The house was unusually silent.
Not the peaceful kind of silence, but the heavy one—where every wall seemed to listen, every shadow seemed to judge. Erika stood near the center of the living room, her fingers curled tightly, her eyes fixed on the dim reflection of herself on the glass window.
"So…" she finally spoke, her voice steady but sharp,
"It all started with the watch, didn't it?"
Jimmy didn't answer immediately.
Rebecca leaned against the kitchen doorway, arms crossed. Scott stood near the stairs, pretending not to listen—but every word pierced him anyway.
"That watch," Erika continued, turning slowly, "is the reason my grandfather crossed worlds. It's the reason he lived two lives. The reason I exist here. The reason I lost everything there."
She took a breath.
"So I need it. I need the watch to go back."
Jimmy exhaled deeply. "Erika… it's not that simple."
She looked straight at him. "It never is."
Jimmy walked toward his lab door but stopped midway. "When you fell into this dimension… the watch absorbed the shock. The top surface shattered. Some internal codes collapsed. Right now—it's unstable."
"Then fix it," she said immediately.
"I will," Jimmy replied, "but not now. Not fast. I'm working on multiple systems already. This isn't just a broken clock—it's a dimensional fracture device."
Erika clenched her jaw. "Time is different for you people. For me… every second here feels like betrayal."
Rebecca stepped forward gently. "If we can't give you the watch right now… ask something else. Anything. We'll compensate."
Silence fell.
Then Erika smiled.
It wasn't warm.
It wasn't cruel.
It was dangerous.
"Alright," she said. "I'll set the rules."
Scott frowned. Jimmy stiffened. Even Rebecca felt uneasy.
"Rule one," Erika said calmly, "I get full access to Jimmy's lab. I can observe, learn, touch, experiment."
Jimmy snapped his head toward Rebecca. "What?"
"Rule two," Erika continued, unfazed, "I can roam anywhere in this town. No restrictions."
Scott muttered under his breath, Why should we—
"Rule three," she added, eyes locking onto Scott, "no one treats me like I'm fragile. Or lost. Or lesser."
She paused.
"Rule four," she said softly, "I can add or remove rules whenever I want."
The room froze.
Rebecca blinked. Why did I agree to this? she thought.
Jimmy ran a hand through his hair. She in my lab? No way…
Scott turned away. This is insane.
Rebecca finally spoke. "One condition. For rule two… Scott goes with you."
Scott's eyes widened. "What?"
Erika tilted her head, studying him. Then she nodded.
"Fine."
Scott swallowed his protest.
(Robotic dimension)
The city gleamed with metal and neon veins.
A woman walked along the street, holding her daughter's hand. The child laughed, her voice echoing softly between steel towers.The child was holding a toy in her hand.
"I forgot something," the woman said suddenly, stopping. "Wait here. Don't move."
She hurried into the toy shop were they purchased the toy.
Minutes passed.
When she returned—
Her daughter was gone.
Panic ripped through her chest. She activated the GPS embedded in the child's clothing.
Signal lost.
"No… no no no…"
She ran. Screamed. Searched.
Nothing.
Hours later, she stood in the Central Registration Station, plenty of machines were moving there . Each robot was dealing a person who wanted to give complaint .As minutes passed the woman became more frightened and her body started to sweat.
Her voice shaking as the system recorded her complaint. The data instantly escalated to higher authorities.
Somewhere deep within the system, a silent alert activated.
(Modern dimension)
In Jimmy's lab...
Erika stepped into the lab like a child entering a forbidden temple.
Lights. Screens. Tools beyond imagination.
Her eyes sparkled.
Jimmy, however, watched in horror as she touched—moved—almost dropped one of his precision instruments.
"Careful!" he snapped.
"I'm helping," she said innocently.
She wasn't. She almost broke five equipments in the lab.She tried to understand and observe each and every tools in the lab. But her knowledge was not enough to learn about everything in the lab.
Jimmy was seeing Erika as it is Erika 's new version.
By the time she turned to leave, Jimmy felt ten years older.
Before exiting, Erika placed something on his table.
A thin, flexible, glass-like shard.But it is not a glass.
"I found it in the park," she said. "Thought it mattered."
Jimmy's breath caught.
"This… this is part of the watch's surface."It is damaged a bit , so I decided to replace it with glass in the top of the watch.
He stared at her. "You may have just saved months."
"How long?" she asked quietly.
Jimmy hesitated. "Long enough that you'll need to learn patience."
She looked once more at the broken watch on the table.
Then she walked away.
(Night at the Rooftop)
The city lights stretched endlessly.
Erika sat alone.
Scott climbed up silently. "Why are you here?"
She shrugged. "Listening."she felt pleasent to see the view. She didn't have enough time to see this kind of view in her dimension.
Scott sat near to Erika.
Silence again.
"You like Joel," Erica said suddenly.
Scott choked. "What?"
"How did you know that?" Erika continued. "Did you forgot? Edward told that in the museum". Scott said that Edward blabbered but he couldn't resist his laugh.
He laughed awkwardly. "She likes fighters. Crazy ones."
Erika nodded. "Emotion fuels combat." she said that she spent all her life alone when her parents died,her grandfather was focusing on wars , so she showed her anger on fighting. She began to fight more then grew stronger like none other.
Scott hesitated, then spoke. "There's a place… underground matches. No rules. Real pain."
Her eyes lit up. Scott saw her reaction and understood her inner feelings.
"I want to go," she said.
Scott smiled. "Then let's go."
(Robotic dimension)
A girl floated inside a capsule.
Blue liquid surrounded her body.A lot of wires like veins connected in the liquid.
Machines hummed.
Someone watched from the shadows.
"Subject stable," a voice said. "Begin phase two."