Madness string 2412

Random mermaid
The arrangement has its terms, but they involve no epic and bloody battle of the wits with the dire sir Reginald, no crossing the vast expanses of the plains of Dorani littered with the shimmering shards of broken things, no open war with the dragon Zaori amidst the fire rain as Shintaiden falls from the sky, no wrestling with a mongoose, and no long drunken bouts of workaround-oriented programming after a deadline pushed back month after month for lack of an Ironholds. It doesn't make for a particularly good story.

Will you see a clock the next time you look at your wrist, or will you see a dead plastic talisman of a society shattered into pieces by information overload? Chances are you'll see a clock.