And then came the explanation.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVXaEzptjf
The daily boss fight.
Her hardest task, every time:11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZIe4j3sMeS
Convince someone in under five minutes that she wasn’t crazy, the world wasn’t broken—just... cracked.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh4351jJOyP
A little.
Claire had it down to an art now.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLobw6J01Z
She’d practiced.
Step one: start with “I had a dream.”11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhSolZ5w3c
Then ease into “The dream was real.”11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKvEiv1AQx7
Follow up with “You were here yesterday too.”11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvEwH6Jh6sW
And finally close with “You all forgot, but I didn’t.”
Boom. Five minutes.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ03CEwhswU1
Scripted, rehearsed, and repeatable.
She’d even gotten used to asking Nightwing or Robin for their earpieces directly.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1J0CTxtN8
Why waste time relaying info like it was a game of telephone? Batman was usually already online.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmvT5HLVcwh
It was more efficient to just brief everyone at once.
She could feel herself becoming part of their workflow.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJOWgsS83b
A new kind of muscle memory.
Alfred always started with, “Oh dear, Miss Claire, terribly sorry we forgot you again.”11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1k4jwTB2UE
Batman, on the other hand, delivered every voice message like it was a field command.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtMIWRp537
Concise. Authoritative. Meant to be followed.
Then came the status update.
Usually the same:11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52jiuDaxPI
“Nothing changed today.”11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmOuIy0BwR
“Sky hasn’t cracked.”11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ947qcPxNst
“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.”11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpZS5uxatpJ
He’d said it like a doctor warning against too much caffeine, calm and clinical.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡopC4yQCHYH
But it had kept her up all night.
He told her once a week was enough.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnGxsuwm6du
“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—11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVqTc8p6g1
this wasn’t something she was observing.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡara08N09l3
It was something that could observe her back.
This was her fourth report.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7qdfMNzxa5
Still nothing.
No updates.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsqUEdtXljm
No signs.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNKSYBaDRL
Just that eerie nothingness that made her more anxious than any actual event.
Was nothing a good sign?11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRX5W2VXdB5
Or was it just... waiting?11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3tn5p9eHkS
Watching?11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwaBZ7RDJzf
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEMJM8KpowL
Sometimes she sneakily Googled manuals to understand what they did.
Now, she could switch between three different surveillance modes,11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtEd1IjoWTh
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.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8HKVdjXVQd
Claire thought everything would keep repeating.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhIQJsdgiMZ
She'd come to see the infinite loop as some kind of twisted safety net—a bizarre, but reliable routine.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYoTkt4Ruhw
No surprises.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTrMMknygF
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvPy5ITP8Kw
This lifestyle gave her a kind of mechanical calm.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqBc3tA0oN
Predictable.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvEvSGK2QOC
Stable.
Every day, reintroduce herself.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt12sKdaNoU
Control her tone.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUu7m2ydDgF
Deliver the optimal info load to minimize questions.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbsR4DUJZxN
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXAEwNekSX0
Which screen was for surveillance.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡatYxZEpKG4
Which device disrupted signals.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi8dDR6ffUm
Which red light meant “don’t touch.”11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqR6OzipVVq
Muscle memory, baby.
And then the fissure check.
Take out the telescope.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4BMja6gZGa
Angle it just right.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1PwUYpSqr0
Deep breath.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPE48Q7B0yI
Close the right eye.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJGrRUuD55F
Don’t stare too long.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2g4XdGZuJ
She knew better now—11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd08YH9bt4D
something out there might stare back.
That was the routine.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzbpKzoi0V
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQa8qoAg00Y
She stared at it.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHCe0NSCQMd
296.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclPzDc08r6
Too close to 300.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH7feR9UN8A
She didn’t know why, but it made her uneasy.
She opened her café.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb0CB6IpPwm
Same as the previous 295 times.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡriPMjreWFK
The air was damp.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAoXLpT8t2
The coffee machine hissed to life.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZaRUkWoSn
She could smell a bit of machine oil in the steam.
It felt like a ritual.
She grabbed the newspaper from Nightwing.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpb1ufXdDzS
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.”11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDtqkY866CK
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXKWdRvNMv1
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.”11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7WRrHrwC61
Weird enough to raise eyebrows.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsqkvgenOhS
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—11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjoUhSYMiR
her eardrums exploded with a boom.
A deep, subterranean rumble shook the ground.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYhf8w13Ax
Low. Prolonged.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPo7YaXIuXc
Like something ancient was groaning awake beneath their feet.
An earthquake.
Claire had no time to think.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEqkgkXHVT
The floor pitched sideways.
She lost balance.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbEPw2jMrZf
Grabbed the edge of the bar—11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2I7TlOx611
but it moved too. Everything was moving. Bag dropped.
The officer caught her.
One hand on her shoulder.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxNl3fDQkV
One on her waist.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5lrOXOSorL
Pulled her back from the quake, held her steady.
She caught a hint of detergent on his shirt.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTvTdfDRFE
And something else—something sharper.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNKyDbJo1rw
Almost like panic.
They balanced each other.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0ghQyrVY6
Her against his chest.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBN5RIeQZd
Him braced against the wall.
Two magnets wobbling in chaos, finding brief stability in contact.
Things crashed around them.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOLRgfyaRFl
Mugs.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWsIuPBOBZ
Spice jars.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6C2qpnVkP
Her precious collection of weird spoons.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZt4A8TNBDR
All shattered, ringing like breaking glass in a cathedral.
The sound pierced through her thoughts.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQxYhznu67
Claire flinched instinctively.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjUKRc6Aio
That noise—11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5DgSmkUBW
that had never been part of this day before.
The ceiling light above spun wildly.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwo9LQljy1A
Shadows on the wall flailed like ghosts.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcwG5z4KqkV
Her vision swirled.
Then—11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKYCLiuZ1L
a hand on her head.
Firm. Protective.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjzUlfTTcjI
Not planned. Just reflex.
His palm cradled her crown.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMali3osxQx
Like making sure her skull stayed intact.
He pulled her closer.
Not just to keep her upright—11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8LewupuwZ
but like he needed to.
He guided her to a corner.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtpCIJfJAh6
No shelves. No glass.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFbMT8yik6
Just two bare walls.
A temporary shelter.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzZhUSwKcfF
A makeshift haven.
And then—11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQUZTgUghm
after nearly a minute—
The shaking slowed.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUGy1BkkIxO
The walls stopped growling.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2h75jOTaSY
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL3OqGLCkcF
Trying to see her face.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQkwJ63Ucy
Check her expression.
Brows furrowed, eyes scanning—11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMewwOQur8X
forehead, cheek, neck.
Was she hurt?
Then—11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVUyCRHUGP6
he froze.
His eyes locked on a spot on her face.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzTzgaf9ZpP
Still. Wide.
Like something familiar had just torn open.
A single line of blood was dripping11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXdgGp8uw6p
from the golden-brown eye11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSBj8nxUlO
on her left.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUbFC0fObHU
and then Add to home screen.