How Time Works

Correction required.

A quick primer on Tiktik’s rules, tools, and the side-effects of what he does.

The five rules

  1. Takes only wasted time. Intentional minutes are off-limits.
  2. Small amounts, usually. Seconds. Minutes. Never a whole day without permission.
  3. Can borrow from the future. When the present runs dry, Tiktik pulls from tomorrow. Tomorrow notices.
  4. Mistakes happen. Math fails. Reality bends.
  5. Correction required. Every error triggers a rebalance — rarely clean, often funny.

Powers

  • Minute detection — he can see how much time is leaking from a room the way you can see steam rise off coffee.
  • Localized time pause — small bubbles, usually around himself, lasting no more than eight seconds.
  • Clock-face banking — every minute collected is stored in his wrist-clock.
  • Borrow-ahead — short-term only. Pulling from tomorrow costs him interest.

Tools

  • The wrist-clock — metallic, faintly lit, permanently attached.
  • The calendar pages — thin sheets of translucent material that appear when he needs to move across days.
  • Correction flare — a brief low-violet light that marks a rebalance in progress. Do not touch.

Effects you’ll see in episodes

  • Glow particles — cyan motes drifting out of a room. Means time is being collected.
  • Clock overlay — a transparent dial pinned to the corner of the frame.
  • Calendar slide — when the camera pans and the date changes mid-shot.
  • Correction flash — a quick violet wash. Ends the scene. No explanation.

What happens when he miscalculates

  • Mild: time slips three or four minutes. You lose a sentence. You blink and move on.
  • Medium: a whole scene replays. You walk into the kitchen twice.
  • Severe: a day reshuffles. Correction required, always — and never for free.

What he will never do

  • Take time you were actively using.
  • Take time you explicitly refuse.
  • Take more than he can safely return.
  • Explain himself.

You owe minutes. You just didn’t know who to pay.