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
and then Add to home screen.