And then came the explanation.13Please respect copyright.PENANASoxjMYXfTM
The daily boss fight.
Her hardest task, every time:13Please respect copyright.PENANAG2JNWrrzj6
Convince someone in under five minutes that she wasn’t crazy, the world wasn’t broken—just... cracked.13Please respect copyright.PENANA0NaRd3JNua
A little.
Claire had it down to an art now.13Please respect copyright.PENANAu1Sq7N1wpQ
She’d practiced.
Step one: start with “I had a dream.”13Please respect copyright.PENANAbZNnS7IAvs
Then ease into “The dream was real.”13Please respect copyright.PENANAfCYtdUSxpM
Follow up with “You were here yesterday too.”13Please respect copyright.PENANASrDbCO5kfe
And finally close with “You all forgot, but I didn’t.”
Boom. Five minutes.13Please respect copyright.PENANAZNH03sSEIF
Scripted, rehearsed, and repeatable.
She’d even gotten used to asking Nightwing or Robin for their earpieces directly.13Please respect copyright.PENANAb5BbGaBmZW
Why waste time relaying info like it was a game of telephone? Batman was usually already online.13Please respect copyright.PENANAjIczG6dhXC
It was more efficient to just brief everyone at once.
She could feel herself becoming part of their workflow.13Please respect copyright.PENANA9qeuU70dnC
A new kind of muscle memory.
Alfred always started with, “Oh dear, Miss Claire, terribly sorry we forgot you again.”13Please respect copyright.PENANAJPMUVCNmHi
Batman, on the other hand, delivered every voice message like it was a field command.13Please respect copyright.PENANAApFMFcU6Jm
Concise. Authoritative. Meant to be followed.
Then came the status update.
Usually the same:13Please respect copyright.PENANAKnvuvvXzSd
“Nothing changed today.”13Please respect copyright.PENANAd1MDmz5a5T
“Sky hasn’t cracked.”13Please respect copyright.PENANAZLMBO3AeNM
“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.”13Please respect copyright.PENANAw27YbxtGj5
He’d said it like a doctor warning against too much caffeine, calm and clinical.13Please respect copyright.PENANAqapN7OUtoH
But it had kept her up all night.
He told her once a week was enough.13Please respect copyright.PENANAlxOyoSWvzi
“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—13Please respect copyright.PENANAm6jyCO9GNd
this wasn’t something she was observing.13Please respect copyright.PENANAfbYKt9HHp8
It was something that could observe her back.
This was her fourth report.13Please respect copyright.PENANA4RRD6sOrMv
Still nothing.
No updates.13Please respect copyright.PENANAaYhzf6MOoQ
No signs.13Please respect copyright.PENANADD3chaJjeJ
Just that eerie nothingness that made her more anxious than any actual event.
Was nothing a good sign?13Please respect copyright.PENANAnYzOWjNgfD
Or was it just... waiting?13Please respect copyright.PENANATRaibNgDnQ
Watching?13Please respect copyright.PENANAgBvSIriYm4
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.13Please respect copyright.PENANAkqz3O0Kjk7
Sometimes she sneakily Googled manuals to understand what they did.
Now, she could switch between three different surveillance modes,13Please respect copyright.PENANA2ymNrSndtn
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.
13Please respect copyright.PENANAuEO0CmH6N5
Claire thought everything would keep repeating.13Please respect copyright.PENANAO90GyKctJV
She'd come to see the infinite loop as some kind of twisted safety net—a bizarre, but reliable routine.13Please respect copyright.PENANAPmIYsCbam3
No surprises.13Please respect copyright.PENANAHrDhZTgLSO
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.13Please respect copyright.PENANAY3W5vfg2bx
This lifestyle gave her a kind of mechanical calm.13Please respect copyright.PENANAHBeW4EOhf6
Predictable.13Please respect copyright.PENANAoZj04txEnP
Stable.
Every day, reintroduce herself.13Please respect copyright.PENANAzvOgNHowBv
Control her tone.13Please respect copyright.PENANAXWzQG3fdFx
Deliver the optimal info load to minimize questions.13Please respect copyright.PENANApbSCBjkBpW
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.13Please respect copyright.PENANAf30UFqMIgy
Which screen was for surveillance.13Please respect copyright.PENANAQLmlNvBXJq
Which device disrupted signals.13Please respect copyright.PENANACQYY3sTGL9
Which red light meant “don’t touch.”13Please respect copyright.PENANADWv9fWfDD1
Muscle memory, baby.
And then the fissure check.
Take out the telescope.13Please respect copyright.PENANAjZuICBgpEU
Angle it just right.13Please respect copyright.PENANAcpwC1tvWbo
Deep breath.13Please respect copyright.PENANAcb3dvP77vv
Close the right eye.13Please respect copyright.PENANAVAmXo5R8d1
Don’t stare too long.13Please respect copyright.PENANAGv7XeBZejq
She knew better now—13Please respect copyright.PENANAgv75pAkTRJ
something out there might stare back.
