All Chapters of Seconds To Zero : Chapter 21
- Chapter 30
104 chapters
CHAPTER 21
Evan turned to the System. He didn't use his voice. He used his mind. He spoke to the machine that was eating him.System. Optimize. Give me everything.[WARNING: OPTIMIZATION WILL INCREASE AGING RATE BY 400%][DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED?]Yes, Evan thought. I don't need a long life. I need a loud one.The lab began to shake. The screens on the walls flickered and died."What are you doing?" Vane demanded. Her hologram started to glitch. "You are destroying the lab!""I'm cashing out," Evan said.He grabbed Mara’s hand. "We have to go. The Level 100 elevator... it’s behind the chair. I can feel it now.""Evan, look at your wrist!" Mara screamed.Evan looked. The bio-watch was glowing so brightly it was painful to look at. The numbers were spinning. But they weren't counting up.The golden hourglass symbol cracked. It turned from gold to a deep, bloody purple.[STATUS: OVERDRIVE][TIME-REMAINING: CALCULATING...]Evan didn't wait for the number. He lunged for the wall behind the chair. He s
Last Updated : 2026-03-06
CHAPTER 22
The rain in the slums did not wash things clean. It only turned the dust into thick, black mud. It fell on the rusted tin roofs of the "Pit" with a sound like a thousand tiny hammers.Evan sat on a plastic crate in the corner of the waiting room. His back ached. His knees popped every time he moved. He looked at his hands. They were still wrinkled. They were the hands of a man who had seen too many winters, even though his heart was still young.The white hair on his head felt heavy. He was the "Ancient Man" from the ruins of the tower. He had survived the explosion. He had survived Vox. But the cost was written in the lines on his face.The Slum Hospital was not a place of healing. It was a place where people went to wait. The walls were stained with damp mold. The air smelled of cheap antiseptic, unwashed bodies, and the metallic tang of blood. There were no golden lifts here. There were no silver trees."Evan Kennedy?"The voice was tired. Evan looked up. A man in a stained white c
Last Updated : 2026-03-06
CHAPTER 23
Evan stepped out of the hospital. The rain was still falling. It was late afternoon, but the smoke from the city’s factories made it look like midnight.He started to walk. Every step was a battle. His hip ached. His lungs felt tight. He had to stop every few minutes to lean against a wall and catch his breath.He reached a busy intersection in the Mid-Zone. This was where the "legitimate" world began. People were scurrying about, trying to figure out the new rules of the city. The giant digital clocks on the buildings were gone. In their place were posters of the new Council leaders, promising "A Fair Future for All."Evan looked at a job board outside a grocery store.DELIVERY DRIVER: 4 CREDITS A DAY.DISHWASHER: 3 CREDITS A DAY.STREET SWEEPER: 2 CREDITS A DAY.Evan took a small stub of a pencil from his pocket. He found a piece of discarded paper in the mud. He began to do the grim math.If he worked as a delivery driver, and he worked every single day without a break, he would ea
Last Updated : 2026-03-07
CHAPTER 24
Evan leaned forward. The purple light in his eyes flared for a second. "I have the Ghost-Hand. Even without the watch, I can still see the glitches."The Seer’s black eyes widened. She reached out and touched Evan’s arm. She felt the heat. She felt the vibration of a system that shouldn't exist."You're a monster," she whispered."I'm a son," Evan corrected.The Seer pulled a small chip from her pocket and handed it to him. "This is the entry code. The game starts at midnight. But be warned, Evan Kennedy. Julian Vox knows about the Under-Clock. He uses it to find people like you. People who have a 'spark' left.""Let him come," Evan said.He took the chip and stood up. He felt a strange sense of peace. For the first time since the tower fell, he had a path. It was a path that led to his death, but it was a path.Evan walked out of the tent. The rain had stopped. The air was cold and clear. He looked up at the moon. It was half-hidden by clouds.He began the long walk to the stadium. H
Last Updated : 2026-03-07
CHAPTER 25
The stadium had been a nightmare of purple light and screaming. Evan did not remember how he got out. He only remembered the feeling of life pouring into his veins like hot lead. He remembered Julian Vox’s face turning from a smile to a mask of pure horror.Now, the sun was trying to climb over the smoke of the city. Evan was standing in front of the "Apex Delivery Hub." It was a giant, rusted warehouse where he had worked as a runner. He needed his back pay. He needed the fifty credits he had earned before the world fell apart. Fifty credits was not two thousand, but it was enough to buy a day of medicine for Arthur.Evan looked at his hands. They were not wrinkled anymore. They looked like the hands of a man in his thirties. They were strong, but they were shaking. The skin was hot to the touch. The "Life-Tap" had stolen time from the people in that stadium and shoved it into Evan. It was not his time. It was stolen, jagged, and angry.He pushed open the heavy metal door of the hub.
