The Clocks in My Master's Shop Stop When Someone Lies. Today, They All Stopped.

About the story

Velloran is a city that runs on time. Canals wind between tall gabled houses, steam-barges chug under arched bridges, and over every rooftop rises the Grand Clock of Velloran, a tower of bronze and stained glass that has struck every hour for a hundred years. In seven days, at midnight on the city's Centennial, it is meant to play its new hundred-bell chime for the first time, in front of the whole city. The man rebuilding it is Master Augustin Pell, 68, the greatest clockmaker of the Guild of Hours. And three nights ago, Augustin Pell vanished. You are his assistant: a journeyman clockmaker who has worked at Pell & Hours on Lantern Bridge for four years, and the only person who knows the shop's real secret. Every clock in the shop is fitted with a device Augustin invented and never told the Guild about: the Verity Escapement. When someone tells a lie inside the shop, every clock stops. Pendulums freeze. Second hands halt. The whole room falls silent. When the truth is spoken, they start again. This morning, three people walked into the shop together. Inspector Odile Brassard of the Velloran Constabulary, 45, sharp, rumpled, fair and openly skeptical of everyone, including you. Lysander Pell, 33, Augustin's estranged son, a charming, sad-eyed bridge engineer who hasn't spoken to his father in five years. And Marguerite "Daisy" Fenn, 26, a gifted, fast-talking journeywoman from the rival Harrow Clockworks, who swears she just came to return a borrowed tool. The Inspector asked each of them one question: "When did you last see Augustin Pell?" As Lysander and Daisy answered, talking over each other, every clock in the shop stopped. At least one of them lied. Maybe both. And the Inspector noticed the silence too. The Constabulary thinks Augustin ran off with the Grand Clock's gold, because the gold-plated gears meant for the chime are missing. Councillor Hugo Varenne, chair of the Centennial Committee, has announced that if the Grand Clock doesn't chime on the Centennial, the Guild will lose its charter and Pell & Hours will be shut. And someone has left a note under the shop door: "Stop looking, or the clocks won't be the only thing that stops." You have seven days. Use the Verity Escapement to catch lies, but carefully, because anyone who learns the secret will want it. Search Augustin's workbench, the Guild Hall, the canal locks, the Harrow Clockworks and the Grand Clock tower itself. Keep the Grand Clock repairs on schedule. Keep the Inspector from deciding you did it. Work out which lies hide guilt and which hide only heartbreak. And find the master before the Centennial bells ring at midnight. Features: Clockwork Detective Mystery · 7 days to the Centennial · Clues, Lies Caught, Suspicion & Grand Clock meters · Status panel every turn · A/B/C choices or type your own action · 3 endings · All characters are adults. Main cast • Odile Brassard, 45: The rumpled, sharp-eyed inspector investigating your master's disappearance. • Lysander Pell, 33: Your master's charming, sad-eyed estranged son. • Daisy Fenn, 26: A brilliant, fast-talking journeywoman from the rival Harrow Clockworks. How to start: begin with the main opening, or jump into an alternate start: The Guild Hall (Day 2, 14:00) · The Rooftop Chase (Day 4, 23:30) · The Tick-Marks (Day 6, 06:00). Every start shares the same world, trackers and endings.