The Fractured Timeline

The Fractured Timeline

The air shimmered like a heatwave as Julian activated the Chrono Gauntlet. He barely had time to take a breath before the world around him twisted into a blur of colors and light. A heartbeat later, the disorienting sensation ceased, and he found himself standing on a cobblestone street, surrounded by towering gas lamps and the distant clatter of horse-drawn carriages.

London, 1893.

Julian adjusted his coat, the fabric subtly shifting its appearance to blend in with the fashion of the time. He was here on a mission—find the rogue time traveler, known only as Lachlan, and prevent him from altering history. If the intelligence from the Timekeepers was correct, Lachlan intended to assassinate a brilliant but obscure scientist whose inventions would unknowingly lay the groundwork for future space travel.

He moved swiftly through the fog-laden streets, his ears attuned to every snippet of conversation. The trick with time travel wasn’t just the journey—it was the navigation. One wrong step, and he could alert the wrong people, shift the wrong event, and change history in catastrophic ways.

Julian reached a small, dimly lit pub called The Iron Clasp. His informant—a woman named Evelyn Harrow—was waiting for him inside, nursing a glass of whiskey. She was a historian by trade but had discovered too much about the cracks in time, and the Timekeepers had recruited her to keep history on track.

“You’re late,” Evelyn murmured, not looking up from her drink.

“I traveled through centuries, give me some credit,” Julian replied, slipping into the seat across from her.

She smirked. “Lachlan’s been spotted near the Royal Society. If he succeeds in eliminating Dr. Whitmore, you and I might never be born.”

Julian exhaled. “Then let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.”

The two of them left the pub and navigated through the city’s maze-like streets. When they reached the grand halls of the Royal Society, Julian caught sight of a man in a dark coat, standing too still, watching the entrance with cold calculation.

Lachlan.

Time slowed as Julian drew his pulse disruptor. He only had one shot. If he missed, history could fracture in ways he couldn’t predict. He steadied his breath, aimed, and fired.

The blast of energy struck Lachlan square in the back, sending him collapsing to the ground. Before he could recover, Julian was on him, locking a suppression band around his wrist. The device would prevent any further temporal jumps.

Lachlan sneered. “You think you’ve won?”

Julian tightened the restraint. “I think history remains intact.”

Evelyn let out a breath of relief as the Royal Society’s doors opened, and an unassuming scientist walked out, unaware of how close history had come to unraveling.

Julian tapped his Chrono Gauntlet, preparing to return to his own time. Just another mission completed in the endless work of protecting the timeline.

And then, in the distance, the air shimmered again.

Someone else was traveling through time.

Julian's pulse quickened. He exchanged a glance with Evelyn, who looked equally unsettled. "Was there another rogue traveler in this time period?" she asked.

"Not that I know of," Julian replied, scanning the alleyways. "But if someone else is jumping in now, it means we have a bigger problem."

The shimmer intensified, and suddenly, a figure materialized in the street—a woman in a sleek, metallic suit that reflected the dim light. Unlike Julian’s subdued, era-adapting attire, she made no attempt to blend in. That meant one thing.

She wasn’t from his timeline. Or Lachlan’s.

The woman raised a device that pulsed with energy, scanning the area before locking eyes with Julian. "You have no idea what you’ve done," she said, her voice crisp and authoritative.

Julian tensed. "Who are you?"

She stepped forward. "Agent Selene Aris, Temporal Reconnaissance Corps. You just stopped Lachlan—but in doing so, you disrupted something much worse. We need to leave. Now."

Evelyn looked between them. "What do you mean, disrupted?"

Selene pressed a button on her wrist, and a holographic display flickered to life, showing a timeline fracturing into chaotic branches. "Because you saved Whitmore, the future has changed. A new threat has emerged—one that wasn’t supposed to exist."

Julian cursed under his breath. "So now what?"

Selene’s expression was grim. "Now, we fix it. But this time, we might not be able to do it alone."

As another shimmer appeared in the distance, Julian realized she was right.

Time itself was unraveling.