The Clockwork Oracle
Thrillerdark3 audio scenes
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1 chapter • 3 scenes
Summary
In 1885 London, a young clockmaker's apprentice discovers his master's royal automaton contains a secret mechanism that predicts deaths. When it forecasts a murder, he must choose between exposing the forbidden knowledge or protecting his mentor's dangerous legacy.
Characters
Clara Whitlock
Elias Thorne
Archibald Blackwood
Settings
The Whitlock Townhouse
A Mayfair mansion where Clara wanders alone through rooms filled with her father's portrait, unworn gowns, and the crushing weight of polite society that whispers condolences while demanding composure.
Blackwood's Horology Workshop
A cramped cellar filled with ticking clocks, brass instruments, and the half-assembled Chronos Companion—a human-sized automaton of porcelain and gold. The air smells of oil and old paper, thick with unspoken secrets.
Story Structure
1
The Ticking Heart
Elias discovers the death-predicting mechanism within Blackwood's automaton and witnesses his first correct prediction—Lord Ashworth's murder—testing his loyalty before the moral weight has fully settled.
2
The Breaking Spring
Clara Whitlock's investigation brings her to the workshop, forcing Elias to confront the truth that his mentor's invention enables murder and that his silence makes him complicit.
1
The Breaking Spring - Complete
Clara Whitlock confronts Elias in Blackwood's workshop about her father's predicted death, forcing him to witness Blackwood's morally bankrupt justification of the automaton and dream of all the lives he could have saved, shattering his blind loyalty.
1
The Accusation
Clara Whitlock confronts Elias in the workshop, demanding to know why the Chronos Companion predicted her father's murder three days before it occurred.
- Story ID
- story_sGZIkuyUyqrQMPDK
- Created
- January 12, 2026
- Art Style
- noir (cinematic)
- Status
- published
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