"No."
The word left Ethan's mouth instantly.
Like a reflex.
Like rejecting gravity itself.
"I didn't destroy time."
Mira didn't argue.
She simply looked at him.
A quiet, tired expression.
"You don't remember doing it."
"That doesn't mean it didn't happen."
The chronal officer's device continued flashing.
PRIMARY TEMPORAL ANOMALY: ETHAN PARK
Liya stared at the screen.
Then slowly at Ethan.
"…Tell me that's wrong."
Ethan shook his head.
"It has to be."
Mira leaned against the motorcycle casually.
"In the original timeline, the tower collapse never happens."
Silence.
The officer frowned.
"…What?"
Mira nodded.
"No collapse."
"No paradox."
"No loop."
Liya's voice trembled.
"Then why did the loops start?"
Mira answered calmly.
"Because Ethan created them."
Ethan felt the ground disappear under his feet.
"I would never do that."
"You did."
"Why?"
Mira looked directly at Liya.
"Because she dies."
Liya froze.
"…What?"
Mira continued.
"Not in the tower."
"In the hospital."
"Six months later."
Ethan's breath stopped.
"…Hospital?"
The officer spoke carefully.
"What caused it?"
Mira's voice softened.
"A brain aneurysm."
Liya's hand slowly moved to her temple.
"That's…"
"That's impossible."
Mira shrugged.
"Original timeline."
"Nothing to do with the tower."
"Nothing to do with time."
Just fate.
Ethan whispered,
"…And I couldn't accept it."
Mira nodded.
"You broke time trying to undo it."
The officer's eyes widened.
"You created the first loop."
Mira pointed at him.
"He rewound a single day."
"Just once."
"But time doesn't like being broken."
"So the loop locked itself."
"Reset after reset."
"Hundreds of times."
Liya felt her chest tighten.
"…So the universe created the tower collapse?"
Mira nodded.
"A containment event."
"A forced reset point."
"To stop Ethan from changing the future."
Silence fell again.
The idea felt horrifying.
Ethan whispered slowly,
"…The universe is fighting me."
"Exactly."
The officer looked at Mira sharply.
"If that's true…"
"…why hasn't it stopped him already?"
Mira's eyes moved back to Ethan.
"Because something changed."
Ethan frowned.
"…What?"
Mira's answer was simple.
"You fell in love differently."
Liya blinked.
"What does that mean?"
"In the original timeline, you never met."
Both of them froze.
Mira continued.
"You two meet because of the loop."
"Not because of fate."
Ethan's mind struggled to process it.
"…So we weren't supposed to meet."
"Correct."
"But now you did."
"And that changed the timeline."
The officer checked her device again.
Another alert appeared.
TEMPORAL STABILITY: CRITICAL
Liya whispered,
"…What happens if we fail again?"
Mira looked at Ethan.
"The same thing that happens in the original timeline."
"And that is?"
Ethan already knew the answer.
"…I break time."
Mira nodded slowly.
"And this time…"
Her eyes turned serious.
"…the universe might not be able to fix it."
The officer's screen flashed red again.
A new warning appeared.
ANOMALY ESCALATION DETECTED
Then a second message.
FUTURE EVENT PROJECTION
Everyone stared as the system calculated.
Three possible outcomes appeared.
Timeline Outcome Predictions
1️⃣ Loop Continues — 78%2️⃣ Timeline Collapse — 17%3️⃣ Stable Future — 5%
Liya whispered,
"…Five percent."
Ethan laughed softly.
"Hey."
"That's better than zero."
But Mira didn't smile.
Because a fourth line slowly appeared on the screen.
One the system had never shown before.
UNKNOWN OUTCOME — 0.01%
The officer frowned.
"What's that?"
Mira's expression turned serious.
"…That."
She looked straight at Ethan.
"Is the future where you become something worse than a time anomaly."
Liya's voice trembled.
"…Worse?"
Mira answered quietly.
"The future where you become the end of time itself." ⏳