At 4:07 p.m. the sky stuttered. For one second the sunset froze, then rewound, and the same orange cloud slid back over the same rooftop twice. Milo blinked. He'd seen the seam. Then pale words scrolled up along the horizon: WORLD_07 - scheduled for deletion in 71 hours. His phone buzzed. The screen showed the exact same words.

Milo screenshots the sky, then races home to tell his sister Priya. She's older, smarter, and never believes anything. He shoves the phone in her face. To his shock, she goes pale. 'I saw it too,' she whispers. 'On the bus. I thought I was just tired.'