"Before the Clock Strikes" is a visceral, low-fantasy thriller that reimagines time as a finite, physical resource harvested by the elite. In a world where every citizen is born with a brass "Chronometer" fused to their chest, life is a calculated struggle of stillness and silence. Those born in the District, like the protagonist Silas, are given mere decades, while the wealthy on the Upper Terrace hoard centuries of stolen vitality.
