At 5:29 PM, Elara shut her laptop. She stared at the hmm slot. Cross-trainer calibration meant aligning the resistance settings to her exact stride length. It was important. It was efficient. It was… soul-crushing.

Her phone buzzed. A message from her younger sister, Zoe: Hey. Remember that old clock tower on Maple? They’re tearing it down tomorrow. Want to come? We used to go there after school.