Velridge was quieter than usual. The kind of quiet that makes you wonder if the city is holding its breath. I walked along the edge of the river where neon lights broke across the black water like shattered glass. The cat followed in silence, keeping its eyes on the reflections rather than the streets.
The image of the girl stayed with me. The red umbrella. The rain. The way she had looked straight at me through a memory that wasn't mine. I didn't know her name, but the moment I saw her, something inside me shifted. A feeling too old to belong to the copy I was supposed to be.
The sphere in my pocket pulsed once, like a heartbeat trying to match mine.
"Whoever she is," the cat said finally, "she matters to both of you. Maybe that's why the city kept her."
I nodded. "Or maybe she's the one who built the loop to begin with."
The cat tilted its head. "You think she's the Architect?"
"The Bureau used to talk about her. A scientist who vanished after the first consciousness transfer. They said she disappeared before the experiment on me even began."
"And you think she's still alive."
"I think she's part of the city," I said quietly. "Or maybe the city is part of her."
The rain began to fall again, slow at first, then heavier. The kind of rain that carried whispers when it hit the ground. I stopped under an old streetlight and listened.
The whispers were forming words. My name.
"Elior."
The cat hissed. "That voice again?"
I looked up. She was standing across the street. The red umbrella glowed faintly against the darkness. Her face was hidden, but I could see her smile. It wasn't human. It wasn't cruel either. It was something older, like time itself had chosen to remember her.
I took a step forward. "Who are you?"
"You already know," she said softly. "You just don't remember yet."
"I saw you in the city's memory."
"Because I'm the part it refuses to forget."
The street around us blurred, and suddenly the noise of Velridge vanished. We were standing in a white space that felt endless. The rain stopped midair, suspended like glass beads. The cat froze, eyes wide.
"Welcome to the Loop," she said. "This is where it all began."
I looked around. Everything was still. Even my breath seemed caught between seconds.
"Why me?" I asked. "Why build this?"
She closed her umbrella. "Because you died trying to protect me. You don't remember that part. The Bureau erased it to make you obedient. I built the loop so I could bring you back. But it went wrong. It split you into two versions, both chasing the same truth. Now the loop is collapsing, and one of you has to stay to hold it together."
The cat whispered, "So if he stays, she lives. If he leaves, she disappears."
I met her eyes. "What happens if we both stay?"
She looked sad. "Then the city burns. It can't hold two souls made of the same memory."
The light flickered around us. Cracks began to form in the white air, showing glimpses of Velridge beyond streets breaking apart, power lines snapping. The loop was already destabilizing.
The girl stepped closer. I could finally see her face. She looked like someone I almost remembered loving.
"You can still choose," she said. "The sphere will decide which of you remains. But if you merge it before the clock strikes 11:47 tomorrow, the loop will end peacefully."
I nodded slowly. "And if I don't?"
"Then the city dies with us."
The world shuddered again. The cat leapt back as light split across the ground.
She opened her umbrella. "Find me when you're ready to remember."
And before I could reach for her, the rain started again, and the city returned. I was standing alone on the riverbank, soaked, heartbeat echoing faintly in the hum of the streetlights.
The cat looked up at me. "So she built you, brought you back, and tied the whole city to your heart. I'd say that's complicated even by supernatural standards."
I looked out at the skyline. "Then I guess it's time to untangle it."
The clocktower struck midnight. The first bell echoed through the rain.
One day left.