Stop the Clock!

[mbarker]

 

Over at https://moreoddsthanends.home.blog/2020/09/23/week-39-of-odd-prompts/ Leigh Kimmel prompted...

You’re working on a project you’re running late on, and you hear a loud *thump* outside. You look out the window and see…

Stop the Clock!

By Mike Barker

Harold glanced up at the clock, shook his head, and looked at the lines of code scrolling across the screen. He was working as fast as he could, scanning the existing code in one window, typing madly on the keyboard in sudden bursts of new code and modified code in another window, but he didn't think he could get done in time. He hated being late.

"Ye gods, I wish there was some way to stop the clock."

There was a sudden thump outside. He stood up and looked out the window. It wasn't much of a window, programmers didn't get the best offices, but…

What happened to his view of the parking lot? As he looked out, there was a… Some kind of strange mechanism, with… Was that a harpoon? Some kind of spear, anyway, jammed into the gears. And there was a guy in a leopard skin holding it, looking up at him. Then the guy waved at him, and…

Suddenly, the guy in the leopardskin was in his office. With a great big smile.

Harold looked at the clock. Wait a minute, it wasn't moving. In fact, the secondhand was frozen in place. What the heck?

He looked at the guy in the leopardskin, who chuckled.

"I'm glad you saw that," the guy said, in a deep bass voice. "I stopped the clock for you."

Harold blinked, and shook his head.

"You did what?"

"You asked the gods if there was some way to stop the clock. Well, I'm one of the gods, and I stopped the clock for you. That's what you asked for, right? Now you'll have a chance to finish that job you are working on. In fact, you can take as much time as you like. Well, it's not exactly time, since I stopped time everywhere else, but for you, it will feel like you've got all the time you need."

Harold looked up at the ceiling, then down at the computer.

"So, my computer works. But what about if I need to check..."

The guy shook his head. "Sorry. Your computer, you, your books here in the office, but… That network thing? They are all frozen. You can't send a message out to them, and of course, they aren't going to send you a message. So no, you can't check outside."

Harold rubbed his forehead.

"Is this some kind of hallucination? Did I crack up under the pressure? Who the heck are you, anyway?"

The guy looked at his feet.

"I doubt you've heard of me. I'm Kronos. God of time and space?"

Harold bit his lip.

"Actually, I think I have heard of you. Chronological, chronometer, we still use your name to talk about time."

Kronos grinned. 

"That's me! You do know me!"

Then he looked up and held out his hand.

Harold finally reached out and touched his hand. It was a warm, slightly rough hand. The guy squeezed just a little bit, and let go.

"So, you should get started. I mean, some of the other gods are going to complain that I stopped time. So let's make good use of this little pause."

"How long do I have?"

Kronos waved his hand. "Until I pull out the spear again. As long as those gears aren't turning, the rest of the universe has no passage of time."

[no idea where to go with this, but...]