Case Note #003
From the Future
By Salaar Khan
Filed late at night: a watch with no hands — only shifting light, slipped into the present from another time.
Initial Report
Morning started wrong. The pocket watch I keep for rhythm; gone. The chain lifted empty, no weight, no tick. The desk sat quiet, radiator humming, case notes asleep. Then behind the file cabinet I found it. A plain metal box, cold as a vault. When I opened the latch, white light spilled into the room. Not just light — an arrival.
Evidence: The Object
Inside: a circular dial. No hands. No numbers. Just black-and-white ink, folding like slow smoke under glass. At the base, a glowing strip showed the time and date, sharp and clean.
Along the right edge, tiny mode icons stacked in a column. At the top, a switch waited.
It didn’t tick. It pulsed.
A touch woke it further. A panel rose, simple:
“What do you want to be reminded today?”
One line for a note, a time picker, quick options (+5m, +15m, +30m, +1h). I typed a line, hit Set. The dial shifted, lit with an aura. Time became presence.
Different faces appeared, like coded moods:
- Flowing Waves — monochrome marble, fluid folds.
- Ether — violet bloom, settling into deep blue.
- Shooting Stars — streaks of light across a dark field.
- Wavy Lines — white bands in steady rhythm.
- Accretion — a cyan ring, orbiting like gravity.
The future doesn’t announce itself. It just glows in the corner of your desk.
Two Modes of Use
The device carried two distinct ways to live:
- Simple Mode — restrained, like paper. Time sits low in a pill, dial monochrome.
- Immersive Mode — full screen, dial floating at the center, surrounded by the flowing field.
Findings
I named it Feyra; a corridor between hours. Not just a clock. A room where reminders breathe in light.
Built as a Progressive Web App, Feyra runs offline, near, and steady. Shaders carry the mood, making reminders feel less like alerts, more like ritual.
Time is not just measured. It’s staged.
Closing Note
Case #003 ends here. I didn’t lose a watch. The future left me one. If you need me, look for the glow.
Attribution: Inspired by Shadertoy community and “Shader Reminder” by Daniel Amuntyan.