The rain rattled against the windowsill, echoing off the walls of the old building. Under the high ceiling, among shelves of books yellowed by time, sat Lena and Kam, sipping hot tea. It was supposed to be an ordinary evening - lazy, quiet, filled with conversations about everything and nothing. However, among the trinkets, in a corner of the living room, Lena found something special - a pendulum clock, decorated with symbols they could not read. "I remember my grandmother saying not to touch it," Lena mused, stroking the smooth surface of the wood. Kam burst out laughing. "What could go wrong?" - he asked, running his finger over the Roman numerals. Then the hands of the clock moved violently, though the mechanism had been dead for years. The room swirled. Books began tumbling off the shelves, the world around them narrowed to a swirling patch of light. Lena felt the floor disappear from under her feet. When they sank to the hard ground, the century-old townhouse was no longer around. They were sitting in the middle of a cobbled square. People dressed in velvet gowns and kaftans were bustling around them. From afar came the neighing of horses and the clatter of wooden wheels. "Where are we?" - whispered Lena. Kam looked around in disbelief. "Oh shit... I think we've gone back in time." At the same moment, a shout from the crowd rang out. Armed guards ran across the square, brandishing halberds. The gazes of the crowd went straight to them, as if they were someone extremely suspicious. Kam grabbed Lena's hand. "We need to find the clock. Immediately." Before they had time to take the first step, a figure in a golden mask replaced their path. She raised her hand in a halting gesture and howled through her teeth: "You are strangers here. You will answer to the Council for the desecration of time." A quiet threat hung in the air and the crowd began to tighten around them. Lena felt the stares of hundreds of strangers on her, and one question popped into her head: is going home still possible? And who is the mysterious figure in the mask really?