We stood at the edge of a cracked service road, looking up at a structure that should've been torn down, set on fire, and buried under a mountain.
The **Eden Repeater Tower**.
It loomed over the ruined forest like a haunted toothpick. The kind of place where cell reception goes to die and your nightmares respawn.
The air around it wasn't just stale — it *buzzed*. Like the whole zone was stuck between two realities. Birds didn't fly here. Wind didn't blow. Even the sky looked like it was holding its breath.
I turned to Rafe. "So… this is where the brainwashing signal comes from?"
"Yes."
"And I just *walk into it* like a poorly written action hero?"
"Exactly."
"Cool. Great. Love that for me."
---
Aira pulled her scarf over her mouth and stepped forward. "We're burning daylight. Let's check for an access point."
Chai snapped a selfie. "If I die, use this as my author photo."
Sir Quackers waddled up beside her, squinting at the tower like he'd personally beefed with it in a past life.
We approached the entrance.
A metal staircase led to a rusted blast door. Vines had overgrown the rails. The keypad blinked faintly — still powered.
"Can you hack it?" I asked.
Rafe raised an eyebrow. "Can I hack it? Darren, please. I was rewriting protocols before you knew how to heat up instant noodles."
"Okay, rude but fair."
---
Five minutes later...
"Okay, it's not opening," Rafe muttered, stabbing the keypad with a screwdriver.
"Did you try pressing the green button?" Chai asked.
"Do I look like an idiot—oh."
He pressed the green button.
*Beep.*
The door hissed and slid open.
Everyone stared.
I clapped slowly. "Wow. You're a genius."
"Shut up," Rafe grumbled.
---
Inside, the tower was worse.
Concrete walls. Flickering lights. Moldy air. It smelled like wet socks and expired experiments.
There were computer terminals lining the hallway, all locked behind biometric scans.
Aira pointed her machete down the corridor. "We clear first. Then access the network."
Sir Quackers let out a little war-honk.
I touched the wall — and my **bracelet flared.**
Then—
**FLASH.**
I saw the room again.
But not *this* version.
A clean one. Lit. Sterile.
Scientists. Me, strapped to a chair.
Someone saying:
> "We're starting Loop 3. Pray this version holds."
My knees buckled.
Rafe caught me. "You okay?"
I nodded. "Yeah. I just remembered being rebooted like a busted smartphone."
---
We cleared the first floor. Empty.
No zombies. No soldiers. No signs of life.
Then Chai found an elevator hidden behind a server panel.
"Wanna guess what's in the basement?" she asked, grinning.
"Despair?" I said.
"Close. Classified despair."
The elevator whined as it descended.
Rafe checked his pistol. "You remember anything about this part?"
"Yeah," I said. "I remember I really hate elevators."
---
The doors opened to a massive underground lab.
Dark. Silent.
A blinking terminal at the far end read:
**> INITIATE LOOP SEQUENCE**
**> STATUS: GLITCHED**
**> ANOMALY: AWAKE**
Everyone turned to me.
"Don't look at me like that," I said. "I didn't mean to become a software bug."
Aira stepped up to the terminal. "There's a log file."
She tapped the screen.
And a video began to play.
---
A man in a lab coat appeared.
Gray hair. Glasses. Tired eyes.
"Subject 07 status: Unstable. Partial memory retention during Loop 2 triggered cascade effects. We initiated emergency reset using Sector 12's primary tower."
Then he leaned in.
"If Subject 07 awakens *during* the loop… end the cycle. Purge memory. Do not allow him near core data."
Chai tilted her head. "Wow. They really didn't want you to know stuff, huh?"
Sir Quackers hissed like a dying balloon.
I swallowed hard.
"Can we stop the loop from here?" I asked.
Rafe examined the console. "If we destroy the repeater core, it'll break the memory circuit. No more resets. No more versions."
"Awesome. Let's nuke it."
"There's a problem," he added.
"Of course there is."
---
He pointed at the schematic.
"The repeater core is connected to a **host brain.** A living memory anchor. It stores loop data. Without it, nothing resets."
I blinked. "Like a human hard drive?"
"Exactly."
Chai leaned in. "So… where is it?"
Rafe stared at me.
Then slowly… pointed.
At me.
"...No."
"Yes."
"Nope."
"Darren," Rafe said, "you *are* the memory anchor."
---
Silence.
Even Sir Quackers didn't make a sound.
Aira blinked. "He's the backup drive?"
Chai squinted. "Does that mean he's full of virus memories? Or just regular awkward ones?"
I backed away from the console. "This can't be right. I was just a delivery guy."
"You were," Rafe said. "Until they used you as a template. You're not just syncing with the virus — **you're the master copy.**"
I grabbed my head. "This is too much. I'm not built for this. I can't even fold fitted sheets correctly!"
---
The terminal beeped again.
**WARNING: LOOP DECAY AT 64%. VIRAL MEMORY BLEED IN PROGRESS.**
I felt my skin crawl.
Another flash.
Me again — strapped to a chair, shouting.
> "Don't do this! I don't want to remember!"
Someone responded:
> "You'll thank us. The next version will be better."
Back in real time, I gasped.
"I remember now. They didn't just loop time. They **rewrote** me. Again and again. Every loop, they erased parts of me."
"Why?" Aira whispered.
"To control me," I said.
Rafe stepped back. "Then it's time to end it."
---
He pointed to the reactor core glowing behind a glass wall.
"Destroy the signal. Break the memory chain."
I stared at it.
And felt the weight of a thousand unspoken Darrens pressing down on my chest.
But even now — something inside me whispered:
> *If you break it… what happens to everyone else tied to the loop?*
Do they die?
Do they vanish?
Do they finally wake up?
---
"I need to think," I said.
Chai touched my arm. "You don't have long."
The lights flickered.
The terminal screamed:
**ALERT: EXTERNAL THREAT DETECTED. EDU INBOUND.**
Aira raised her blade.
Rafe cocked his gun.
I stood frozen between two choices:
Break the cycle.
Or find another way.