That was the routine.13Please respect copyright.PENANA966kVo3QeU
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.13Please respect copyright.PENANAEnGvPI4Fsi
She stared at it.13Please respect copyright.PENANA9KCFJpW0LM
296.13Please respect copyright.PENANAUBgy2ot5Io
Too close to 300.13Please respect copyright.PENANACXIejbeZ8B
She didn’t know why, but it made her uneasy.
She opened her café.13Please respect copyright.PENANAFvscJnpn43
Same as the previous 295 times.13Please respect copyright.PENANAkKtrybZDdS
The air was damp.13Please respect copyright.PENANAR2BEHvfper
The coffee machine hissed to life.13Please respect copyright.PENANALtWJXyONlp
She could smell a bit of machine oil in the steam.
It felt like a ritual.
She grabbed the newspaper from Nightwing.13Please respect copyright.PENANAR082ZBhi5R
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.”13Please respect copyright.PENANAgBlZlHzd2e
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.13Please respect copyright.PENANAJMfPYNpc1O
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.”13Please respect copyright.PENANAShyixKvhRc
Weird enough to raise eyebrows.13Please respect copyright.PENANAwfRCpugums
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—13Please respect copyright.PENANAkHrUPDI8nE
her eardrums exploded with a boom.
A deep, subterranean rumble shook the ground.13Please respect copyright.PENANAtvHJ386QRq
Low. Prolonged.13Please respect copyright.PENANAFrU0nwJ1yy
Like something ancient was groaning awake beneath their feet.
An earthquake.
Claire had no time to think.13Please respect copyright.PENANAIoGBbGqBAf
The floor pitched sideways.
She lost balance.13Please respect copyright.PENANAZGGrWp3eiO
Grabbed the edge of the bar—13Please respect copyright.PENANA4wZAD8p6Ek
but it moved too. Everything was moving. Bag dropped.
The officer caught her.
One hand on her shoulder.13Please respect copyright.PENANAv5aQAjYccr
One on her waist.13Please respect copyright.PENANAAPHsiTtRVV
Pulled her back from the quake, held her steady.
She caught a hint of detergent on his shirt.13Please respect copyright.PENANAIsL25uDrWy
And something else—something sharper.13Please respect copyright.PENANAyUIWbUaelz
Almost like panic.
They balanced each other.13Please respect copyright.PENANA5qAXWZlPpg
Her against his chest.13Please respect copyright.PENANA2yoFIRO3EJ
Him braced against the wall.
Two magnets wobbling in chaos, finding brief stability in contact.
Things crashed around them.13Please respect copyright.PENANAR150EOeqBe
Mugs.13Please respect copyright.PENANA7HUmFm1CwW
Spice jars.13Please respect copyright.PENANABxMGFpIuQK
Her precious collection of weird spoons.13Please respect copyright.PENANAhZxeOoj8FP
All shattered, ringing like breaking glass in a cathedral.
The sound pierced through her thoughts.13Please respect copyright.PENANACA0nr4HJKF
Claire flinched instinctively.13Please respect copyright.PENANAJ4FNhUkfP2
That noise—13Please respect copyright.PENANAZYH23SvG55
that had never been part of this day before.
The ceiling light above spun wildly.13Please respect copyright.PENANAT0aaeIqyiB
Shadows on the wall flailed like ghosts.13Please respect copyright.PENANAELcgYW7puE
Her vision swirled.
Then—13Please respect copyright.PENANAlHV9XFCwFt
a hand on her head.
Firm. Protective.13Please respect copyright.PENANAKM1UcVDisx
Not planned. Just reflex.
His palm cradled her crown.13Please respect copyright.PENANAakYykuaTwV
Like making sure her skull stayed intact.
He pulled her closer.
Not just to keep her upright—13Please respect copyright.PENANARznx6JYbgx
but like he needed to.
He guided her to a corner.13Please respect copyright.PENANA0NBfwdPAna
No shelves. No glass.13Please respect copyright.PENANA6Lq0u2WHSw
Just two bare walls.
A temporary shelter.13Please respect copyright.PENANAeZBjhna0Xw
A makeshift haven.
And then—13Please respect copyright.PENANA7o6hUlrBZx
after nearly a minute—
The shaking slowed.13Please respect copyright.PENANAjGJ399uYFH
The walls stopped growling.13Please respect copyright.PENANAeDeIyglGWx
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.13Please respect copyright.PENANAKDMgyujx3y
Trying to see her face.13Please respect copyright.PENANAqSTgqMozLW
Check her expression.
Brows furrowed, eyes scanning—13Please respect copyright.PENANAby2Y1V3kh1
forehead, cheek, neck.
Was she hurt?
Then—13Please respect copyright.PENANAx0xzah9LNk
he froze.
His eyes locked on a spot on her face.13Please respect copyright.PENANAXGiCRJYeCo
Still. Wide.
Like something familiar had just torn open.
A single line of blood was dripping13Please respect copyright.PENANAmqZ1YG1qDJ
from the golden-brown eye13Please respect copyright.PENANAiN5jPBG3Vq
on her left.13Please respect copyright.PENANA0KswkeiOVg