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- Herausgeber: epubli
- Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
- Sprache: Englisch
Time has always been considered a line. Linear. Logical. Immutable. But this is not a story about logic. It is about love. About memory. About choices that bend the fabric of time, even if only for an instant. Somewhere between science and emotion, between a falling star and a beating heart, lived Aster — a woman made of equations and silence. And Riven — a man made of secrets and possible futures. They met not because time allowed it… but because love decided there was no line that could separate them. This is not a book about the end of the world. It is about what is left when everything ends: a fold. a name. a feeling that resists time. Welcome to line 319-Z. Or as some prefer to call it… the line where love learned to stay.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025
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Copyright
© 2025 by Danniel Paraiso
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations used in critical reviews or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events is entirely coincidental.
Introduction
Time has always been considered a line.
Linear.
Logic.
Unchangeable.
But this is not a story about logic.
It’s about love.
About memory.
About choices that bend the fabric of time, if only for an instant.
Somewhere between science and emotion,
between a falling star and a beating heart,
lived Aster — a woman made of equations and silence.
And Riven—a man made of secrets and possible futures.
They met not because time allowed…
but because love decided that there was no line that could separate them.
This is not a book about the end of the world.
It’s about what’s left when it’s all over:
a fold.
a name.
a feeling that resists time.
Welcome to line 319-Z.
Or as some prefer to call it…
the line where love learned to stay.
The Physics of Shooting Stars
Daniel Paradise
Dedication
To those who love among the seconds,
to those who remember with their hearts,
to those who have heard time whisper and chosen to listen.
This book is for those who believe that some stories do not begin on dates,
but in feelings.
And that love — even doubled, even fragmented —
always finds its way among the stars.
For those who have expected the impossible…
and decided to call it home.
— Danniel Paraiso
Summary – The Physics of Shooting Stars
• The Future Diary
• A Name Called Riven
• The Arrival of the Colleague
• The Man Who Doesn’t Smile
• Echoes of a Time That Is Not This
• The Second Star
• Conversations That Came From the Wind
• The Fold
• When the Eye Understands First
• The Heart Hypothesis
• Fragments of 319-Z
• The Dissonance of Love
• When Silence Vibrates
• The Place Where Nothing Was Measured
• The City of Broken Seasons
• The Theory of the Impossible
• Time Written on Skin
• The First Kiss That Wasn’t From This Line
• The Death of a Version
• The Burnt Pages
• Artificial Intelligence Dreams
• Ethan Investigates the Amphora Project
• The Time Map Destabilizes
• Kiss in the Vortex
• The Other Side
• The Return to the Desert
• The Price of Choice
• Fragments of the Unexpected
• A Star in Your Pocket
• The Rift Reacts Again
• The Missing Name
• The Breath of Peace
• ChronoCards
• The Library of Ruins
• The Full Circle
• The Invisible Book
• The Stars That Don’t Fall
• The Other Versions of Us
• Liora’s First Visitor
• Voices in Madeira
• The Page That Writes Itself
• The Silent Song
• The Second Voice
• Seasons Within Us
• A Story Called After
• The Name That Doesn’t Exist Yet
• The First Breath of the Flame
• The Invisible Legacy
• The Inner Rift
• The Return of a Voice
• The Meeting of Two Times
• A Place Called Now
• The Nameless Visitor
• The Three Voices
• Fragments of the Future
• The Library of Ruins
• The Full Circle
• The Invisible Book
• The Stars That Don’t Fall
• The Other Versions of Us
• Liora’s First Visitor
• Voices in Madeira
• The Page That Writes Itself
• The Silent Song
• The Second Voice
• Seasons Within Us
• A Story Called After
• The Name That Doesn’t Exist Yet
• The First Breath of the Flame
• The Invisible Legacy
• Character arc
• Acknowledgements
• About the Author
Chapter 1 – The Arrival of Riven Hale
The sky was absurdly clear that morning—as if the universe was silently watching.
Aster Vellman climbed the steep trail to the Celestis Observatory, her eyes squinting against the sunlight reflecting off the powdery snow. Even as her boots pressed into the icy gravel and the cold took her breath away, her mind was elsewhere—as it always had been. Time, for her, had never been just a straight line. It was an equation waiting to be solved.
As he walked through the gates of the main dome, he smelled that same ancient, metallic scent of stagnant technology and old stars. A place where the past and the future tried to coexist in silence. It was his refuge.
And that morning, that refuge would be invaded.
— “Aster, have you met the new physicist yet?” Jun asked, emerging from the hallway with a mug in his hands and his hair messy as if he hadn’t slept in days.
She arched an eyebrow.
— “Nakamura’s replacement?”
Jun nodded, gesturing towards the meeting room.
— “Dr. Riven Hale. He arrived early. And he’s already requested access to the Chronos Project files.”
Aster stopped.
Project Chronos wasn’t just a bunch of theoretical code and simulations. It was… dangerous. Especially after what happened to Liam.
— “And you gave it?” — she asked, trying to hide the tension.
— “Not without his permission. But Elira seems quite enthusiastic about him.”
