Dr. Franklin Lassiter is a frustrated university history professor who feels overlooked and humiliated by colleagues and students. He acquires a jade teacup from Lewis Vendredi’s cursed antique collection and discovers that drinking tea from it sends him a few minutes back in time. At first he uses the cup for small do-overs: correcting a lecture slip-up, winning a debate, avoiding an embarrassing moment with a student. But the power quickly becomes addictive. Each trip back lets him refine conversations and manipulate outcomes, and he starts using it to sabotage rivals, secure grant money, and force the respect he thinks he deserves. The catch: the cup only allows short jumps, and every use requires another sip.
Jack, Micki, and Ryan get involved after reports of strange déjà vu incidents and sudden personality shifts on campus. They trace the activity to Lassiter and realize he’s abusing the teacup’s power. As they close in, Lassiter becomes more desperate, chaining trips together to try to create a perfect version of his day. His obsession escalates until he loses track of real time and nearly gets trapped in a loop of his own making. In the final confrontation, Lassiter tries one last jump to erase the group’s interference but pushes the cup’s limit. The team retrieves the antique for the Vault, while Lassiter is left to face the fallout of all the bridges he burned trying to rewrite his past.
