The sky flickered.
Not lightning.
Not clouds.
Reality itself seemed to glitch.
For a split second the entire city skyline shifted… then snapped back into place.
Liya felt dizzy.
"Did anyone else see that?"
Ethan nodded slowly.
"Yeah."
"I'm pretty sure buildings aren't supposed to blink."
The man with the device stared at the sky in disbelief.
"That's a timeline fracture."
The motorcycle girl sighed.
"Yep."
"Called it."
Liya turned to her.
"You seem way too calm about reality breaking."
The girl shrugged.
"I've seen worse."
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
"I'm suddenly very curious about your definition of 'worse.'"
The device in the man's hand beeped violently again.
He checked it.
Then his face went pale.
"This is accelerating."
Liya's stomach tightened.
"How bad?"
He turned the screen toward them.
The display showed dozens of red warning signals across the city.
"Multiple instability points."
"Temporal bleed-through."
Ethan frowned.
"Translation?"
The girl answered casually.
"Different timelines leaking into each other."
Liya blinked.
"…What?"
Right then—
A car suddenly drove through the intersection behind them.
But something was wrong.
It flickered.
Like a hologram.
For a moment it looked brand new.
Then suddenly rusted and broken.
Then brand new again.
The car vanished completely.
Liya stepped back.
"Okay that's not normal."
The man spoke quickly.
"The fracture is spreading."
"If it reaches critical mass…"
"…this entire timeline collapses."
Ethan rubbed his face.
"So to summarize."
"Reality is glitching."
"Time cops are involved."
"And we're somehow responsible."
The girl pointed at him.
"Mostly you."
"Fantastic."
Liya looked between them.
"Wait."
She pointed at the girl.
"You said the future ends if Ethan dies."
"Yes."
The man immediately shook his head.
"That's incorrect."
The girl rolled her eyes.
"Oh please."
"You still believe the original timeline report?"
The man's voice hardened.
"It's verified."
"No."
"It's outdated."
Ethan sighed.
"I feel like I joined the middle of a corporate meeting."
"Could someone please explain the situation from the beginning?"
The girl looked at him.
"You're the key variable."
The man interrupted.
"He's the reset trigger."
She shook her head.
"That's what they told you."
The man stepped forward.
"You're lying."
She stepped forward too.
"You're uninformed."
Liya suddenly shouted.
"STOP."
Both of them went quiet.
She pointed at the sky.
The glitching had gotten worse.
The moon flickered.
Buildings shifted slightly.
Streetlights blinked on and off.
Reality looked unstable.
"Whatever argument you two are having…"
"…we're running out of time."
The man checked the device again.
The countdown had appeared on the screen.
00:19:43
Liya frowned.
"…What is that?"
He answered quietly.
"Time until collapse."
Ethan blinked.
"Wait."
"You mean midnight?"
The man shook his head.
"No."
"This timeline ends in nineteen minutes."
Silence.
Even the motorcycle girl stopped smiling.
Ethan exhaled slowly.
"Well."
"That's extremely inconvenient."
Liya looked at the girl again.
"You said Ethan dying ends the future."
"Yes."
"Then how do we stop this?"
The girl looked at Ethan carefully.
Her expression suddenly serious.
"There's only one way."
Ethan groaned.
"Please don't say I have to die again."
She shook her head.
"No."
He blinked.
"Oh."
"Then what's the plan?"
The girl said something that shocked all of them.
"You have to break the loop completely."
The man's eyes widened.
"That's impossible."
She looked at him calmly.
"No."
"It's just forbidden."
Liya's voice shook slightly.
"How do we do that?"
The girl pointed toward the distant ruins of the Riverside Tower.
"The loop started there."
Ethan stared at the skyline.
"…The tower collapse."
"Yes."
She looked back at him.
"If we reach the origin point…"
"…we can rewrite the reset."
The man shook his head immediately.
"That would destroy the stabilization system."
The girl answered coldly.
"Good."
Ethan looked between them.
"So either I die…"
"Or we rewrite time."
The countdown on the device ticked lower.
00:17:58
The wind rushed through the empty street.
Ethan sighed.
"Well."
He looked at Liya.
"What do you think?"
Liya didn't hesitate.
She grabbed his hand.
"We break the loop."
The girl smiled slightly.
"Good answer."
Then she turned to her motorcycle.
"Because if we're going to rewrite time…"
"…we'd better move fast." ⏳