The Glass Clockmaker

chapter four

Slias didn't grab a watch from the shelf, instead he picked up a thick cylinder lined with lead. As he opened it, there was no sound of gears clicking, just a faint, sad singing of a wind that seemed to come from a long, long time ago, a wind that hadn't blown in over a hundred years.

The sound was mournful, like a whisper from the past, and it seemed to carry on the air, a haunting melody that sent shivers down his spine. It contained the Long-Necked Catcher's Jar, but what was inside wasn't something you could touch. Instead, it was a big, swirly cloud of golden-amber light. This light was really calm and moved slowly, kind of like a giant sleeping and breathing deeply. It was totally different from the clocks at the front of the shop, which were all frantic and ticking away quickly. The light in the jar just pulsed along, steady and peaceful, like a big, sleepy heartbeat.

"Look closely Jude" Slias whispered, his voice barely audible, this is the day the Spire attempted to take a life. ​The Anatomy of the Strayed Day" Slias explained to Jude.

"that year back in 1756, the people in charge of keeping time in the city, known as the Chronometricians of the Spire, noticed that everyone was just too happy and laid-back. They felt that the city was wasting a whole day, a Sunday, and that this was affecting productivity. So, in an effort to make the city more efficient, the Spire made a drastic decision, they would delete an entire day from the calendar. Essentially, they cut out twenty-four hours and merged Monday with Saturday, creating a new, condensed schedule". Slias continued

"that time can't just disappear, it just gets moved somewhere else. This particular Sunday somehow slipped through the cracks of our world and ended up in a place called the Glimmer-Fields, where it doesn't really have a date or a place in our normal timeline , it's what we call Undated Time, it has no Tension and It does not pull on the soul like a Monday or a deadline. Since it has no designated tasks, it can be anything a bridge, a shield, or a new beginning" Slias explained amazingly

" the light appeared as the warmth of a summer afternoon " Jude whispered as his eyes stared glue to the light

"No, it appeared as the satisfaction of a job well done".Slias corrected him

​ Slias grasped the jar, and the warm, golden light danced across his eyes, which were quickly losing their clarity.

"The Spire operates on Common Time ,the truth that we all share the same minute. But this clock holds Private Time. If you open this, Jude, you are not merely beginning a clock. You are ending a world. You are telling every man, woman, and child in Oakhaven that their time belongs to them again."

Jude's hand trembled, it moved into the warm, golden light of the jar, and he was suddenly filled with a deep sense of calm. The rapid beating of his heart, which had been racing out of control, began to slow down, matching the smooth, steady flow of the amber, and for a moment, everything seemed to stand still. The ticking of his heartbeat, which had been frantic and uneven, became steady and peaceful, as if it had found a sense of harmony with the gentle, golden glow that surrounded him.

​"It feels like... home," jude whispered.

Slias said, "It's not just something that happens, it's a choice." He handed Jude the jar.

"The Spire is going to come after this, they can't let a day exist that they don't control. You're the only one who can make this work, Jude, you have to be the one to weave it into the bridge. I'm too caught up in my own world to handle something as real as this "

Slias Thorne was down on his knees, in the back of the shop, trying to pry up a loose floorboard. As he finally managed to get it off, he found a cylinder made of old, blackened brass underneath. And inside this cylinder, there was a scroll of vellum that seemed to shine with a soft, gentle light, like the moon. ​These were no ordinary blueprints for a clock. These were the blueprints for the Aethel-Bridge. The vellum was not inked, it was etched with lines of silver that danced depending on the breath of the observer. Jude peered over Slias’s shoulder, his eyes widening as he followed the impossible geometry.

"Master," Jude whispered, his voice barely audible. "This... it can't be, it's not a clockwork at all, it's a map, a real map."

Slias’s voice was rough as he spoke to Jude, "It's both, really. The Spire has a way of controlling everyone, keeping them in line with a strict rhythm, like a leash that doesn't let anyone stray. But this" he said, holding up the schematic, "this is for a Resonance Engine. If we can get it working, it won't just keep time, it will send out a signal that breaks the hold of the silver strings"

The picture showed a strange machine that looked like a flower turned upside down, made out of the same kind of glass that Slias had been collecting.

​The Undated Sunday is the main source of power. As this day is not part of the logic of the Spire, it is given infinite Frictionless Energy. ​The Twelve blades of "Almosts" and "Lost Joys" polished by hand, which would catch the beam of light from the Spire and send it off in a thousand different, personal timelines. ​

The base is not made from stone, but from the weight Jude had lifted from Lord Valen, the pure weightless ambition of a soul set free.

the Spire's effectiveness relies on everyone in Oakhaven being in sync with the same hour.

Slias gestured to a complicated equation scribbled on the vellum, saying,

"You see, if each person in Oakhaven were to start living in their own personal time, the Spire's signal would lose its anchor. It would essentially be left with nothing to hold onto, and it would suffer as a result." He paused, then added, "In a way, you could say it would starve, because it relies on our collective agreement on time to function properly"

​There were marginalia written in a code that only a Glass Clockmaker would understand. Jude squinted at them. He noticed something odd at the bottom of the diagram a red smudge that caught his attention, and it seemed to be some kind of warning sign.

" Look, it's saying that if the resonance gets too high, the whole city just disappears , it's like, gone. We're talking about a world where everything is just a shadow of what it used to be, like we're living among ghosts or something".

Slias gazed down at his hands, noticing how they seemed to be fading away.

"You know, Jude, I think a world filled with ghosts is preferable to one where everyone's just a puppet on strings. But take a closer look at that bridge. It's not just destroying the Spire, it's creating a whole new path. And that path leads out of Oakhaven, away from all this."

Slias pulled out a special jar, the Long-Necked Catcher's Jar, and inside it was something amazing , the stolen Sunday. The jar was glowing with a beautiful, golden light that pulsed in a steady rhythm, and this light matched the intricate designs on the blueprint perfectly. "I just can't seem to put this together, Jude," Slias said, frustration evident in his voice.

"The problem is, I'm not dense enough, my fingers would just slip right through the glass. That's why I made the trip to the Glimmer-Fields, not for my own sake, but to get the battery we need for the engine that you have to build."

The windows at the front of the shop started shaking really hard. Then, a loud banging noise began at the door, it was like a strong heartbeat. It was the Warden, his mechanical fist was pounding against the door, making the whole place tremble.

" Slias Thorne, you are commanded by the Logos Chamber to give up the temporal anomaly" The Warden alarmed

Slias handed Jude the blueprints, his eyes locked on his. "The alley out back connects to the old sewer system," he explained. "If you keep your hand on the Sunday device, they won't be able to detect your pulse. You need to get out of here, Jude. Find the others who are off the grid, the ones who don't show up on the system. And then, build a way for us to cross over, to connect with them safely."