1. Unstable -

He stepped toward the window. Outside, the city of Oakhaven looked like a watercolor painting left out in the rain. The skyscraper across the street was leaning at an impossible forty-degree angle, yet its windows hadn't broken. A park bench was hovering three feet off the ground, slowly rotating. His phone buzzed—a solid, comforting vibration.

In the year 2042, the world had become . Scientists called it "Molecular Drift," a side effect of a botched experiment in subatomic cohesion. For most people, it meant their furniture might occasionally phase through the floor or their front door might temporarily forget it was supposed to be solid. 1. Unstable

Elias grabbed his kit. As he stepped onto the sidewalk, the concrete felt like wet sand. He had to move quickly. In a world where "1. Unstable" was the new status quo, the only thing he could count on was that nothing would stay the same for long. He stepped toward the window