Lucien didn't tell anyone about the dreams.
Not Clara. Not Jules. Not even Aveline.
But each night, they grew stronger.
Sometimes it was her voice, echoing through a snowstorm, calling his name.Sometimes it was fire—buildings collapsing, alarms blaring, Aveline's face streaked with tears as she screamed at him to wake up.And sometimes… it was just her smile. Close. Intimate. So real, he'd wake up with the ghost of it on his lips.
By morning, the memories would scatter like ash. But the ache lingered. Like something had been stolen.
Aveline noticed.
He looked at her differently now. Not with confusion, but recognition—like his soul had skipped ahead while his mind was still catching up.
She wanted to tell him everything. That they'd lived this life before. That she'd sacrificed entire timelines for the chance to try again. That in Loop 1, she'd made the choice no one could forgive.
But she couldn't.
Not until she knew he could love her again… even with the truth.
So she waited.
And hoped.
Down in Concordia's restricted archive wing, Clara unlocked a glass case.
Inside was a black file. Unmarked. Sealed with a bio-lock requiring both hers and Jules' prints.
PROJECT LOOP 1: ORIGINAL SEQUENCEClassification: Level OmegaStatus: Suppressed
Jules hovered near the door. "You're really going to open it?"
Clara hesitated. Then nodded. "If she's this close already, we need to control the reveal. Better from us than from a memory surge."
The file opened with a hiss.
Inside: a data chip, a faded photo of Aveline and Lucien—covered in blood—and one line of handwritten text:
She broke time to save him… but what did she destroy in return?
That afternoon, Lucien found Aveline in the old observatory, a quiet place high above the facility.
She looked over her shoulder, startled. "You found my hiding place."
He smiled. "Your scent's in the hall. Vanilla and honey. It… always leads me to you."
She flushed.
He walked to the edge of the glass wall, gazing at the horizon.
"I keep seeing you in my dreams," he murmured.
Her heart stopped.
He didn't turn around. "And not just you. Fires. Sirens. Snow. You screaming my name. But not in love. In terror."
Aveline stepped beside him. "Do you think they're real?"
"I don't know," he whispered. "But if they are… then I think I've loved you before."
She swallowed the lump in her throat.
"I think I died for you," he added softly. "And maybe I'd do it again."
Back in Clara's lab, the data chip played a corrupted audio file.
Aveline's voice, raw and broken:
"Do it—run the sequence! I don't care about the risk—he's dying!"
[unintelligible static]
"Erase me if you have to. But bring him back. Please."
Clara shut it off.
"God help her," she murmured. "She remembers everything."