The wind moved quietly through the street.
No one spoke.
The numbers on the officer's device still glowed red.
Stable Future — 5%
Five percent.
Those odds felt more like a joke than hope.
Liya finally broke the silence.
"…Show us."
Mira looked at her.
"Show you what?"
"The original timeline."
"The one where we never meet."
Ethan's chest tightened.
But he nodded.
"…Yeah."
"I want to see it too."
Mira studied their faces carefully.
Then sighed.
"You won't like it."
"Probably."
"But we need the truth."
The chronal officer crossed her arms.
"If you really watched all 603 loops, you must have a record."
Mira smirked slightly.
"Oh I do."
She pulled a small metallic device from her jacket.
Not like the officer's.
This one looked older.
Illegal.
Unstable.
The officer immediately frowned.
"A temporal recorder?"
"Black market version."
"Of course."
Mira tapped the device.
A soft blue light expanded into the air.
A floating holographic screen formed in front of them.
The year appeared first.
TIMELINE — ORIGINAL
DATE: APRIL 18
Ethan leaned closer.
"…That's today."
"Correct."
The hologram shifted.
Now it showed the city skyline.
Normal.
Peaceful.
No tower collapse.
No emergency sirens.
Just an ordinary day.
Liya watched quietly.
"…So nothing bad happens."
"Not today."
The scene changed again.
The date moved forward.
APRIL 22
Ethan appeared in the recording.
Working at a small tech lab.
Focused.
Calm.
Not desperate.
Not exhausted like the man he had become inside the loop.
Liya whispered,
"…You look happy."
Mira nodded.
"He was."
The recording continued.
Weeks passed in seconds.
The date jumped again.
MAY 3
Liya appeared in the footage.
But somewhere different.
A hospital hallway.
Walking beside a doctor.
Laughing about something.
Ethan stared.
"…That's where you work."
Liya nodded slowly.
"Neurology department."
"Exactly."
Mira continued the recording.
Days kept moving forward.
But Ethan and Liya never crossed paths.
Not once.
Two lives moving through the same city.
But never touching.
Then the date appeared.
OCTOBER 11
The atmosphere of the recording changed.
Hospital lights.
Emergency alarms.
Doctors rushing through hallways.
Liya on a stretcher.
Unconscious.
Ethan felt his stomach drop.
"…No."
Mira didn't pause the footage.
Doctors shouting.
Heart monitor screaming.
A doctor saying the words that ended everything.
"Massive aneurysm."
Liya watched herself lying there.
Still.
Silent.
"…That's me."
Her voice was barely audible.
The screen showed the time.
4:12 PM
Then the monitor went flat.
Ethan's fists clenched.
"No."
The recording ended.
The hologram disappeared.
Silence filled the street again.
Liya wiped her eyes quietly.
"So that's the future."
Mira corrected her.
"That was the future."
Ethan looked at Mira.
"…And that's when I broke time."
Mira nodded.
"You hacked a chronal experiment prototype in your lab."
"You tried to rewind one day."
"And it worked."
"But the universe resisted."
"The loop formed."
The officer muttered,
"Containment protocol."
Mira nodded.
"Exactly."
Ethan stared at the ground.
"…I started all of this."
"Yes."
"But something changed."
He looked up.
"…The loop made us meet."
Liya nodded slowly.
"And now everything is different."
The officer checked her device again.
The system was recalculating constantly.
"…Your meeting created a branching timeline."
Mira crossed her arms.
"And that's why the universe hasn't stopped him yet."
Liya whispered,
"…Because I'm alive now."
"Yes."
Ethan looked at her.
A strange realization forming.
"If we stop the aneurysm…"
"…then I never break time."
The officer nodded.
"And the loop ends naturally."
Mira smirked.
"Congratulations."
"You just discovered the only winning move."
Liya's hand slowly tightened.
"…How do we stop it?"
Ethan answered quietly.
"We prevent it before October."
Mira tilted her head.
"That's six months away."
"Which means the loop gives us infinite chances."
The officer shook her head.
"Not exactly."
Everyone looked at her.
Her device showed a new warning.
TEMPORAL DEGRADATION DETECTED
Ethan frowned.
"…What does that mean?"
The officer spoke slowly.
"Every loop weakens reality."
Mira sighed.
"Ah."
"There it is."
Liya's heart began racing.
"…How many loops left?"
The device calculated.
Then displayed a number none of them expected.
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM LOOPS REMAINING: 12
Silence fell again.
Ethan whispered,
"…Twelve?"
Mira nodded grimly.
"The universe is running out of patience."
Liya looked at Ethan.
"…So we have twelve tries."
He nodded slowly.
"Yeah."
Then he looked at the skyline.
Toward the Riverside Tower.
"…Let's make sure we only need one." ⏳