Scene 1: Déjà Vu and Burnt Eggs
The morning began like every other: Katherine awoke to the smell of something burning. Not the comforting kind, like toast—no, this was eggs-on-fire levels of destruction. She groaned, kicked off her sheets, and stormed into the kitchen in her Guild quarters only to find Jeremiah wearing an apron, looking sheepish, and holding a sizzling frying pan engulfed in smoke.
"Katherine! You're up early—uh, I mean late—no, I mean... good morning?" he stammered.
"Jeremiah, are those the same eggs you've tried to cook three days in a row?"
"Technically... yes?"
Before Katherine could respond, the fire alarm blared, sprinklers activated, and everyone in the Guild dorms went into a frenzy—again.
Later, soaked and miserable, the Guild gathered in the common area. Cecelia dried her hair with a mini cyclone of wind, Tousin scrolled endlessly on his phone, and Haruto meditated under the dining table.
"Alright," Marcus said, clapping his hands, "this is the fourth time this week we've had breakfast-related disasters."
"Seventh," Lyra corrected him, sipping her tea, her expression oddly tired.
But just as Vance walked in to announce a new mission alert, everything froze.
And then—FLASH—
Katherine blinked. She was in bed again. Same sunrise. Same smell. Same eggs burning.
"What the—?"
It happened again.
And again.
And again.
By the seventh reset, Katherine, Jeremiah, Marcus, Lyra, Haruto, Tousin, and Cecelia were gathered in the common room, drenched from the sprinklers, all silently staring at one another.
Jeremiah broke the silence. "Okay, I think we're in a time loop."
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Scene 2: Chaos Theory 101
Once the group accepted their fate—give or take a few resets—they started experimenting.
Reset 12: Tousin tried opening a portal out of the building.
Result: The loop restarted with Marcus's pants on fire.
Reset 15: Marcus kissed Lyra in the hallway just to "test something."
Result: Lyra punched him (blushing), and the loop restarted.
Reset 18: Haruto challenged Jeremiah to a katanas vs spatula sparring match in the kitchen.
Result: Sprinklers activated mid-duel. Everyone slipped. Katherine broke a chair over Marcus's back by accident. Reset.
Reset 22: Katherine yelled into the sky, "WHOEVER IS DOING THIS, STOP!!!"
Result: A pigeon pooped on her head. Reset.
By Reset 27, they were having full-blown strategy meetings.
"Alright," Cecelia began, pulling out a whiteboard she had apparently made in one of the loops. "So we've established the loop starts at 7:00 AM and ends around 10:00 AM when Vance comes in. If we do nothing, we still reset."
Jeremiah nodded. "Which means something within these three hours triggers the loop again."
"Or prevents it from ending," Lyra added, eyes narrowed.
Haruto raised a hand. "Has anyone thought... maybe we're supposed to learn something?"
Tousin replied, "Yeah. Like don't trust Jeremiah with eggs."
"Hey!"
Lyra sighed, "This is madness."
"No," Marcus said dramatically. "This... is breakfast hell."
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Scene 3: The Confession Loop
By Reset 31, they were losing it.
Jeremiah wore a robe and spoke only in rhymes. Tousin tried to skydive out the window using Marcus's bedsheets. Katherine attempted to kiss Caleb to "break the romantic loop theory" (only to realize Caleb wasn't even on the premises).
But in Reset 33, something changed.
Lyra found a hidden panel in the Guild library. Behind it, an ancient scroll depicting a rune glowing softly.
"A temporal seal," she whispered. "Whoever cast this—it's tethered to emotional resonance. Repeated conflict or suppressed truth could be looping time."
"Meaning..." Katherine trailed off.
"We need to say the things we've been holding in."
Haruto looked at Cecelia. Jeremiah looked at Katherine. Marcus stared at Lyra, who avoided his gaze.
In the next reset, they tried it.
Katherine stepped up first, looking Jeremiah in the eye. "I'm scared of what losing you would mean."
He blinked, stunned. "You're not going to lose me."
Lyra turned to Marcus. "Stop trying to be perfect. You're already too much."
Marcus grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment."
Cecelia smiled sadly at Haruto. "You remind me of someone I once loved."
Haruto lowered his eyes. "I know. I just wanted to be strong enough to protect someone this time."
Even Tousin joined in. "I pretend I'm okay, but I'm not. I miss home."
Then... silence.
No reset.
The fire alarm didn't go off. The sprinklers didn't activate. Vance walked in like nothing happened.
Time had resumed.
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Scene 4: Pancakes and Peace
Later that morning, the kitchen was quiet.
Jeremiah cooked pancakes—actual, non-burnt ones. Cecelia helped with the batter, and Haruto set the table, still unsure how his emotions had nearly doomed them all.
"I think the loop was trying to make us confront our inner chaos," Lyra said, sipping from a mug. "That rune was reacting to... suppressed emotional states."
"Basically," Marcus said with a grin, "we needed therapy."
"Or breakfast," Tousin added.
"Or both," Katherine said. "Honestly, I'm just glad we're out."
As everyone laughed and passed syrup around the table, the Guild felt something unusual: peace.
But then—BOOM.
A crash sounded from the training yard.
Veronica stood there, holding a broken chronoblade.
"Oops," she said. "Did I do that?"
Everyone groaned.
Jeremiah slumped. "Please don't tell me we're going back in..."