____BEEP BEEP BEEP____
The alarm shrieked.
Mark reached over to hit the button. *Click.*
(Mark awakens in his bed, eyes adjusting to the light.)
Mark:(Sighs) Another dream. Or was it a memory?
It's been months... but I still feel it. That... shift.
Mark slowly gets up. The camera pans across his cluttered room: a broken digital watch, stacks of outdated newsprint, a half-finished sketch of the city skyline.
Mark interacts with objects in his room:
-Desk: "Liamson Central College Class Schedule
-Phone: "Unread messages: 3 One from Lara
-TV: No signal..
Mark:Lara... she's still trying. Even after what happened.
(He picks up the phone but doesn't reply.)
The news stopped using the term *The Ruling* weeks ago.
Too heavy. Too dangerous. Too... real.
Now, they call it a "seismic global shift."
But that's just dressing up fear in a suit and tie.
Scene: City streets — Morning
Mark walks to school. The streets of Liamson pulse with color but feel eerily quiet. Posters about "Reconstruction Day" and missing persons line the walls. NPCs move in a semi-loop, chatting or sweeping rubble.
*He passes a park bench. A man whispers to himself, scribbling symbols in chalk.*
[Mysterious Man]
They're still watching...even after The Ruling. Time... time is bending, boy.
Mark (internal):Déjà vu again. That man... I've seen him before.
But he wasn't here yesterday. Was he?
Scene: Liamson Central College Courtyard
Mark meets up with his close friend, Enzo. REN cracking jokes, trying to keep things light, as always.
REN:Hey! Earth to Mark. Don't tell me you slept through *Ms. Calizo's* 15-minute homework rant again?
Mark:More like slept *into* it. What's new?
REN:Just the usual: half the school's still rebuilding, the cafeteria's now a relief center, and someone stole my ID again.
So, you know... normal.
They laugh, but there's tension under it. Everyone's pretending things are okay. Everyone knows they're not.*
Scene: Classroom
As Mark takes his seat, he sees a new girl enter quiet, observant. She locks eyes with him for a second.
Mark:Her face... I've never seen her before, and yet Why does it feel like I've already said hello?
Static flickers across the screen for a split-second. The environment glitches — the desk cracks, but no one reacts.
Mark (panicked ):Did you see that?
REN:See what?
Mark:There it is again. A fracture. A memory?
Or something trying to break through?
--Scene: After class — Rooftop--
Mark finds himself alone. He pulls out the broken watch, rewinds it slowly. As he clicks it, the rooftop fades briefly into its pre-catastrophe state — sunny, clean, full of voices.
Mark:Time doesn't move forward anymore.
It spirals.
[Voice from behind — Unknown Girl]
You felt it too, didn't you?
(Mark turns — it's the girl from class.,)
Mark:Who are you?
Girl:Someone who remembers what you're trying to forget.
To Be Continued…