Chapter 2: The Clock Room
Chapter 2: The Clock Room
That night, after Eli was safely reunited with his mother, Victor returned to the abandoned building where his son had been found.
Something wasn't right.
The boy had known details nobody should know.
At the back of the warehouse, Victor discovered a steel door hidden beneath layers of rust.
It led underground.
Far beneath the city.
The tunnel ended at a circular chamber.
In the center stood dozens of clocks.
Hundreds of them.
Every single one showing a different time.
Victor stepped closer.
On the wall someone had written:
TIME DOES NOT BREAK.
PEOPLE DO.
His pulse quickened.
Then he saw photographs.
Pinned everywhere.
Pictures of himself.
Hundreds of them.
Different clothes.
Different dates.
Different years.
Some showed scars he didn't have.
Others showed places he had never visited.
At the center of the wall hung a single document.
PROJECT ECHO.
SUBJECT #17: VICTOR HAYES.
STATUS: REPLACEMENT SUCCESSFUL.
Victor felt the room spin.
Replacement.
The word hit him like a hammer.
Then a voice spoke behind him.
“You were never supposed to find this.”
Victor turned.
An old man stood in the doorway.
Gray hair.
Cold eyes.
Waiting.
May you like
“You're not the original Victor,” the man said quietly.
“You're the one who came back.”