Last Updated : 2026-03-07
CHAPTER 26
Evan looked toward the end of the alley. He saw a flash of red. A man was standing on a rooftop, looking down at him. The man wore a leather mask with a red eye painted on the forehead.A Rust-Eater.Evan didn't wait. He turned and began to run in the opposite direction.His body felt different. He was faster. His muscles didn't ache like they used to. But the "Life-Tap" was like a fire inside him. Every time he pushed himself, he felt the stolen years burning away. It was like trying to run a car on rocket fuel—it would go fast, but it would melt the engine.He turned a corner and entered the Blue District. This was the part of the city where the neon signs were the brightest. Huge holographic women danced in the air, selling perfume and synthetic wine. The blue and pink light reflected off the wet pavement.Whist!A metal bolt slammed into the brick wall next to Evan’s head."There he is!" a voice roared.Evan looked back. Three men were charging toward him. They were big, covered i
Last Updated : 2026-03-07
CHAPTER 27
"Evan." The whisper came from a dark doorway behind him.Evan spun around, his fists clenched. A figure in a gray cloak was standing there. The hood was up, but Evan saw a flash of silver hair."Mara?" Evan asked.She reached out and grabbed his jacket, pulling him into the dark building. "Keep your voice down. The whole district is crawling with Scorpions.""Scorpions? I thought it was Rust-Eaters," Evan said."They’re working together now," Mara said. She led him down a flight of stairs into a basement filled with old books and broken clocks. "Julian Vox offered a bounty so big it united the gangs. They call it the 'Golden Harvest.' They think if they catch you, they can divide the Spark among themselves."Mara turned to him. She looked tired. Her face was smudged with soot. "What happened to you, Evan? You look... younger.""The stadium," Evan said. "I didn't mean to do it. The system just... it took over.""It’s not just the system," Mara said. She walked to a table and picked up
Last Updated : 2026-03-08
CHAPTER 28
The man in the brown suit stood perfectly still. The rain drummed against his umbrella with a steady, peaceful rhythm. Ting. Ting. Ting. It was the only sound in the graveyard of rusted machines. Behind him, the giant skeletal remains of a factory reached up into the black sky like the ribs of a dead beast.Evan felt his heart stop. Not because of the System. Not because of the temporal decay. But because of the face.It was the face from the hospital bed. It was the face from the memories of the blue bicycle. It was Arthur. His father.But this man did not look like a victim. He did not look like he was dying of Chronos-Decay. His skin was smooth. His eyes were bright and clear, glowing with a soft, steady gold light. He looked like a man who owned time itself."Dad?" Evan whispered. His voice was broken. He took a step forward, but his legs were shaking. "You’re… you’re in the hospital. I saw you. I gave you my time."The man smiled. It was a kind smile, but it did not reach his eye
Last Updated : 2026-03-08
CHAPTER 29
Marco was a grifter. He lived by the "Three S" rule: Scavenge, Sneak, and Survive. He had been following the purple glow for three blocks, hoping to pick the pocket of whatever rich kid had stolen that much time.But he didn't see a rich kid. He saw a man-god about to murder a boy-glitch."Bad for business," Marco muttered. He reached into one of his many pockets. "Very bad for business. If that kid dies, the Spark goes into the suit-guy. And the suit-guy doesn't look like he’ll be dropping any credits in the gutter."Marco pulled out a small, round object. It was wrapped in silver tape and had a series of blinking lights on the top. It was a Spark-Cracker, a homemade flashbang designed to overload the bio-sensors of Enforcers."Don't blow your fingers off, Marco," he cautioned himself.He stood up on the railing. He took a deep breath."Hey, Suit-Man!" Marco yelled.Arthur paused. He didn't look up, but his head tilted slightly."You forgot your change!"Marco threw the Spark-Cracker
Last Updated : 2026-03-08
CHAPTER 30
"We need to 'over-clock' you," Mara said, her voice rising with excitement. "If we can change the frequency of the Engine, the Architect’s commands won't work. But to do that, we need a massive amount of energy. More than the Life-Tap. We need a direct connection to the city’s power core.""The Spire," Evan realized."The Spire," Marco agreed. "The most dangerous place in the city. Guarded by the Elite Enforcers, the Scorpions, and probably a few things Julian Vox hasn't even named yet."Marco sat down on a crate and started sharpening a knife. "It’s a suicide mission. Totally insane. No chance of success.""But?" Evan prompted.Marco’s grin returned. "But I know a guy who knows a guy who has the blueprints to the ventilation shafts. And I’ve always wanted to see the view from the top."Evan looked at Mara. She looked back at him. She had lost her father to the Enforcers. Evan had "found" his father only to realize he was the villain. They were two orphans in a world of gears."I have
Last Updated : 2026-03-08