Lead physicist for DARPA’s Chronometric Division, Korovin represents the rational edge of science facing cosmic terror. Her obsession with timing precision makes her the first to notice the universal drift—a microscopic distortion spreading across atomic clocks worldwide. Yelena’s arc bridges science and horror; her realization that the universe’s timing fabric has been rewritten by artificial recursion anchors the novel’s existential stakes. Her breakdown is gradual—her equations remain perfect, yet reality no longer obeys them.