Lyra sat quietly on Kael's apartment couch, clutching a cup of warm tea.
Her hands trembled. Kael noticed she hadn't taken a sip.
"Kael…" she whispered, "What am I?"
Kael hesitated. Telling her the truth would frighten her, but hiding it would be worse.
"You're not a regressor," he said softly. "You're something beyond that. Something older."
Lyra's eyes shimmered. "Earlier, when Erevan touched me… I felt something. Like a door opening inside me."
Kael's chest tightened. "What kind of door?"
She pressed a hand to her heart.
"A feeling… like the world was waiting for me to wake up. Like everything was wrong until I came here."
The system flickered.
[Anomaly Response Detected]
[Subject's awakening accelerating]
Kael swallowed hard.
"Lyra," he said, "you're what's called the World Anchor. You existed before the loops. You're the original point the timeline is built around."
Lyra stared blankly. "I… make the world?"
"No," Kael corrected. "You stabilize it. You keep it from falling apart."
She trembled. "Then… did I cause the regressions?"
Kael shook his head quickly. "No. The regressors hijacked your existence. They abused the world's foundation every time they rewound time."
"But why don't I remember?"
Kael sighed. "Because your memories were erased each time the world reset."
Lyra looked down, tears falling silently.
"I was alive… hundreds of times… and I never knew."
Kael gently placed a hand on hers. "I won't let anyone hurt you again."
Lyra squeezed his hand back, her voice barely a whisper.
"Promise me… don't leave me alone."
Kael swallowed. "I won't."
But the system quietly chimed:
[Warning: Unknown force interfering with Anchor's emotional state.]
Something—or someone—was accelerating Lyra's awakening.
And Kael suspected only one man would dare.