Elijah sipped his coffee as he scribbled the time down in his notebook. He crudely sketched the large clock hanging in the middle of Corwood's mall. Elevator music hummed in the background, with high heels clicking on the laminate mall floor. The smell of fresh pretzels, perfume, and new sneakers competed to overwhelm Elijah's nostrils. Teenagers smiled and strolled out of clothing stores with bags in hand. They briefly glanced at Eli's P.I.A. jacket, whispering as they walked past the bench he sat at. Neon signs pulsed above store entrances while mall employees gossiped underneath their glow.
He looked up with raised eyebrows as the lights flickered violently. The elevator music warped into a jazz-inspired instrumental with synth textures and experimental overtones. Elijah stared at the clock hands as they continued to move. His attention drifted towards the shoppers, who continued to shop, unbothered by the buzzing lights and sudden change in music.
"They don't know," Elijah muttered with wide eyes as the lights stopped flickering. "I wouldn't have known either,"
"What the hell was all that?" Ashley asked as she sat next to Eli, holding a slice of pizza.
"Probably related to what I am about to talk to you about," Elijah replied as he closed his notebook.
"Is this related to the anomaly in the files?" Ashley asked as she ate her pizza.
"It's not a Gamma or an anomaly. It's most likely a Conduit, a very powerful Conduit," Elijah said as he lit a cigarette.
"So the P.I.A. got it wrong. So we got like a Delta on our hands?"
Elijah shook his head. "I have valuable intel that the P.I.A. intentionally classified it wrong," he said flatly, then looked at Ashley. "We're dealing with an Omega-level Conduit."
Ashley choked briefly and then chuckled. "It's not April Fool's, you know."
"I am not joking, Ashley. A girl approached my car right before I called you to meet me here. She told me stuff that she should not know about me, you, and the P.I.A."
Ashley paused as she stared at the floor. "Stuff like what?" She asked as she crossed her arms.
Elijah rubbed his beard. "She knew about us and my life before I even got into the P.I.A. She even knows an undercover P.I.A. agent on this case we are assigned to."
Ashley's right leg shook as her eyes widened. "Wait, what?"
Eli leaned forward and put out his cigarette in an ashtray. "You can't tell anyone what I am about to tell you. The only reason I am talking to you is because I can trust you," Elijah replied and sighed. "We are dealing with time manipulation, and the P.I.A. wants whatever is doing it eliminated."
Ashley blinked heavily as she bit her lip. Her head lowered as she stared at the ground. "So you're saying we are in a time loop?"
Elijah nodded. "More than likely."
"Since when, how!"
"I don't know, but I know who has those answers."
"The girl, right?"
Elijah nodded.
"Then why are we here? Let's go get her."
"Not that simple, because the undercover agent on this case is the drug cartel leader Dezerea Hernandez."
Ashley's eyes widened. "Okay, you gotta be bullshitting me?" She replied and shook her head. "This makes no sense whatsoever."
"Ash, you know I don't joke around very often. I talked with Dezerea earlier. She said her orders were to eliminate whatever was happening in this town once I tracked her down."
Ashley rubbed her head as she put her half-eaten pizza aside. "If I were to take everything you say literally, then that means whatever happened didn't stop the time loop."
"I came to that same conclusion myself," Elijah responded as he crossed his arms. "Whatever our first logical choice to do, more than likely has been attempted."
"Fuck," Ashley bluttered out as she arched forward. "Do you think the girl who talked to you is causing the time loop?"
"Can't say for sure, but it's either her or the owner of that Miata I talked to you about."
Ashley grabbed a cigarette from Elijah's coat pocket and lit it.
"Since when do you smoke?"Elijah asked with a raised eyebrow.
Ashley coughed and frowned. "Since you told me I am stuck in a time loop, and my job is working with a drug cartel that manufactured the same drug that turned my parents into Hollows."
Elijah frowned and blinked slowly. "Fucking hell, I am sorry."
