The comms vanished from my hand like smoke.
One second there, solid and cold; next, nothing. My fingers closed on empty air.
"What...?"
I stared at my palm. No residue. No glitch. Gone.
One second my fingers were wrapped around cold plastic, the next they were clutching air like idiots who missed a handrail.
"…Huh?"
I blinked. Once. Twice. Harder the third time, like blinking harder would somehow convince reality to undo itself.
My hand was empty.
And smaller.
A heavy, padded silence. The kind that presses against your ears instead of filling them.
"Okay," I muttered. "Okay. This is… fine. This is fine."
It wasn't.
I looked down at myself.
Hands first. They looked the same at a glance. Too familiar. Too mine. But something was off. The proportions felt wrong, like I was piloting a model slightly smaller than the original.
I stretched my fingers. Counted them. Flexed my wrists.
"…No way."
I ran to the nearest reflective surface — a cracked shop window, half-buried under dust and old posters.
And there I was.
Me.
Just… less of me.
Sixteen. Maybe seventeen if I was being generous. The kind of age where your body hasn't decided what it wants to be yet. Not a kid. Not an adult. Just stuck in the middle, awkward and unfinished.
"…You've gotta be kidding me."
My voice cracked.
That was new.
I swallowed and tried again. Lower. Steadier.
"Okay. Physical regression confirmed," I said, forcing calm like I was filing a report. "Not ideal. But manageable."
That's what I told myself.
That I could work with this.
I turned, scanning the city again.
Buildings stood frozen in place, windows dark, streets clean in a way no real abandoned place ever is. No trash piles growing naturally. No weeds reclaiming concrete. Just… paused.
Like someone hit stop.
"Alright," I said. "Source hunt. Magic or tech. Either works."
I moved.
Block after block. Alley after alley.
I checked rooftops for anchors. Basements for generators. Cracked open panels that should've led to power systems or dimensional stabilizers.
Nothing.
No mana residue. No tech hum. No distortion field. No causality knots buzzing behind my eyes.
Just… dead normal.
Which was worse.
"Come on," I muttered, pace quickening. "There's always something. A crack. A hum. A smell."
My breath came faster.
I ran.
I don't know how long I searched. Time felt thick here. Stretchy. Useless.
By the time I stopped, my clothes were wrong.
My sleeves hung past my wrists. My pants dragged against the ground. The shirt slipped off one shoulder no matter how many times I adjusted it.
"…Shit."
I tugged at the fabric. It didn't help.
My knees shook. Not from fear. From exhaustion.
I hadn't noticed how tired I was until my body stopped pretending it could keep up.
I found a collapsed section of flooring near an old storefront and sat down hard.
The concrete was cold.
I pulled my knees up to my chest without really thinking about it. Hugged them. Rested my chin on top.
Breathing hurt now.
"…Okay," I whispered. "Think. Just think."
No comms.
No Satori.
No exit.
Fine. I'd handled worse.
I stared at the street in front of me, unfocused.
That's when I saw it.
The cat doll.
The broken one.
It was back where it had been earlier. Upright. Facing the same direction. Same stupid cracked smile.
"...wait."
I stared.
I hadn't put it back.
I kicked it.
I remembered the sound. The pain in my toe.
Slowly, I looked around.
The trash can I'd knocked over earlier was upright again. Lid closed. Trash gone.
My breath hitched.
"No," I said again, louder this time. "No, no, no."
I stood up too fast, dizziness slamming into me. I ignored it.
I walked to the spot where I'd slipped. The scuff marks were gone.
The dent in the ground? Gone.
Everything I'd done here…
"…It's rewinding," I whispered.
Not just me
The city wasn't changing because of me.
It was changing without me.
Undoing.
I looked down at my hands again.
They looked smaller than before.
And that's when it hit me.
The sick, sinking realization that made my chest feel hollow.
It wasn't just my body.
Something else was slipping.
Something important.
I frowned, trying to grab a thought that suddenly felt… distant.
"…What was I just thinking about?"
The answer didn't come.
I hugged my knees tighter.
The cat doll stared at me.
Unblinking.
Waiting.