting pain shoots up my arm as I slide down the second hand. My other hand grabs onto the hour, foot kicking off the minute, to keep from falling to the ground. The clockwork machine shifts under the sudden impact, but I can't let go. Luz needs me.
As I grunt to keep steady, I lock my arm around the hour hand. The electricity pulsing through it burns my skin, my hands. With trembling fingers, I reach towards the lug nut beneath all the pieces that tell time. I wrap my hand around it, turning. Turning until it's loose.
"Argh!" I pull my arm back as the pain becomes unbearable. Looking down at my hands, I see my skin is seared, blood dripping down my wrists. Yet, behind me, I can still hear Luz. When I look back, I see her struggling, trying to pull herself up.
To get the world to stop, I must fix the time. It's hard to focus with the heat, the ache, but I can't stop.
"Don't let go, Luz!" I turn back towards the clock and give the lug nut one more twist. The hands of the clock shift in weight slightly, dipping down. They try to take me with them, but I slap my hands against the clock's face to keep steady.
I can't fall. Not now.
"Frank, I'm scared!" Luz cries. The sound of her voice shatters my soul. "I can't get up! I can't!"
I know you can't. Using my legs, I keep my body firm against the clock as I push the minute hand down to the number five. I force it back against the clock's face, making sure it's secure. Just hold on for me.
"Frank!"
I move next to the hour hand. It takes one hard kick from my leg to push it down towards the number six. With the two pieces so close, I struggle to find a place to stand. It takes all of me to keep steady as I push my chest against the clock.
"Luz, I'm almost done!" I call down to her, to reassure her, as I reach back for the second hand. The culprit of this entire disaster. I wrap my hand around its golden center and with a I have, I force it up towards the twelve, stopping notches before the number.
It creaks as I push it flat against the other pieces. Not letting go of it, I reach down for the lug nut in the center, but my hand is so burned, I can't grip it. Tears well up in my eyes as I try.
I'm almost done. I just need to secure it.
"Frank!" Luz screams my name again. I look down towards her and see her fingers slip towards the edge. Only her fingertips keep her in place. The lava from the Earth has taken away most of the floor, there's nowhere for her to lift her foot.
My heart breaks. Screams. I force my mind to turn off for just one moment, taking the second I'd stolen from Earth for over a week, and use it to ignore the pain, ignore my rapid heart. I wrap my hand around the lug and turn, turn, turn until it's tight. With my chest, I force the pieces in place. The clock turns blue, bright, alive. I change with it, feeling the light ignite my soul. And as the second hand finally moves that much needed notch on the clock, the time changes, progressing the minute fourteen days overdue, I fall.
