The road twisted through whispering woods as Ayra and Lira walked side by side. Birds chirped. Sunlight filtered gently through the trees. All seemed normal—until they stepped into Drelmere.
The town was beautiful. Too beautiful.
> "This place is… perfect?" Lira frowned.
Ayra's eyes narrowed. No dust. No chipped paint. Flowers bloomed in symmetrical lines. People moved in rhythm, smiling—but their eyes? Hollow.
A baker waved. A child giggled. A soldier patrolled.
Then... the exact same child giggled again. Same tone. Same movement. Same spot.
> "Déjà vu," Ayra muttered. "No… loop."
She clapped her hands.
The world rippled—like a pond disturbed.
Everything froze.
---
The Loop
Ayra walked through the frozen crowd like a ghost.
> "The entire town is caught in a temporal feedback loop… but it's external, not self-induced."
> "What does that mean?" Lira asked.
> "Someone—or something—put this town on repeat. To hide it. Or protect it. Or… trap something inside."
They entered the library. Dusty books lay open, untouched for years. In the center of the room stood a small pedestal with a floating cube—vibrating with cosmic energy.
> "Bingo."
Ayra touched it.
---
Outside the System
Suddenly—space collapsed inward.
The forest vanished. The sky flickered. Ayra and Lira now floated inside a silver void of shifting code and geometric patterns.
A deep voice echoed:
> "You were not meant to find this place."
A cloaked figure formed from fractal light.
Ayra floated lazily, arms behind her head. "You guys again. Can't a girl enjoy a fake town without triggering a defense protocol?"
The figure's light blinked like static. It tilted its head.
> "You are not indexed. Your presence destabilizes the construct. Identity?"
Ayra pointed at herself. "Me? I'm just a snack enthusiast with boundary issues."
> "Warning: Observation Layer breached. Reporting to higher protocol... denied. Error. System override—"
Ayra snapped her fingers.
The cube shattered. The space dissolved.
And they were back in the real town—normal again. People dazed but free. A bird chirped.
> "You… ended a containment field like it was a bad mood," Lira whispered.
Ayra shrugged. "It was giving me a headache."
---
Elsewhere…
In a crystalline satellite orbiting an unknown star, alarms screamed.
Figures in multi-dimensional robes examined the flickering data.
> "She broke the loop cube?"
"It was quantum-sealed by thirteen layers of time-bonding."
"She's accelerating. We need permission to escalate surveillance."
"The Council won't approve yet."
> "Then we hope she never finds a real anchor point."
---
Back at the Inn
That night, Ayra sat by the window of their room in Drelmere, watching the stars blink back into place.
> "You okay?" Lira asked.
> "Fine. Just thinking."
> "About what?"
Ayra smiled faintly.
> "About how small this world feels sometimes. And how far someone must go to hide a town inside a repeating moment."
She didn't mention the figure of light. The questions. The failed system overrides. The fact she felt eyes beyond the sky.
For now, she'd rest.
Tomorrow would bring new trouble.
---