Aster sighed and adjusted her coat. She was tired of shiny newcomers with inflated egos. However, as she pushed open the door to the meeting room, her breath caught for a second.
He was standing with his back turned, watching the sky through the transparent panel of the curved ceiling. Tall, calm in posture, a lock of hair falling over his forehead. When he turned, their eyes met. And it was as if something in time…wobbled.
— “Dr. Vellman,” he said. His voice was low, precise. “It is an honor. I have long awaited this meeting.”
Aster didn’t reach out immediately. Something was wrong. No one said it in that tone. Not on the first day.
— “I have heard of you, Dr. Hale,” she replied coldly.
— “Riven, please.” — he smiled, but there was something in that smile… as if it hid longing.
He knew who she was. Maybe even more than he should have.
As Elira made the formal introductions, Aster could barely hear. She watched him as if trying to remember an old dream, a familiar face in an unfamiliar place.
And then, as Riven received the access badge, Aster heard his own voice, soft, whispering inside his mind: “This is the beginning. Be careful with it.”
But that warning hadn’t come from her. Not exactly.
That same afternoon, when he arrived at his office and turned on the data console, he found a crumpled envelope on his desk.
No sender. No date.
Inside, a diary. The first page was handwritten:
“Aster, you can’t fall in love with Riven Hale. Please. Not this time.”
Chapter 2 – First Contact with the Diary
Aster didn’t breathe. He just stared at the jagged handwriting, as if the paper might somehow explode at any moment.
She read the sentence again, silently:
“Aster, you can’t fall in love with Riven Hale. Please. Not this time.”
Her heart pounded. The warning was too intimate. Too necessary.
And what scared her the most?
It was the letter.
It looked like hers.
Not exactly—there were tremors, more mature nuances, a pressure of someone writing with pain. But the pattern was unmistakable. As if an older version of herself had written those words.
Aster locked the door and took the diary to his desk. He turned the page carefully.
February 23, 2052
You’ve probably already opened the diary. Maybe you’re feeling what I felt the first time I saw that face. Maybe you’re struggling with the absurd feeling of déjà vu.
Yes, Aster. He’s back.
Riven Hale.
Aster paled. 2052? That was 10 years in the future.
She continued reading:
Don’t trust him. Not at first.
He is not your enemy. But he is not just a scientist either.
He keeps something.
If you engage with him now, Project Chronos will be activated ahead of time.
And you will die.
And the worst part? Liam dies again.
She pushed the diary away, her eyes staring blankly.
“It can’t be real.”
But the words were there. Written. Almost alive.
You don’t have to believe it.
You just have to listen to me.
The pain you feel now…
I’ve already felt it.
Don’t fall in love with him.
Not this time.
She slammed the diary shut.
No matter how absurd the idea was, no matter how insane it seemed…
something inside her believed.
Aster took the diary home. She avoided talking to Jun, to Elira, to anyone. She needed silence.
He sat on the floor of the porch, the sky above like a blanket of stars, and turned the pages one by one. Some were blank. Others contained disconnected passages: equations, sentences like distant echoes. One name came up more than once: Amphora.
She searched the internet, the observatory archives. Nothing.
But then, his console flashed. A message from Jun:
[JUN]
Hey, have you seen the new physique? Charming and kind of sinister, right?
He requested access to the “Ânfora” project earlier today.
What the hell is this?
Aster’s blood ran cold.
Riven was in on it. And “she”—the voice from the future—knew it.
He closed the console. He looked at the diary again.
— “What do you want me to do, if I’m already starting to feel something I didn’t ask for?” — he murmured.
The sky above was cut by a shooting star.
And Aster felt that it was no ordinary sign.
It was time… falling.
Chapter 3 – The Celestis Observatory and Project Chronos
The blue light from the monitors filled the control room like a ghostly glow. There was something about the silence of the Celestis Observatory that felt more alive at night than during the day. The machines whispered algorithms and predictions in a constant digital dance, as if they sensed something important was about to happen.
Aster typed quickly, scanning the past forty-eight hours of access. Riven had logged into the Chronos Project database at 3:11 a.m. An unusual time. A time when she usually dreamed about the past—or avoided dreaming.
—“You work late, Dr. Vellman,” the male voice behind her said, firm and casual.
She turned around slowly.
Riven was there, with a serene expression, a steaming cup in his hands and his eyes as if they were hiding constellations.
— “Or you’re too early.” — Aster replied, quickly looking away from the screen.
— “Scientific curiosity does not understand clocks.”
— “You have requested access to Project Chronos.”
— “And they gave it to me,” he replied, taking a sip of coffee. — “But not everything. Part of the project is blocked. High-level restrictions. Would you know anything about that?”
She didn’t answer. Her fingers paused over the keyboard.
— “Project Chronos has been in development for years. And it’s still just theoretical.” — she said dryly.
— “Nothing proven. No viable simulation.”
— “Or… none revealed?” — he smiled, with that subtle teasing tone.
Aster stood up.
— “You want to rush a project we barely understand. That seems dangerous to me.”
Riven watched her for a moment too long.
— “Maybe so. But… what if the only way to prevent a tragedy is to activate it?”
She felt a shiver.
He was testing her. She was sure. But what exactly did he know?
