Frozen Assets (Chyoa Edition)

The idea was simple. Well, not simple, it was highly dangerous, deeply illegal, and morally bankrupt. But for Elias Crowe, the potential profit made the risk worth it. He had spent years breaking the laws of physics in secret. Most people could not even dream of doing what he had carried out. But Elias wasn’t most people. He was a former engineer who had worked at Area 51, privy to knowledge and technology that officially did not exist — including advanced temporal physics.

As an added advantage, Elias Crowe did not officially exist. No social security number, no tax records, no fingerprints in any civilian database. To the world, he was a ghost.

After leaving government service, he needed a new source of income. One dark, persistent idea had taken root in his mind: the ability to freeze large groups of people in time and sell them on the dark web for enormous profit.

For what it was worth, he had already built the device. He had tested it thoroughly on some vagrants and runaways, people who would not be missed. It had worked perfectly. Now, all he needed was the right target.

Elias sat at his desk, scrolling through the East High School website, when he found it: an upcoming senior field trip to Oak Grove Historical Village, a remote, historic site far from prying eyes and an area with spotty cell service.

A thin, cold smile spread across his face.

“They will do,” he said quietly to the empty room. “They will do nicely.”

The sky was still dark when Elias Crowe arrived at Oak Grove. He drove a stolen box truck slowly along the narrow service road. Two miles from the main entrance, he pulled into a thick stand of oaks and palmettos, killed the engine, and spent the next twenty minutes carefully draping the vehicle in camouflage netting until it blended into the surroundings.

Satisfied, he shouldered the Stasis Engine and hiked toward the village. The air was thick with the Florida humidity and night-blooming jasmine. His boots made almost no sound on the soft earth.

By the time the first faint light of dawn touched the horizon, Elias had reached the site. Three village staff members had arrived early. He neutralized them quickly with short, targeted bursts from the Stasis Engine. He froze an older man raising the flag, a woman arranging brochures, and a young man sweeping the porch. Elias didn’t think the site staff would sell well, so they would be unfrozen later once the main harvest was complete.

Besides, it would help sell the mystery of what was about to happen. Deep down, Elias did have a flare for the dramatic. With the site now secured, Elias “borrowed” one of the village’s electric golf carts from behind the maintenance shed. He changed it quickly with wide padded straps and reinforced flooring he had brought with him, turning it into an efficient transport vehicle. He then drove the golf cart to a low, wooded rise behind a dense line of hedges that offered a perfect view of the central lawn, and the parking lot. From there, he settled in to wait, reviewing every detail of his plan.

The Stasis Engine was fully charged. The warehouse was prepped. There would be no mistakes. Even if he was doing this all by himself.