And then came the explanation.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJOjKs6GFJw
The daily boss fight.
Her hardest task, every time:19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2C2cNKS0U
Convince someone in under five minutes that she wasn’t crazy, the world wasn’t broken—just... cracked.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgTrwYQhtip
A little.
Claire had it down to an art now.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35zTsivBYK
She’d practiced.
Step one: start with “I had a dream.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpOj2g0kv2V
Then ease into “The dream was real.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCe7CyvAgq3
Follow up with “You were here yesterday too.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUchdfjuV9
And finally close with “You all forgot, but I didn’t.”
Boom. Five minutes.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc5svG8sFWw
Scripted, rehearsed, and repeatable.
She’d even gotten used to asking Nightwing or Robin for their earpieces directly.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Ei9L6xpXL
Why waste time relaying info like it was a game of telephone? Batman was usually already online.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmokAjTIHXR
It was more efficient to just brief everyone at once.
She could feel herself becoming part of their workflow.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyAwVeZrLS5
A new kind of muscle memory.
Alfred always started with, “Oh dear, Miss Claire, terribly sorry we forgot you again.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPd2jQ9an7t
Batman, on the other hand, delivered every voice message like it was a field command.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnV4YvBGurK
Concise. Authoritative. Meant to be followed.
Then came the status update.
Usually the same:19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKxwDKctdSL
“Nothing changed today.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCAWnWPjKpG
“Sky hasn’t cracked.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUYKxThFlme
“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.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBDWKBr7JTn
He’d said it like a doctor warning against too much caffeine, calm and clinical.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoK9JvUIVnE
But it had kept her up all night.
He told her once a week was enough.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vSTCYMemv
“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—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTuho0gOQ3k
this wasn’t something she was observing.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPZl3BMQmnB
It was something that could observe her back.
This was her fourth report.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡan2unXFXZn
Still nothing.
No updates.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2wtk0gA7g
No signs.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeu1fonGPwR
Just that eerie nothingness that made her more anxious than any actual event.
Was nothing a good sign?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqfNF6uiPuM
Or was it just... waiting?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡScgZ2jwOHE
Watching?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDN9kGQhAAv
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.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9xzAELtRJD
Sometimes she sneakily Googled manuals to understand what they did.
Now, she could switch between three different surveillance modes,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjyOuRX3LV
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.
19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuO48x18YFb
Claire thought everything would keep repeating.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6SLPxUYd6
She'd come to see the infinite loop as some kind of twisted safety net—a bizarre, but reliable routine.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ZY7Czpyl9
No surprises.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVt2Gbe8AB
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.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHnE7NIlEM4
This lifestyle gave her a kind of mechanical calm.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnumIxYUZd
Predictable.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Q26oEVh3D
Stable.
Every day, reintroduce herself.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeDbcUgVpIJ
Control her tone.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEzNLVKtBTB
Deliver the optimal info load to minimize questions.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVVO2TQpqDn
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.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr9bd7LYHX8
Which screen was for surveillance.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigJwdQAYXh
Which device disrupted signals.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ZNsNYaKiH
Which red light meant “don’t touch.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyB6bt9CSRj
Muscle memory, baby.
And then the fissure check.
Take out the telescope.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0IfsCW430
Angle it just right.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCM43peqvd9
Deep breath.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFToFUTSUaa
Close the right eye.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmDTD7qkGw
Don’t stare too long.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRx6jhWevEv
She knew better now—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hHA719yUy
something out there might stare back.
That was the routine.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJD3Tz1ZZe
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.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmvLuKXCsAh
She stared at it.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjoeau6GZQR
296.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DVn6Uc88K
Too close to 300.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvrtejgKeqc
She didn’t know why, but it made her uneasy.
She opened her café.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynh5iNMv98
Same as the previous 295 times.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIf1BFOblil
The air was damp.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDSUXuTXrA2
The coffee machine hissed to life.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd7eNtQBL1r
She could smell a bit of machine oil in the steam.
It felt like a ritual.
She grabbed the newspaper from Nightwing.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqfxjyb3TPW
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.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0w5ylJFgja
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.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ29YAwpvXHa
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.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiURALiLwSJ
Weird enough to raise eyebrows.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kuFAqI90o
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—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLF8y5Jci0U
her eardrums exploded with a boom.
A deep, subterranean rumble shook the ground.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQtJEElej5
Low. Prolonged.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6gh1vWQPP4
Like something ancient was groaning awake beneath their feet.
An earthquake.
Claire had no time to think.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTe0tVtBPpL
The floor pitched sideways.
She lost balance.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJGsR5GykTc
Grabbed the edge of the bar—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDqZIGygBH
but it moved too. Everything was moving. Bag dropped.
The officer caught her.
One hand on her shoulder.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡht9iS1ZC8M
One on her waist.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9pbbhxmN0
Pulled her back from the quake, held her steady.
She caught a hint of detergent on his shirt.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIA9bWPLU4x
And something else—something sharper.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwop7M81NS6
Almost like panic.
They balanced each other.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfhj1kkoE7K
Her against his chest.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU62KpPmt2P
Him braced against the wall.
Two magnets wobbling in chaos, finding brief stability in contact.
Things crashed around them.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqyETFEEdWN
Mugs.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJv13kF2rCn
Spice jars.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqdBD1LzmIR
Her precious collection of weird spoons.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJGxIIoqxm
All shattered, ringing like breaking glass in a cathedral.
The sound pierced through her thoughts.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk4rpXMvdm0
Claire flinched instinctively.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUfYLbTGUNn
That noise—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwGZPDVxP7w
that had never been part of this day before.
The ceiling light above spun wildly.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcOCVzvK1P8
Shadows on the wall flailed like ghosts.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb2TmXvffwd
Her vision swirled.
Then—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFLocagZ3lp
a hand on her head.
Firm. Protective.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOJCYvoM6Y
Not planned. Just reflex.
His palm cradled her crown.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQdFUlgefuC
Like making sure her skull stayed intact.
He pulled her closer.
Not just to keep her upright—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn4Tp7W1zeZ
but like he needed to.
He guided her to a corner.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSNKYGjZ6a
No shelves. No glass.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWqvrF33GIW
Just two bare walls.
A temporary shelter.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCSYfgVlRZz
A makeshift haven.
And then—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFtsVQxXqNM
after nearly a minute—
The shaking slowed.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVH1rbA8dob
The walls stopped growling.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkdIL7i6wPf
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.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWUtTKvpGtU
Trying to see her face.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxXZWXZ9QW
Check her expression.
Brows furrowed, eyes scanning—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbhlQ3bQDt
forehead, cheek, neck.
Was she hurt?
Then—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlglriEBU5T
he froze.
His eyes locked on a spot on her face.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLG8DJG9zFI
Still. Wide.
Like something familiar had just torn open.
A single line of blood was dripping19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhMh7Vwae3
from the golden-brown eye19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLRFIPRDKTr
on her left.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk3yZ1UN4M5
