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Miles Tanner built a system to predict danger, eliminate risk, and protect the future.
It worked—until it sent him back to the past.
After a catastrophic failure in his own technology, Miles wakes up in 1995, on the day his life changed forever. Stranded without answers and hunted by a timeline that doesn’t want him there, he turns to the only people he can trust: his childhood best friends… and the thirteen year old boy he used to be—who can never know the truth.
Together, they race to repair the broken system before reality itself begins to fracture.
But the deeper Miles goes, the more he begins to question everything he thought he knew about his past, his choices, and the life he built to escape them.
Because fixing the future might not be as simple as getting back to it.
And some choices don’t come without a cost.
CHAPTER 12: BUTTERFLIES
She rolls effortlessly down the two-lane street of the quiet Brookwood neighborhood, her dark brown hair scattering in every direction as the warm spring air rushes past her slightly freckled cheeks. She stands and pedals once, hard, then two more times before settling back onto the seat, letting the bike coast again as she leans side to side, snaking down the empty road. She absolutely loves this time of year. It’s warm, but not blistering yet. The pollen is finally under
brandon0251
May 254 min read
CHAPTER 11: MOM
Miles cracks open his eyes and the world floods in, bright and intrusive. At first, he fears he has lost his vision, but slowly his eyes begin to adjust and he realizes the source of the blinding glow is coming from a large window to his left. He is lying on his back. His head feels like it’s going to burst. He’s having trouble putting thoughts together. Just moving his eyes brings on a wave of vertigo. He tries to make sense of his surroundings, but everything is blurry, a
Brandon Cawood
May 2513 min read
CHAPTER 10: THE GARDEN
Journal Entry May 23, 1995 I never really know where to start with these things. To be honest, I’m still not really sure what the point is, but my guidance counselor, Mrs. Wright, keeps telling me how important it is to get out my feelings or whatever, so here we are. Supposedly this journal is just for me and my eyes only, but it feels kind of silly to be writing to myself, so I’m just gonna keep pretending I’m writing to some other version of me in an alternate reality who
Brandon Cawood
Mar 2711 min read
CHAPTER 9: THE LAB
Miles steps into the lab and the world tightens. Not smaller, the lab itself is far beyond the scale of any normal facility. But denser. Glass and matte-white surfaces stretch in precise, uninterrupted lines. No clutter. No wasted space. Every surface intentional. Towering columns of hardware rise from floor to ceiling, encased in transparent housings that reveal layers of processors, circuitry, and pulsing light beneath. Thin streams of illumination move through them in co
Brandon Cawood
Mar 2310 min read
CHAPTER 8: GET OUT
Miles bursts through the doors of NEURON Systems headquarters. Rain and wind crash in behind him scattering across the polished floor. The doors slam shut. He is drenched from head to toe, leaving puddles with every step. His hair is matted to his forehead. His eyes wild. Security snaps into position. Rifles up. The sharp click of safeties and shifting boots ricochets across the glass walls of the vast lobby. One guard squints. Recognition flashes across his face. “Mr
Brandon Cawood
Mar 182 min read
CHAPTER 7: BUTTERCUP
[Audio version may be slightly different as I make changes to the text.] Scott straightens slightly as Miles walks up to the door, the habit of a man who never quite lost his military posture. “New look, I see,” he says matter-of-factly. Miles looks down at his clothing. “Yeah, I just added a new custom set of persona overlays to my inventory,” he says. “Thought I’d take this one for a test drive.” “You wear it well, sir,” Scott says sincerely. “You have a visitor, which
Brandon Cawood
Mar 1311 min read
CHAPTER 6- RICO
[Audio version may be slightly different as I make changes to the text.] His car pulls into the alley behind Manus Potentia, one of the many establishments he owns within the downtown city limits. Five-star restaurant by day. Social gathering place for the elite and celebrities by night. With it now fifteen minutes past four o’clock, Miles figures he has more than enough time to get in and get out before the evening rush. The rain hammers down now. Harder and faster than be
Brandon Cawood
Feb 234 min read
Chapter 5- THE FRACTURE
[Audio version may be slightly different as I make changes to the text.] Miles can still hear the roar of the crowd as the platform descends, slowly dampening as he gets closer to the tunnel floor. Behind the invisible barrier in his brain, something claws at the walls. His mind screams for separation. It wants out. But Miles fights the urge. On the outside, nothing changes. Pleasantries are exchanged. He shakes hands. Nods. Smiles. “Great speech out there Mr. Tanner,”
Brandon Cawood
Feb 164 min read
CHAPTER 4: THE DOCTRINE OF PROBABILITY
[Audio version may be slightly different as I make changes to the text.] The stadium is packed from floor to rafters. There isn’t an empty seat in the building. Lasers sweep across the arena as music pounds through the speakers. Miles rises from below the floor. The crowd erupts. Miles stands there alone, stoic, soaking it in. Everyone is on their feet as the platform locks into place in the center of the stage. But not her. She doesn’t clap. She doesn’t make a sound.
Brandon Cawood
Feb 811 min read
CHAPTER 3: THE TRANSFORMATION
[Audio version may be slightly different as I make changes to the text.] The car glides to a silent stop beneath the stadium’s private entrance. “Arrival in twelve seconds,” IRIS says. Miles doesn’t look up. He’s watching the reflection of the city ripple across the glass. “Proceed with external briefing,” he replies. A brief pause. Then— “Crowd size exceeds projected attendance by 7.4 percent. Protest presence confirmed on the east perimeter. Social sentiment index is t
Brandon Cawood
Feb 15 min read
CHAPTER 2: IRIS
[Audio version may be slightly different as I make changes to the text.] Miles gazes out the window as the car moves effortlessly down the eight-lane highway. Glass towers rise where farmland once stretched to the horizon. Digital billboards ripple across the skyline, reflecting off steel and mirrored facades. A metropolis wired like a nervous system, teetering on the edge of sentience, born from the explosion of the AI boom. Holly Creek had not always looked like this. Fif
Brandon Cawood
Jan 266 min read
CHAPTER ONE: MILES
Thank you so much for being part of this early review group! [Audio version may be slightly different as I make changes to the text. The video says chapter 2 but it is chapter 1] He isn’t supposed to be here. Not this place. Not like this. Something is very wrong. Why does this keep happening? He can feel it in his chest, heavy and wrong, his body already aware before his mind catches up. The thought presses in on him, tightening his breath. He hates it here. His face p
Brandon Cawood
Jan 235 min read
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