And then came the explanation.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwWJ5n27YMt
The daily boss fight.
Her hardest task, every time:45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyvCmjO8jX
Convince someone in under five minutes that she wasn’t crazy, the world wasn’t broken—just... cracked.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrI7rKEp7si
A little.
Claire had it down to an art now.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGIia6Ip3LR
She’d practiced.
Step one: start with “I had a dream.”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtAM8gteGIp
Then ease into “The dream was real.”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzOAfHgYRM
Follow up with “You were here yesterday too.”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPjgNvycTVP
And finally close with “You all forgot, but I didn’t.”
Boom. Five minutes.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQUlPrfmFd
Scripted, rehearsed, and repeatable.
She’d even gotten used to asking Nightwing or Robin for their earpieces directly.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCJMopAHBg
Why waste time relaying info like it was a game of telephone? Batman was usually already online.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ140KRfjkRX
It was more efficient to just brief everyone at once.
She could feel herself becoming part of their workflow.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSTkbVuXU7d
A new kind of muscle memory.
Alfred always started with, “Oh dear, Miss Claire, terribly sorry we forgot you again.”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ZdoF19XZ6
Batman, on the other hand, delivered every voice message like it was a field command.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2exRl4mXtT
Concise. Authoritative. Meant to be followed.
Then came the status update.
Usually the same:45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoCTUhLPfhW
“Nothing changed today.”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuQRBBSPZxY
“Sky hasn’t cracked.”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHc85k2zapU
“Bagels sold well.”
She’d said some version of that report over thirty times now.
Batman had banned her from sky-watching.
“It interferes with your perception. Makes the fissure too active.”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3xTL9UF6s0
He’d said it like a doctor warning against too much caffeine, calm and clinical.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxIf2G4RCG
But it had kept her up all night.
He told her once a week was enough.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA66y8ahMZ5
“If it’s coming, it will let you see it.”
And somehow, that was the most terrifying thing he’d said yet.
Because it meant he knew—45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMOoBgXBr7A
this wasn’t something she was observing.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYkHG52gUkd
It was something that could observe her back.
This was her fourth report.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡArupkmEtGA
Still nothing.
No updates.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmaV2BrAFrd
No signs.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOILOLdYh8q
Just that eerie nothingness that made her more anxious than any actual event.
Was nothing a good sign?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq4hht8MaEH
Or was it just... waiting?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjEuYDyv1gS
Watching?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHCW7GzdMSs
Calculating when she’d slip up?
After reporting, Claire wandered the safehouse.
Fiddling with the gear that still looked like it belonged in a sci-fi movie.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4LlJzTgCj2
Sometimes she sneakily Googled manuals to understand what they did.
Now, she could switch between three different surveillance modes,45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY5ZNrSR3Mh
and knew exactly which button sent a distress call.
She knew how the tech worked.
Because here, she couldn’t afford to just be “that girl who says the sky is broken.”
She had to become “the calm anomaly who explains things clearly and can handle equipment.”
That’s how they’d believe her.
That she was still sane.
45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwpfbzB0FMe
Claire thought everything would keep repeating.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOcEXKKeASy
She'd come to see the infinite loop as some kind of twisted safety net—a bizarre, but reliable routine.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXGp9ppKCE0
No surprises.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86keTvAygS
No endings.
She really believed that.
Even Batman’s exact eyebrow twitch, or the second Nightwing’s half-suspicious smile would appear—she could time it like a metronome.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2D6uLr40NI
This lifestyle gave her a kind of mechanical calm.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG6QQUJoMEA
Predictable.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ealEtEVvF
Stable.
Every day, reintroduce herself.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ39bTG59Upj
Control her tone.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzUDdNErdo
Deliver the optimal info load to minimize questions.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfxOCOcoGoL
She had tested different explanations before, but eventually chose the most efficient version.
Now she could deliver her entire situation in under three minutes.
"I’m Claire. Time resets for me. Every day’s the same."
Said with all the emotional depth of reading a toaster manual.
She could now operate almost everything in the safehouse.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DTbao0c5A
Which screen was for surveillance.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxx207YuK5M
Which device disrupted signals.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwMk6CnQtFE
Which red light meant “don’t touch.”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxCHtJ2Q3u
Muscle memory, baby.
And then the fissure check.
Take out the telescope.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPSP4ttjji
Angle it just right.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGzVsf2OhqW
Deep breath.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcEztkTpspK
Close the right eye.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsWA4QEjPrQ
Don’t stare too long.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFeGS4m5DYs
She knew better now—45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡio8SVQBxxA
something out there might stare back.
