Baby, we'd be so fine

"Yeah, [what] 's up with that?"

Meyline remained silent, looking around to see if anything was awry...

Could it be a prank? It happened before and never ended well.

Could it be that it's vacation? Very unlikely.

"I... don't know either..." Meyline shook her head, carrying some unknown feeling akin to a horror movie goosebumps a character would feel. Like the violins on the so-called-scary machine start to grind, tension builds between the two as time slows down.

Their eyes looked here and there, like a criminal hearing a beeping sound from a sensor they overlooked upon entering a bank. Even with such a plan for the heist, the criminal can't help but stand still. Spotted in a supposed stealth mission, the alert meter skyrockets to the max.

Upon staring at the front CCTV camera, with lasers all pointed at them like a gang about to shoot some random bystander after simply walking by them, tingles began to go rampant like a person listening to some relaxing "ASMR" videos on YouTube, except they were bound on an electric chair strapped with an anxiety device, about to go off at any random moment.

Molly couldn't help but try and give some glances at the empty chair four meters away from him. It was old and rusty- one that should have been replaced into one of those seats used for gaming or streaming videos- but instead left there for reasons unspecified to anyone but the manager of furniture and equipment in this office about to adapt to the futuristic shenanigans the "old man" green hair mentioned.

It was like a painting. One of those things he saw on some Lofi or ambiance albums, some sounds that invoke certain feelings or emotions… as well as some nostalgia mixed into the bowl of musical ingredients. The chair was giving those same "nostalgic-but-actually-not" vibes as if the very thing was a speaker playing the imaginary music he's "hearing" due to the "loud" silence from them just… staring.

Staring at what? The awesome ring lights? The cool holographic plants? Or whatever weirdly shaped object there is hanging by their table?

No.

It was the chair… The same chair he sat on just… hours ago? No, minutes ago. But then again, when did time begin to make sense?

"8:12…" Molly muttered, words that came out of his mouth that originated from his already lagging brain aneurysm. As if he dipped his head first into liquid static, his eyes staring at nothing but the chair- which slightly started to blur from him trying to focus too much- and his ears playing the same beep sound one hears when they open the television a little too early.

Like a solo of a certain bird free from something, Meyline gave the same confused look with her eyebrows raised. She had already looked outside; nothing was going wrong. She had already looked at the empty seats; nothing was moving. Her brain tried to conform to a belief that there "was" something moving or that something was watching them.

If the mind believes it will happen, they said. But the fact that "nothing" was happening, all the more made her think that something was indeed happening. Like that feeling when someone calls out their name from the sound of running water or hearing some sort of "voice" inside of them when they think of something a little too hard- those are the things Meyline feels, or at least, "wants" to perceive. As if she fears opening her eyes when she puts on shampoo in a shower that is the "truth", confusion turns into paranoia.

"W-what do you mean?" was all she could finally say, her body shaking like a washing machine with a brick inside of them, her fingers having nowhere to hold or fidget. She found her face magnetic to the invisible iron as she looked here and there, like a pet following the pet owner dance their hands around- as if they have food.

Waiting for confirmation was like a game show host about to reveal the biggest, most brain-imploding plot twist despite it being a crappy 90s television show about coins and crackers. She stared at Molly, his black-grey gradient hair, and his red eyes. Much like the loading screen of an online game with slow internet, her anticipation was met with another...

"But it's... 7:00"

...another question.

All of the time people talked about "time". Like a never-ending topic of conversation, whether it's something to laugh at or something to be worried about, it was pretty much a constant.

...

"Posts all over social media are talking about the latest news in Nevada. Right now, even people all over the world are experiencing time-related discrepancies ever since yesterday..."

Nicole was viewing another piece of news, her face fixed upon the screen as more butterflies filled up her stomach, but swallowed the growing lump as she continued watching.

"Mind giving us some insight on that, Riko Anehama?"

The screen switched to a different location, revealing a specific city in Japan under some negative color gradient.

"As you can see here, Ms. Andrea, the people aren't moving a single bit. The cars have stopped moving, the very smoke itself was pretty much frozen in time."

A male reporter- named Riko- said, looking at the very things he described. Out of curiosity, he even tried to poke a random businessman on the shoulder. With the cameraman zooming in, it unveiled the impossible. The man was never moved and never reacted at all.

"This is... unbelievable, Andrea. Scientists all over Japan are scratching their heads trying to scrutinize to this phenomenon, workers and even business companies temporarily stopped working due to this event. I do hope we find a feasible countermeasure to this."

Nicole's eyes widen at this. She knows that it was her who caused this ever since she arrived. She knows that if anyone found out...

"Once again I am Riko Anehama, and now, back to yo-"

Out of panic, she turned off the television. Her eyes widened like a peeled orange, and she covered her mouth as if she wanted to hold back a scream.

"I have to get to Molly!"