He opened his hand. The locket was there. He had brought a piece of a lost world back to the real one, but he’d lost the only friend who knew the way.
He saw it glinting beneath a pile of calcified newspapers. As he reached out, the watch’s hum turned into a frantic chirp.
"Searching for home-signal," a flat, synthesized voice replied from the watch. "Current stability: 14%. Recommendation: Do not move." Watch bob-E61B
When Elias opened his eyes, he was lying on the sterile floor of the Research Wing. The air tasted of ozone and floor wax. He looked at his wrist. The was silent, its screen cracked and dark, the steel now a dull, lifeless grey. It had burned itself out to bridge the gap.
"Warning," Bob said. "Proximity to localized paradox. E61B battery at 3%. If the anchor fails, you will become part of the background radiation." He opened his hand
Elias sat in the ruins of what used to be a Chicago transit station. Around him, the air shimmered like heat haze on asphalt, but there was no heat—only the "Static." The Static was where timelines collided, a graveyard of things that almost happened. "Status, Bob," Elias whispered.
"Sequence initiated," the watch responded. The steel grew searingly hot against his wrist. "It has been an honor, Elias." There was a sound like a heavy door slamming in a vacuum. He saw it glinting beneath a pile of calcified newspapers
Elias's fingers brushed the silver. The world around him began to peel away like wet wallpaper, revealing a sky made of violet lightning. He gripped the locket. "Bob, initiate 'Snap-Back.' Now!"