The hospital smelled exactly like Liya remembered.
Sterile.
Cold.
Predictable.
Usually that comforted her.
Today it didn't.
Ethan walked beside her through the hallway.
His eyes kept scanning everything.
Doctors.
Nurses.
Security cameras.
Like danger might jump out from behind a medical chart.
Mira followed a few steps behind, hands in her jacket pockets.
Looking completely relaxed.
The chronal officer, however, looked deeply uncomfortable.
"…I shouldn't be here."
Liya glanced back.
"Why?"
"Chronal protocol."
"We're not supposed to interfere with medical timelines."
Mira laughed.
"You're already interfering with time itself."
"Fair point."
They reached the neurology department.
Liya stopped outside a door labeled:
MRI Imaging Room
She took a breath.
"…This is weird."
Ethan squeezed her hand gently.
"Checking your own brain?"
"Yeah."
"Feels like cheating."
Mira leaned on the wall.
"Trust me."
"If we're cheating fate, we're doing it properly."
The officer pulled up her device.
"I'll monitor temporal stability while you're inside."
Ethan nodded.
"Good."
Liya pushed the door open.
Inside—
The MRI machine hummed softly.
A technician looked up from the desk.
"…Dr. Han?"
Liya smiled awkwardly.
"Morning, Daniel."
Daniel blinked.
"You're early today."
"…Yeah."
"I need a scan."
He frowned slightly.
"Everything okay?"
Liya hesitated.
Then shrugged.
"Research curiosity."
Daniel sighed.
"Doctors make the worst patients."
He gestured to the machine.
"Hop in."
A few minutes later—
Liya lay inside the scanner.
The machine slid her slowly into the tunnel.
The loud mechanical pulses began.
THUMP
THUMP
THUMP
Outside the room—
Ethan paced.
Back and forth.
Back and forth.
Mira watched him.
"You've done this before."
He stopped walking.
"…Once."
"In loop 480."
"And?"
"She was fine."
Mira raised an eyebrow.
"That sounds good."
"Except the aneurysm didn't exist yet."
The officer's device beeped softly.
Ethan looked at it.
"…What now?"
"Temporal stress is increasing."
"How bad?"
She turned the screen toward him.
REALITY STABILITY: 84%
"Still safe."
"But dropping."
Mira sighed.
"Universe is getting impatient."
Ethan rubbed his face.
"…Great."
Twenty minutes later—
The MRI machine powered down.
The door opened.
Liya walked out slowly.
Daniel followed with a tablet.
His expression confused.
"…Dr. Han?"
"Yes?"
"There's something you should see."
Ethan's heart immediately started racing.
"Show us."
Daniel hesitated.
"…You might want to sit down."
"No."
"Just tell me."
Daniel turned the tablet toward them.
The brain scan rotated on the screen.
A tiny dark shape appeared near one artery.
Liya's breath caught.
"…That's it."
Daniel nodded slowly.
"A small aneurysm."
"Very small."
"Early stage."
Ethan closed his eyes for a moment.
Relief flooded through him.
"…We found it."
Mira crossed her arms.
"Well look at that."
"Loop one and you already beat fate."
But Daniel continued speaking.
"There's something strange though."
Liya frowned.
"What?"
Daniel zoomed in.
The artery around the aneurysm flickered slightly on the scan.
"…It's unstable."
The chronal officer leaned closer.
"Unstable how?"
Daniel looked confused.
"I've never seen anything like this."
The aneurysm pulsed on the screen.
Then shifted slightly.
Like the image itself glitched.
Mira's smile slowly disappeared.
"…That's not medical."
Ethan's stomach dropped.
"…It's temporal."
The officer's device suddenly screamed with alarms.
She looked down.
Her face went pale.
TEMPORAL CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL ACTIVATED
Ethan whispered,
"…The universe."
Mira nodded grimly.
"Yeah."
"It just noticed we're trying to fix the future."
Liya looked at the scan again.
The aneurysm was growing.
Slowly.
But visibly.
Daniel stepped back nervously.
"…Is this some kind of software glitch?"
Ethan grabbed the tablet.
"No."
"It's worse."
The aneurysm pulsed again.
Larger now.
The officer's screen flashed another message.
CONTAINMENT EVENT ACCELERATED
ANEURYSM RUPTURE PROJECTION
The timestamp appeared.
Not six months from now.
Not weeks.
Not days.
The prediction read:
3 HOURS
Liya whispered,
"…That's impossible."
Mira shook her head slowly.
"Not impossible."
"Just the universe fighting back."
Ethan looked at Liya.
Then at the scan.
Then back at Mira.
"…Can we still stop it?"
Mira didn't answer right away.
Because the aneurysm on the screen pulsed again.
Growing faster now.
And the officer's device updated the countdown.
TIME UNTIL RUPTURE
02:59:47
Reality had just moved the deadline. ⏳