Chapter 155
"Foundations?"
"The narrators of hadith. The recorders of the Prophet's traditions."
Arya then zoomed in on a section of the report in his hologram.
Names began to appear in a long, continuously scrolling list.
"Imam Malik ibn Anas, Abu Dawud Sulayman ibn al-Ash'ath, Abdullah ibn Abdurrahman ad-Darimi. And many more—far beyond just a handful of figures."
Arya stared at the list, his jaw tightening.
"This isn't a single target."
Nirma glanced at it from where she sat.
"Dozens…"
Arya nodded.
"Dozens of different points in time."
He swiped the screen again.
This time, a timeline stretched across multiple centuries.
"There's movement in the second century Hijri. Also in the third. Some indications even appear earlier than that."
Nirma fell silent.
"He's spreading chaos?"
Arya replied in a heavy tone.
"More than that."
He enlarged another diagram.
"If even one of these narrators fails to transmit a report, if a single chain of transmission collapses…."
He paused briefly.
"The history of hadith compilation could change."
The room fell silent again.
Nirma slowly crossed her arms.
"And if hadith changes, then the understanding of law, tradition, even the history of the ummah will change as well."
Arya nodded.
"Exactly."
But he wasn't finished.
With an increasingly tense expression, Arya opened another tab.
This time, not the names of narrators.
But names far older.
Earlier in history.
Names known as the spreaders of revelation in the Christian tradition.
The apostles.
Nirma immediately understood.
"He's targeting them too."
Arya stared at the screen without blinking.
"Disturbance indicators appear at several points along the apostles' journeys after the crucifixion of Jesus."
He swiped the screen again.
"There's a possibility of intervention in the early spread of the Gospel."
Nirma leaned forward slightly.
"That means…"
Arya completed the thought.
"This Abnormal isn't trying to create a single massive tragedy."
He pointed at the timeline filled with small red markers.
"He's trying to alter the foundations."
Nirma stared at all those points.
Dozens.
Maybe more.
"If each of these points is successfully affected…" she murmured.
Arya closed the hologram for a moment.
"We won't just see changes in history."
He looked at Nirma seriously.
"We'll see those religions develop into something entirely different."
A few seconds passed in silence.
Then Nirma finally spoke again.
"So your conclusion?"
Arya answered quietly.
"This Abnormal isn't working alone."
Nirma narrowed her eyes.
"Cross-century coordination isn't something a single individual can manage."
Arya nodded.
"There are at least several other entities involved."
He reopened the screen on his watch.
"And worse…."
Arya enlarged one final notification.
"… Their first movements have already begun."
Nirma stared sharply.
"Where?"
Arya read the time coordinates in a low voice.
"Near the route of one of the narrators."
He paused before adding,
"And the time remaining before the disturbance occurs…."
He looked at the numbers counting down.
"… Is no more than a few hours of history."
The room fell silent again.
But this time, the silence was no longer just a pause in conversation.
It was a sign that the war against temporal anomalies—once only a possibility—had truly begun.
Nirma did not immediately respond to the countdown that had just been shown.
She simply stared at it for a few seconds longer than necessary, as if weighing something not written in the data.
Then, without looking away, she spoke.
"Search."
Her voice was low, but firm.
Arya frowned slightly.
"What do you mean?"
"Use your watch's full access," Nirma continued, now turning directly toward him.
"I want to know how far the Temporal Cross-Police have already moved. Don't just focus on the anomalies—look at the distribution of their agents as well."
Arya didn't argue.
He nodded and immediately reactivated his watch interface.
The previously dim blue light spread wider, forming multiple overlapping layers of holograms.
Folder after folder opened, data after data pulled from the central servers he had previously hacked.
The room was once again filled with a faint glow, like digital mist hanging in the air.
While Arya scanned through the information, Nirma did not remain silent.
She resumed her analysis, her voice calm but structured.
"If this Abnormal is targeting the foundations…" she murmured, "then it won't choose points that are heavily guarded. It will look for gaps."
Arya kept his eyes on the screen.
"Makes sense."
"And those gaps," Nirma continued, "don't always mean weak points—but places with fewer guards."
Several seconds passed.
Arya continued scrolling.
His previously pale face slowly turned serious.
His hands moved quickly—tapping, zooming, filtering.
Their discussion continued.
"What about the early periods of hadith compilation?" Nirma asked.
"Already guarded," Arya replied briefly.
"Many agents are stationed there. Even too many."
"Then it's not there."
"Right."
"The early spread of the Gospel?"
Arya shook his head slightly.
"Already anticipated. Some points are even guarded by elite units."
Nirma narrowed her eyes.
"So he's deliberately avoiding the center of attention."
Arya did not respond immediately.
Because at that exact moment, he stopped scrolling.
His hand froze mid-air.
A few seconds passed.
Then he swallowed.
"… I found it."
Nirma immediately turned.
"What?"
Arya enlarged a distribution graph of agents.
Green dots filled almost the entire timeline—indicating the presence of Temporal Cross-Police agents across eras.
Almost all of it.
But a few small red dots remained.
Very few.
"Most of it has been handled," Arya said quietly.
"Ninety-nine percent."
Nirma gave a slight nod.
"And the rest?"
Arya did not answer immediately.
He zoomed in on the remaining red points.
Only two.
But their positions… Nirma could feel it even before Arya spoke.
"Arya."
Her tone changed.
"Where are they?"
Arya took a deep breath.
"The first…" he pointed to one section of the timeline, "the Battle of Uhud."
The room seemed to grow even quieter.
"Saturday, March 23, 625 CE."
Nirma said nothing.
Arya continued.
"And the second…."
He shifted the screen.
The other red point enlarged.
"… The crucifixion of Jesus."
Silence.
"Friday, April 3, 33 CE."
No one spoke for several seconds.
No arguments.
No objections.
Because both of them immediately understood.
That wasn't just a gap.
That was the center of history.
Nirma finally spoke, her voice much softer than before.
"Not because they don't know."
Arya nodded slowly.
"But because they're not enough."
Nirma stared at the two points without blinking.
"Their number of agents isn't sufficient to guard two events of that magnitude at the same time."
Arya partially closed the screen.
"And if that Abnormal truly moves there…."
He didn't finish.
He didn't need to.
Nirma had already stood up.
Her movement was calm, but certain.
"First destination."
Arya immediately understood.
"Uhud."
Nirma nodded.
"A few days before the battle begins."
Arya stood as well, this time without hesitation, moving beyond the limits he had previously maintained.
The risk of unintended teleportation was no longer relevant.
He adjusted the coordinates on his watch.
"Arrival point: the outer route of Medina, near the date palm groves of the Ansar."
Nirma closed her eyes briefly.
Setting intention.
Setting time.
Setting direction.
"After that," she continued, "we move to Jerusalem."
Arya added,
"Golgotha—the Place of the Skull."
They looked at each other.
No countdown.
No signal.
Just a shared decision.
And at the same moment, they moved.
Slightly.
But enough.
The world seemed to fold.
Not like falling.
Not like being pulled.
But as if reality around them was folded into a single point—then reopened somewhere else.
To be continued…