The first thing Leo noticed when he regained consciousness was the sky.
Blue, beautiful, and wide.
White clouds moved slowly across it, as if they had no idea that someone had just been transported through space in a way that perhaps no one in human history had ever experienced before.
Well, apparently, no one cared about his scientific achievements.
And in Leo’s opinion, that was a clear injustice.
He tried to get up.
His body did not cooperate as expected—as if every muscle in it had decided at the same time that it needed a vacation.
Eventually, he managed to sit up very slowly, letting out a groan that escaped him without permission.
He looked around.
He wasn’t in his room.
That was the first piece of information.
He was in a narrow alley with old stone walls and a wet floor covered in water whose source he couldn’t identify.
Sunlight slipped in from above at an angle that told him it was morning—a morning in a place he didn’t recognize.
The second piece of information: the experiment had worked.
At least partially.
The spatial transfer had actually happened.
Only…
the destination wasn’t the table across from him in his room.
It was…
here.
Wherever here was.
Leo looked at his wrist.
The watch was still there—wrapped around his wrist just as it had automatically transformed into an armored suit before he lost consciousness.
But something was different.
The rings that always moved in perfect rhythm were completely still.
And the golden dots that always glowed were barely visible.
He reached out and touched the activation button.
Nothing.
He pressed it again.
Nothing.
He pressed it harder.
Nothing.
Leo remained silent for a full second.
Then he looked at the watch with a very calm expression.
“Okay,” he said in the tone of someone trying his best to remain logical.
“I know I’m unlucky.
That’s not new information.
But this is a little too much.”
He paused.
“I mean—I haven’t even tested its transformations yet.
I haven’t seen the armor work at full capacity even once.”
He stared at the watch.
“And now it’s scrap.”
He sighed.
“I’m really lucky.
Amazing.”
He slowly stood up, using the wall for support.
And when he stood—he noticed something else.
He looked at his hands.
Then at his feet.
Then at the wall, which seemed slightly taller than it should have been.
Finally, he looked at his faint reflection in a puddle on the ground.
A face he knew.
Features he recognized.
But—
“No,” he said quietly.
He leaned closer to the puddle.
His face.
Definitely his face.
But younger.
Clearly younger, with no other possible explanation.
He sat down on the ground immediately.
It wasn’t a conscious decision—his knees had simply decided for him.
He stared silently at the malfunctioning watch for a long moment.
Then he let out a deep sigh.
“So…” He began counting on his fingers in the tone of someone reading a shopping list.
“Unknown location.
Broken watch.
A body at least three years younger.”
And the craziest part…
“I don’t even know where I am.”
He looked around.
“Excellent.
Heh, this is definitely the best day of my life.”
From the end of the alley came the sounds of the city—cars, people, and ordinary daily life continuing as if nothing had happened at all.
Leo slowly stood up, dusted off his clothes, and took a deep breath.
Okay.
The situation was clear.
Things were ridiculously bad.
His watch was broken.
He was in a place he didn’t recognize, inside a body younger than his actual one.
But Leo knew one thing that remained constant in every situation—
Panic solved nothing.
Thinking did.
He slowly walked toward the end of the alley, the inactive watch around his wrist, his mind already working.
Where was he?
How could he get back?
And how could he fix the watch before anything else?
Three questions.
Clear priorities.
One step at a time.
He stepped out of the alley.
And for the first time in his life—
He saw the Eiffel Tower.
End of Chapter Four