Running on Empty

In a near-future California, the sun-soaked San Fernando Valley hums with a strange new kind of anxiety: a technology called Life Day Count, or LDC, can estimate exactly how many days each person has left to live. The number hangs over every decision, from career moves to first dates, turning the ordinary business of living into a quiet countdown. Into this world steps Mortimer, a slightly awkward, quietly ingenious mortician whose profession gives him a peculiar relationship with mortality long before any machine weighs in.

When Mortimer takes the LDC test alongside his partner during what should be an ordinary errand, the results spark a personal reckoning. Confronted with the stark reality of his own remaining time, he finds himself at a crossroads between the life he had planned and something far more urgent. His cheerful friend and coworker Sid pushes him to step outside his routine, to stop waiting and start doing, nudging Mortimer toward a path he never expected to walk.

What follows is less a race against the clock than a heartfelt exploration of what it means to truly live. Mortimer ventures into unfamiliar territory — romance, adventure, and the colorful cast of characters that the Valley seems to produce in endless supply. The tone balances gentle humor with wistful sincerity, capturing the way ordinary places can feel magical when viewed through the lens of urgency. With each new connection, Mortimer begins to discover that purpose is something built, not found, and that even a finite horizon can glow with possibility.