—“What exactly are we trying to prevent?” she asked, a hint of challenge in her voice.
Riven stepped closer. His eyes weren’t arrogant, but intensely filled with something deeper. Something almost… painful.
— “The fall of everything we know. Including you.”
Aster froze.
Riven, realizing the impact of his words, just added in a lower tone:
— “But we still have time. I think.”
She wanted to ask what he meant by that. But part of her already knew.
The diary, the notices, the familiar handwriting. It all seemed like a calculated dance of predestined events.
She turned off the screen.
— “If you want to know more about Chronos… study Liam Vellman’s records.”
— “Your brother?”
— “He knew more than anyone here. And he died for it.”
Before Riven could respond, the lights flickered.
An interference.
Aster turned to the power plant and noticed something strange: the AI Anya was activating an ancient sequence of files on its own.
RESTORED FILE: CR_03_LV
Creator Name: Liam Vellman
Title: “Time is Love in Motion”
Riven took a step forward.
— “I think we just found the first piece.”
Aster took a deep breath.
It wasn’t about science anymore.
It was about memory, destiny, and something that not even formulas could explain:
a love that perhaps had already happened… and was returning.
Chapter 4 – Signs Among the Stars
The stars seemed more restless that night. Not that they were changing position, of course—but there was something about the frequency of the data pulsing across the screens that made Aster feel like the universe was… restless.
She was analyzing light spectra from an anomaly detected in the constellation Cassiopeia. A spike in radiation had appeared out of nowhere and disappeared within seconds. Normally, this wouldn’t alarm her. But the problem was, the journal had predicted it. Exactly: “Cassiopeia lights a scar. 2:46 AM. Anya will record it before you see it.”
That was exactly what had happened.
Aster stood up, pacing in circles in the center of the analysis room.
— “That’s impossible…” — she muttered to herself.
The door creaked. Jun walked in with a folder of reports, his eyes sunken and his expression as if he had slept just enough to stay functional—nothing more.
— “Did the signal appear again?” he asked, throwing the papers on the table.
— “More intense. And… predictable.” — she showed the diary.
Jun read, not hiding his surprise.
— “Was this written before the reading?”
— “It was left on my desk before we met Riven.”
Jun scratched his head.
— “Either you’re being followed… or someone is bending time and giving you a spoiler of reality.”
— “The second option, however absurd, seems more coherent.”
He laughed nervously.
— “Aster, this isn’t just a diary. This is a time-lapse message. A coded transmission on paper.”
— “And by whom? By myself?” — she replied, pointing to the handwriting.
Jun hesitated.
— “Maybe… by you in another timeline. Or…”
Aster stared up at the sky through the transparent dome. Cassiopeia still shone with her crooked elegance, but something about it seemed… out of place.
— “Or what?” — she asked, without looking at him.
— “Or for him. For Riven.”
The name echoed in the silence.
— “Do you think he came from the future?”
— “I don’t know. But he showed up at the same time as the diary. And… Aster… have you ever noticed how he acts around you? Like he already knows every answer before you say it?”
She wanted to say it was paranoia. She wanted to say it was coincidence, charm, chemistry. But part of her knew. There was something about Riven that broke down her defenses.
Before they could continue, AI Anya interrupted:
“New anomaly reading. Orbital sector 73-A. Irregular shape, no known pattern. Path… approaching Earth.”
Jun froze.
Aster walked over to the panel. The image was forming in real time: a kind of comet, but with an intelligent route. As if it were coming… in search of something.
Or someone’s.
She opened the diary. A new page had been written—but she was sure it had still been blank from the night before.
“It’s not a comet. It’s the rift.
The first one.
Time is starting to give way here.”
Aster closed the diary. He looked at Jun. Then at the sky.
— “If it’s true… time is testing us. And it wants to see who breaks first.”
Chapter 5 – Jun and the Data Anomalies
The data analysis lab was the one space in the observatory that never slept. Not even during winter blackouts, not even on nights when everyone was home. There was always something being calculated, something trying to make sense of the universe.
Jun was surrounded by eight monitors, cables hanging like digital vines, and three empty mugs stacked next to the keyboard. His eyes were bright, not with fatigue, but with excitement.
Aster walked in and let out a sigh.
— “Did you stay here all night?”
— “Time waits for nothing, remember?” — he replied, typing frantically. — “And guess what I found?”
She crossed her arms.
— “A scientific and rational explanation for a temporal rift coming from Cassiopeia?”
Jun opened a chart on the central screen.
- “Almost.”
Wavy lines appeared—radiation patterns, magnetic pulses, gravitational frequencies.
— “These signals… have already happened. Three times. In 1999, 2009 and 2019. Every ten years, the same sequence of data, the same trail of particles.”
Aster approached, attentive.
— “And what happened in those years?”
Jun zoomed in on the windows with the correlated events. Aster’s face froze.
— “1999: An experimental collider in Russia collapsed.
2009: NASA satellites recorded a temporary ‘void’ over Greenland.
2019… Liam.”
Silence.
— “His experiment,” she whispered. “The day he died. He was trying to send data through time.”
Jun slowly turned to her.
