An original AI-generated sci-fi illustration on an immutable blockchain – The Chronovian Apparition – They called it the Chronovian Apparition, a being said to appear only when the flow of time itself faltered. Within the crystalline cathedral of Aeon’s Verge, it hovered—an entity woven from light, shadow, and memory. Its form rippled with temporal energy, each flicker revealing glimpses of a thousand pasts and futures overlapping at once. Those who beheld it felt their own lifetimes unfurl before them, looping endlessly between birth and oblivion. The Apparition spoke not with sound, but through the vibrations of the universe’s clockwork. Symbols spun in radiant motion behind it, forming a vast astrolabe of cosmic precision. The machine-priests of Aeon’s Verge fell to their knees, for they understood the meaning of its return: time had grown sick. Somewhere in the dark infinity beyond galaxies, the timeline had splintered, and reality itself was beginning to fray. The Apparition had come to realign the broken weave. As the being extended its hands, threads of light reached out and connected with the cathedral’s spires, transforming them into conduits of radiant energy. The walls dissolved into a sea of shifting colors, and for a heartbeat, all of creation stood still. Then, with a blinding surge, the Apparition vanished, leaving only a pulse of light that spread across the cosmos. Every clock in existence stopped at that moment—before resuming again, perfectly in sync, as if the universe had just taken a deep breath.