Saoirse was asleep. The fire was still going, though it didn’t look like it would last for much longer. I was waiting for this actually, I hadn’t taken my meds since leaving 2019.

I took my handbag to the table, pulled out the emergency stash pill-box, and counted the tablets. Based on this, it looks like I have a 28-day supply.

28 days.

28 days to repair the time device.

I looked around at the cottage, in all of its medieval glory. How am I gonna repair this thing in four weeks, in a place like this? Wires, solder, PVC– hell, even electricity— none of those things exist here!!

This is bad… this is very very bad… I have to fix this…

Okay Radha. Calm down and think. First, we need to run diagnostics.

I pulled out the broken device and had a good look at it. But this only gave me a rough idea of what was broken and where, and I don’t think I’m going to get the full picture unless I pop it open. I sealed this thing with screws.

Alright, next I need to see what I have with me.

I emptied out my handbag. It looks like all the usual stuff I carry around was in it: my wallet, with cards and about $25 in cash, Bluetooth earbuds, a multi-pen, a notepad, tissues, hand sanitizer, tinted lip balm, a compact mirror, the pill-box, a swiss-card, and of course my smartphone.

Wait… the swiss-card has a screwdriver!

I quickly pulled out the screwdriver, and with some effort, was able to pop open the time device. I could now see what went wrong, and what needs to be repaired. Quite a lot of the internal PVC housings had melted, and some of the wires were damaged. All the PCBs and circuitry were, thankfully, still intact, but unfortunately the caesium core was completely destroyed.

I then took out my phone and switched it back on, as all the notes, plans, and schematics were backed up on here just in case. Battery’s at 95%... but maybe that’s enough. It should last longer if I switch it to airplane mode.

Despite everything I actually found myself chuckling at how anachronistic and out-of-place my 21st century belongings looked, scattered across this 17th century setting.

I took a deep breath. Okay, maybe I can do this. I just need to figure out how to get the parts I need… in a time and place where they don’t exist. This exercise is going to test both my creativity and resourcefulness to their absolute limits. And hey, maybe I can ask Saoirse for help. She’s smart, she’s bound to have some ideas… once she’s able to wrap her head around my situation, that is.

I turned to look at the bed next to the table. She really was fast asleep.

That’s when I noticed something. Behind all the grit, all the toughness, all the numbness to loss… there was a raw beauty to her. A grace.

But I shouldn’t get too comfortable here. And I really shouldn’t get too attached to this woman.

28 days.