That was the routine.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0CC8Jjrq9w
A strange balance—between madness and clarity, between combat and café shifts, between her and it.
Until one morning, Claire wrote Day 296 on the paper.
The line under the six came out a little too dark.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4c20EXVDQr
She stared at it.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzvoeZT0TVF
296.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡssl2OEaVXC
Too close to 300.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6L51Fkpnfi
She didn’t know why, but it made her uneasy.
She opened her café.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82azWIlqYb
Same as the previous 295 times.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvxQdCAIj4
The air was damp.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9eOHMrpIA
The coffee machine hissed to life.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwm9rPzOMiD
She could smell a bit of machine oil in the steam.
It felt like a ritual.
She grabbed the newspaper from Nightwing.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXw2rlVDwa
Still couldn’t help glancing at that photo.
She once told him, “When this is over, please face the other way on the front page. I’m tired of seeing your butt on this side.”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8A3twmxBYF
She had no idea what his face looked like when he heard that.
Probably something between a syntax error and mild panic—eyes flicking between her and the newspaper, ending with an awkward laugh before walking off.
At 10 a.m., right on cue, Officer Dick walked in for his bagel.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRcrBgx2yl
Just like the last 295 mornings.
Claire picked up the paper bag, ready to begin her usual clairvoyant babble.
Today’s theme: “Temporal resonance between past and future.”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzxaMVliqh7
Weird enough to raise eyebrows.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEv06WTtt5E
Not so weird to get committed.
She’d mastered that line between oracle and lunatic.
As she handed him the bag—
Just as her fingertips brushed the paper fold—45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMAqs0cDYf
her eardrums exploded with a boom.
A deep, subterranean rumble shook the ground.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBB813NhSzQ
Low. Prolonged.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyfs9O5SMR5
Like something ancient was groaning awake beneath their feet.
An earthquake.
Claire had no time to think.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsHIsRG54X
The floor pitched sideways.
She lost balance.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTnixIbsWWq
Grabbed the edge of the bar—45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5eZnNZf5K
but it moved too. Everything was moving. Bag dropped.
The officer caught her.
One hand on her shoulder.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1hrzJwhg6
One on her waist.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnGQg4ydrfT
Pulled her back from the quake, held her steady.
She caught a hint of detergent on his shirt.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡylUZFsXTSx
And something else—something sharper.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkYliWnOI0T
Almost like panic.
They balanced each other.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDcUlEfltfg
Her against his chest.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWWfs7cnyAo
Him braced against the wall.
Two magnets wobbling in chaos, finding brief stability in contact.
Things crashed around them.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkArkbp1q5w
Mugs.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2lJ6vLOwpg
Spice jars.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4vN1AtTkR
Her precious collection of weird spoons.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡItmlqwkwBz
All shattered, ringing like breaking glass in a cathedral.
The sound pierced through her thoughts.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1dVU2hjSSw
Claire flinched instinctively.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCP7jXpzrxR
That noise—45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6WEYC6IIVS
that had never been part of this day before.
The ceiling light above spun wildly.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFb4tEKTtJ5
Shadows on the wall flailed like ghosts.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsS8smV0xMD
Her vision swirled.
Then—45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT7xyTJyZdc
a hand on her head.
Firm. Protective.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqfK2AmcyKZ
Not planned. Just reflex.
His palm cradled her crown.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv0nvSY9oAR
Like making sure her skull stayed intact.
He pulled her closer.
Not just to keep her upright—45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmyCDY7zPqo
but like he needed to.
He guided her to a corner.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvaUZRddLPf
No shelves. No glass.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8b6h7s2Snw
Just two bare walls.
A temporary shelter.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa3jp926iiB
A makeshift haven.
And then—45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj23n7KV5Xb
after nearly a minute—
The shaking slowed.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtu9O3DT20z
The walls stopped growling.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIYH3p422Gf
The ceiling went still.
Silence.
The kind that makes your heartbeat sound like it’s on loudspeaker.
The officer slowly let go of her.
Took a step back.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hjcz7mPhS
Trying to see her face.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQOCPBLiH8T
Check her expression.
Brows furrowed, eyes scanning—45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8NBmDaauiv
forehead, cheek, neck.
Was she hurt?
Then—45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1wevBn9w4e
he froze.
His eyes locked on a spot on her face.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2JADt4gprY
Still. Wide.
Like something familiar had just torn open.
A single line of blood was dripping45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2eSv3Fswqr
from the golden-brown eye45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHUBUMGNDJ0
on her left.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIwHtFI93pL
and then Add to home screen.