The Hourglass is called many things: the perfect machine, the source of all life, the fountain of youth. It promises immortal comfort to the privileged, but it also looms over its creators, trapping them in its cycle. Martel knows that there are other, inexplicable things that give life meaning, way more valuable than her own immortality. She only feels alive in the stolen moments with Twenty, an assembly worker in the dangerous gears of the machine. Will the differences between their lives tear their relationship apart, or will the Hourglass shatter first? After all, a society built on rejecting these feelings is beyond fragile... it's a ticking time bomb.