And then came the explanation.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiYLkX3ZQl6
The daily boss fight.
Her hardest task, every time:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxSPkakgBCR
Convince someone in under five minutes that she wasn’t crazy, the world wasn’t broken—just... cracked.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7qkqYDkmbI
A little.
Claire had it down to an art now.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL44BgZ9ZOA
She’d practiced.
Step one: start with “I had a dream.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3IanCAjvos
Then ease into “The dream was real.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡedUzDaxYZQ
Follow up with “You were here yesterday too.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlv4Jk3b7vf
And finally close with “You all forgot, but I didn’t.”
Boom. Five minutes.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvCZnXPvgdW
Scripted, rehearsed, and repeatable.
She’d even gotten used to asking Nightwing or Robin for their earpieces directly.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPDgOsASUMd
Why waste time relaying info like it was a game of telephone? Batman was usually already online.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUgm8VP8fp8
It was more efficient to just brief everyone at once.
She could feel herself becoming part of their workflow.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3tBJMPx2Pl
A new kind of muscle memory.
Alfred always started with, “Oh dear, Miss Claire, terribly sorry we forgot you again.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhl89mMT52y
Batman, on the other hand, delivered every voice message like it was a field command.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNJeFC0eFgD
Concise. Authoritative. Meant to be followed.
Then came the status update.
Usually the same:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuWoRIMvtX
“Nothing changed today.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkTaIKLlWrH
“Sky hasn’t cracked.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIbpJWvdlEL
“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.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOTsGkZTe7E
He’d said it like a doctor warning against too much caffeine, calm and clinical.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsrjQieJemE
But it had kept her up all night.
He told her once a week was enough.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2JMp6Lpc9
“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—34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw42DPuQzRR
this wasn’t something she was observing.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDaGbUSfQC2
It was something that could observe her back.
This was her fourth report.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoviuLneCqH
Still nothing.
No updates.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡta8V4P9mNh
No signs.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt6PKwksxEx
Just that eerie nothingness that made her more anxious than any actual event.
Was nothing a good sign?34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKaA0aaHOhI
Or was it just... waiting?34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1j8GES0lU
Watching?34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbwnzi4dCUy
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgjtDrGfxc9
Sometimes she sneakily Googled manuals to understand what they did.
Now, she could switch between three different surveillance modes,34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY36V3sy0zD
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.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUSJuSv5Nc
Claire thought everything would keep repeating.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ46jw1LdQ09
She'd come to see the infinite loop as some kind of twisted safety net—a bizarre, but reliable routine.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTnKnXL9GSk
No surprises.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ01ddWEZ35t
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUqSOaI981F
This lifestyle gave her a kind of mechanical calm.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBfboAre04q
Predictable.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpYDlIZaBK
Stable.
Every day, reintroduce herself.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaVuRv9IZlO
Control her tone.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYcIqSMY643
Deliver the optimal info load to minimize questions.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm4SQEIYsFS
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRdSCJ8OayO
Which screen was for surveillance.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHobuSGqEN3
Which device disrupted signals.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZYPdGt1i4E
Which red light meant “don’t touch.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0IfuuMZRh
Muscle memory, baby.
And then the fissure check.
Take out the telescope.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtAguCx0Ncp
Angle it just right.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN4SathLY4b
Deep breath.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHCBtrx2KOB
Close the right eye.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV071KEY6uk
Don’t stare too long.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXHThxzcqS
She knew better now—34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfogYwckXnc
something out there might stare back.
That was the routine.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlE544i7ty1
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡirtljl1pLF
She stared at it.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEHZPG7Dvlb
296.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oNslKFgua
Too close to 300.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Z4WRD2JP6
She didn’t know why, but it made her uneasy.
She opened her café.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSEc0ZaOifR
Same as the previous 295 times.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbz36nSCbl6
The air was damp.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5gbFyxNri
The coffee machine hissed to life.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFLw9wiUGbs
She could smell a bit of machine oil in the steam.
It felt like a ritual.
She grabbed the newspaper from Nightwing.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7dlbzQXoh
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.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJq1ycLXHJ
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJtG9i6ijKf
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.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNj1zYWPMh1
Weird enough to raise eyebrows.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTzicbVKOcz
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—34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZXiTpAnSu5
her eardrums exploded with a boom.
A deep, subterranean rumble shook the ground.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR671Daao1V
Low. Prolonged.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkif5rikwM
Like something ancient was groaning awake beneath their feet.
An earthquake.
Claire had no time to think.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy0BssEv7nJ
The floor pitched sideways.
She lost balance.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlGXs53wXoo
Grabbed the edge of the bar—34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAuE7HtvYDR
but it moved too. Everything was moving. Bag dropped.
The officer caught her.
One hand on her shoulder.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZimPhJReL
One on her waist.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpYY3mecNHp
Pulled her back from the quake, held her steady.
She caught a hint of detergent on his shirt.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ETEMVUIQW
And something else—something sharper.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU4Kb4MmWTq
Almost like panic.
They balanced each other.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4vzhfv8up
Her against his chest.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKmETijt8TO
Him braced against the wall.
Two magnets wobbling in chaos, finding brief stability in contact.
Things crashed around them.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpZJMKH7vdz
Mugs.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgfh0Fzmc4
Spice jars.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1wZFFRtSVR
Her precious collection of weird spoons.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWUxuJM3kDs
All shattered, ringing like breaking glass in a cathedral.
The sound pierced through her thoughts.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1VNusd2RCa
Claire flinched instinctively.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv84kUeHxxa
That noise—34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxAXycoX90i
that had never been part of this day before.
The ceiling light above spun wildly.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu78qaPna73
Shadows on the wall flailed like ghosts.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEJlTfF2C9o
Her vision swirled.
Then—34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkleiC3TyMt
a hand on her head.
Firm. Protective.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDxYuxfhJsa
Not planned. Just reflex.
His palm cradled her crown.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGc3ZnMrche
Like making sure her skull stayed intact.
He pulled her closer.
Not just to keep her upright—34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqQpYUbqo9
but like he needed to.
He guided her to a corner.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMmBw5JxUM
No shelves. No glass.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9co8O2ieDd
Just two bare walls.
A temporary shelter.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDH0hrKHzkN
A makeshift haven.
And then—34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtJuep7Bro
after nearly a minute—
The shaking slowed.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kRJHNgjxf
The walls stopped growling.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MekW7Wzuj
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6GudUE4phf
Trying to see her face.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1J2j6Pvku8
Check her expression.
Brows furrowed, eyes scanning—34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtoCDm3DixF
forehead, cheek, neck.
Was she hurt?
Then—34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCrRcI2fzRH
he froze.
His eyes locked on a spot on her face.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv5NwHppnqt
Still. Wide.
Like something familiar had just torn open.
A single line of blood was dripping34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54LRi1obJl
from the golden-brown eye34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT2UaLpaCsW
on her left.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ41gf45NL9J
