It was 12:18 PM on a rainy Thursday when, for one second, the world stopped. Archie watched the geese take off from the river and stop mid-flight, then continue, as if someone had momentarily pressed the pause button for the whole universe. He wasn’t the only one who experienced the strange phenomenon. The news that night confirmed that it had happened to every single person on Earth. They could still think, but reality had stopped for roughly one second. The Internet blew up with conspiracies and memes, but nobody seemed to know anything concrete. Fortunately, the phenomenon caused only minor trouble, like traffic accidents due to spooked drivers.

The next day, it happened again at exactly 12:18 PM. Archie was in mid-chew of his lunch sandwich at the time. He couldn’t be sure, but did it take a little longer this time before the world resumed as normal? The world's governments announced that task forces were being set up to study the bizarre phenomenon.

The next day, it happened again, and this time it was noticeably longer. It became clear that the time had doubled yet again: they were up to four seconds now. An image was circulated that showed the projected duration if the length kept rising exponentially:

Day 1: 1 second Day 5: 16 seconds Day 10: 9 minutes Day 15: 5 hours Day 20: 6 days Day 25: 194 days Day 30: 17 years Day 35: 545 years Day 40: 17433 years Day 50: 17851025 years Day 100: 20098468420665700000000 years 

Around day 15, the world began to fall apart. Being stuck in place for half an hour, unable to move and with nothing to do but think, was excruciating. Around day 20, the world’s governments introduced regimes of sedation to get as many people through each day’s time stop with their sanity intact. Those left out tried to ensure that they were asleep, but it didn’t seem to guarantee safety. Many never woke up again. Day after day, global chaos increased as swathes of humanity died, or lost their minds.

Archie was lying on a blanket in a field, completely naked. The girl he’d met a few hours earlier was lying beside him, also naked. He’d already forgotten her name. They were both survivors who had made it this far into the new age and had decided to go out on their own terms. It was a heaven, of sorts: ten million years of orgasmic ecstasy inside the time stop, followed by their minds turning into dust when they resurfaced. The clock said 12:10 PM. Time to get started. He looked at the girl, who nodded and lay on her back without saying a word. Archie bent over her and started thrusting.