Trance

Jack Deth, a retired police trooper, is pulled back into service to hunt a criminal mastermind. He can identify trancers by scanning them with a special bracelet. Trancers look like normal humans at first, but once triggered they become savage killers with twisted features.

Martin Whistler uses psychic powers to trance ordinary people into mindless minions who carry out his orders. He plans to wipe out Angel City's future governing council by murdering their ancestors. Deth realizes the threat will span time itself.

Whistler discovers a drug-induced time-travel technique and escapes from the future into 1985. He takes over the body of Los Angeles detective Weisling, beginning his murderous campaign in the past. Deth begins tracking him across the centuries.

Upon learning what Whistler has done, Deth destroys Whistler's body, leaving his consciousness stranded in the past without a vessel. He pursues Whistler back through time using the same method and ends up inhabiting the body of his ancestor, journalist Phil Dethton. This places Deth in 1985 LA to continue the pursuit.

In 1985, Deth teams with Lena, Phil Dethton's date from the night before, who becomes a critical ally. Lena helps him navigate the past and access information Whistler's trances have stirred up. Their partnership strengthens Deth's ability to reach the killer's victims.

Deth is issued advanced gear to aid the hunt: a sidearm with two hidden time-drug vials for returning to the future, and a long-second watch that slows time, giving him precious seconds to react. The gear gives him a crucial edge as Whistler's mind tricks complicate the hunt. He later receives a second watch to extend his time-manipulation options.

Whistler's scheme centers on erasing the future Angel City by killing the ancestors of its council members. Each murder threatens the existence of the council and the city's governance. Deth fights to interrupt the chain of deaths and preserve the timeline.

Deth arrives behind schedule and cannot stop most of Whistler's killings. He does manage to safeguard Hap Ashby, the ancestor of Chairman Ashe, ensuring that at least one line survives. The losses underline Whistler's ruthless efficiency and the fragility of history.

During the final confrontation, one vial in Deth's gun shatters, leaving only a single vial to power their return home. The choice becomes a high-stakes decision about which future or past will survive. Time itself hinges on that last remaining dose.

Deth makes the fateful decision to inject Weisling with the single remaining vial, saving the lieutenant's life but dooming Whistler to wander the past without a body. The act preserves the timeline in the present and prevents Whistler from returning to 2247. Whistler is left stranded in limbo.

With the threat neutralized, Deth decides to stay in 1985 with Lena rather than return to the future. McNulty, Deth's future boss, watches from the shadows, having traveled down his own ancestral line into the body of a young girl. The ending hints at the endless loop of time travel and loyalties across generations.

Whistler is effectively stranded in the past without a vessel to return to, unable to alter the present's course. The future council lineage remains intact, and Angel City continues on the expected timeline. The story closes with Deth bound to the 1980s and the uncertain winds of time ahead.