"No, thanks for telling me this," Ashley replied stoically as she rubbed her eyes and breathed deeply. "At least I don't have to beat myself up anymore about starting a retirement plan with the P.I.A."
"You quitting?"
Ashley nodded. "Once I help you find a way to get out of this time loop, I'm going to probably take a vacation with my fiancé," she explained, then rubbed her neck. "I'm a hot mess," she muttered as she shook her head. I'm talking to you, of all people, about this."
"You regret it?"
Ashley shook her head. "No, but all this really put things into perspective of who fucking who," Ashley joked, forcing a chuckle to escape her lips. "So what's the plan since any of our plans might have already been done?"
Elijah lit another cigarette and frowned. "That's where I am stuck. I don't really know yet."
"We are not helping Dezerea and the P.I.A."
"But what if that's the only option?"
Ashley rubbed her face as she tapped her foot on the ground. "We should tell Bruce. Sure, he is a slob, but he knows stuff about the P.I.A."
"You trust Bruce?"
"He is too carefree and oblivious to be a part of this. He knows a lot about the inner workings of the P.I.A."
Elijah arched forward and fidgeted as he smoked. "It would also not be the first thing I would think about doing either," He replied. "That girl who told me all this said she wanted to talk with all of us tomorrow at the high school."
"What's her name?"
"Emily."
Ashley's eyes narrowed. "You think there's more going on than she said, right?"
Elijah breathed deeply and then swallowed. "Yup, she's also probably playing us," he replied, then sighed. "I have this nagging itch in my head that she's hiding something."
"Did she tell you the scope of the time loop?" Ashley asked with a raised eyebrow.
Elijah shook his head, then his eyes widened. "If the P.I.A. knew about it, then that means the time loop ain't just localized," he explained as he stood up and looked at the clock.
"Holy shit, your right!" Ashley exclaimed as her eyes widened. "It's not just a time bubble; it's time itself," she said as she gazed at the customers walking past them. "Everyone is stuck in the time loop."
"And we only know until the next time loop happens. I don't know if this is the first time that girl told me that time has been rewound."
Ashley rubbed her eyes and face. "So it is an Omega."
Elijah paused as he stared at the clock hands that continued to tick. Time suddenly became a precious resource for him, each second ticking down to a possible reset that he had no foresight of.
"We have to figure out what triggers these time loops. We have a shot if we can stop it or at least know what causes them."
"Someone is coming," Ashley whispered, gesturing for Eli to glance at the teenager with teal highlights approaching.
"Hey, sourpuss, glad I found you here," Emily jested, then glanced at Ashley. "Where is the fat one?"
"That's her!?" Ashley asked with wide eyes.
Elijah groaned and then nodded. "How did you?"
Emily shrugged. "It's not important. I have much bigger fish to fry than how I knew you were here," she flatly said. We need to talk now."
"I thought we were going to wait until tomorrow?"
"Things happen, plans change, stuff happens. Your date is over; let's go...now!" Emily ordered, then glanced at Elijah's jacket. "Do you have one of those in a small?"
Elijah glanced down at his jacket with a raised eyebrow. "What?"
Emily rolled her eyes and rubbed her nose. "Your jacket...I am going to need one of those. Just trust me on this."
"I ain't giving you shit until you tell me what the fuck is going on?"
Emily sighed and groaned. "A stubborn mule in this timeline as well, great, just fucking great!"
"How many time loops have there been?" Ashley asked as she stood up.
"You don't want to know," Emily flatly replied. I need a jacket because I'll be with you all during the Ether aptitude tests tomorrow. I need all your resources and the ability to move and do everything a P.I.A. agent can do.
"Wait, why?"
Emily pushed her hair away from her face and gazed at the clock. She sighed, then looked at Ashley and Elijah. " Because originally, my friend was manipulating time subconsciously. She didn't know what she could or couldn't do. Now she does!"