"5… 7… 13… 15…"My eyes dart around the screen, fingers hovering above the console. A constant buzzing echoes from the other side of the table.
"It doesn't make any sense… why are the branches out of order? 3… 4…" I keep counting, each number adding to my frustration.
"TIEN! Where the hell are you?!"A deep, irritated voice carries from the hallway. Gerald.
His footsteps thunder toward me, heavy with impatience. He appears at the door, in uniform, though clearly enduring just as bad of a cycle as I am.
"Gerald, look—not now—I—WOAH—"I try to turn back to the screen, but he grabs me and pulls me outside.
"I've been dialing you for the past three units. Why haven't you answered?"
"I was recounting the branches. There's a possibility of another variant stray from—"
"No."
"It's no stray variant," Gerald cuts me off, shoving us both into the Pendulum Clock and slamming the door shut.
"Great. You really had to drag me back in here again?"
"Well, genius, your fissure device would've explained everything… but clearly someone's too distracted to even check on it."
An electromagnetic screen lights up the room in harsh blue, text glowing across it:
[42 branches away from the Alpha Worldline]
"How do you expect us to explain this to the Time Lord?" Gerald gestures at the display.
He swipes furiously through prompt after prompt.
"Why are you getting so worked up over some stray variants? Look, the system would probably already han—"
"The system is down. No—worse—it's not detecting this as a stray variant. That's why it's not acting."
"So… what does that mean?"
"Somehow… for some reason… this variant is an anomaly."
"How many resets have there been?"I hesitate, almost afraid to know the answer.
Gerald pulls out his fissure device and tosses it to me.
— System —Reset: [3,142,200]Timeline Branch: [0.018123]
"Three million resets?" I gasp, my grip tightening on the device.
"Thankfully, it hasn't terminated a worldline yet. It keeps jumping from Branch 0.001412 to Branch 3.019954—for over a million resets." Gerald scans the branch logs.
"It wants something to happen, clearly…"
"…Meaning the anomaly can be reasoned with," I finish.
Gerald nods, flipping through another prompt.
"Still… for all we know, he could be jumping through branches where he becomes a genocidal maniac before resetting back." I run my fingers over the parts of the screen where branches cut off abruptly.
His face hardens. "Whatever the case… I'm linking us to his timeline branch."
"Dude? Are you insane?"I try to block him, but it's too late. He already sent the command.
A loud mechanical voice cuts through the Pendulum Clock:
[Preparing Kurr-Blackhole…][Jump initiating in T-minus: 20]
Gravity loosens its grip. My vision starts to tunnel. I've never liked time-jumping—it's too sensory-depriving.
I grab onto the handlebar by the control center as the countdown continues:
[10… 7…][5… 4… 3… 2…]
A sharp beep interrupts. The screen flares red.
[ERROR—ERROR][System Failure… Time Interrupt Engaged][Launching Contingency Plan][Locating Nearest Possible Branch…][Branch Selected: 0.018123]
A violent lurch throws me forward. The room twists—no, glitches. Vision blurs, doubles, resets.
For a moment, I swear I'm somewhere else—somewhere I shouldn't be.
Then—impact.
I wake to the smell of burnt circuits. Sparks dance from the console, the screen flickering erratically. The Pendulum Clock hums off-rhythm, gears clicking like it's struggling to keep up with time itself.
Gerald groans to my left. He doesn't look at me—he's staring at the screen.
[0.018123][User Detected: Tiean][User Detected: Gerald][User Detected: ——————][ERROR: UNKNOWN ENTITY]
I freeze.
"…Gerald."
He's already seen it.
[Analyzing timeline inconsistencies…]4 probable outcomes detected:
Outcome 1:– Anomaly is directly outside the machine.– Non-hostile behavior.– Containment possible.
Outcome 2:– Anomaly is outside the machine.– Immediate termination likely.
Outcome 3:– No external entities detected.– Possible explanations:
Anomaly is actively hunting you.
Anomaly lacks hostile intent.
Anomaly is… [DATA CORRUPTED]
Outcome 4:– [UNDEFINED ERROR]– Anomaly's influence exceeds projected calculations.– Further analysis required.
My pulse pounds in my ears.
[Chances of fixing the Pendulum Clock within 24 units:][…][Near 0]
"Great. Just great." I mutter. "You just had to ruin my day, Gerald."
No response. He's staring at something new on the screen.
[Message Received.][Sender: Unknown][Subject: You Can't Win]
The cursor blinks. Waiting.
The hairs on my arms rise.
I whisper, "Gerald… did you send that?"
His voice is barely audible. "No."
A slow, deliberate keystroke fills the silence.
[Stop Trying.]