Just as Claire was still scrambling for a coherent explanation, Nightwing suddenly pulled out a small notepad and pen.
Yes. A real notepad. And a real pen.
Claire had a flash of thought:84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEV7Fzj8KfF
Where the hell was that even stored? Vein-based stationary system? Interdimensional pocket?
Nightwing’s expression was earnestly professional.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6PyJGQxOK
“Miss, can you tell me what’s been happening in your home?”
That tone was too sincere. It made Claire feel like she’d just become the designated town lunatic in a police report.
Still, she pushed ahead.
“Something gets stolen every night… but there’s never any sign of a break-in. So I figured… maybe it’s a ghost.”
—Not technically a lie.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYRv1PN4ol
In her mind, what was being stolen was the future.
She said “ghost,” but she really meant time.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5GZLOAjf20
She glanced at their faces, half-hoping she still passed for “eccentric but manageable,” not “Gotham mental ward, tier three.”
Nightwing frowned. A real, honest-to-Bat frown. Then he scribbled something into his notebook.
Claire had a brief urge to ask whether it synced to the cloud. Otherwise, this whole report was getting wiped clean at the next reset.
“What exactly has gone missing?” he asked.
Claire hesitated. “My… my chocolate bagel dough.”
That came out embarrassingly quiet.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI8gfaWX5cR
She was praying it wouldn’t get her filed under “Midnight Breakdown #4972 – Female, Late 20s, Delusional Pastry Narrative.”
Yes. Her chocolate bagel dough had turned into plain dough.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCsOSoJnPnM
The perfect ratio. The delicate chill-proofed aroma.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ26LAw53cns
Erased. Like someone hit CTRL+Z on her effort.
This wasn’t just bagel theft.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvrXt8XEGD
This was a heist on her will to live.
Nightwing’s brow furrowed harder. He started writing more. In bold.
Robin, meanwhile, looked like a school kid forced to sit through a lecture on the French Revolution. His face folded in confusion, perfectly symmetrical.
“Did you hear any noises at night?”84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0GvGbmUdzK
“No.” Claire shook her head. “I sleep on the third floor. It was quiet. That’s why I thought… ghost.”
Nightwing nodded again. Took another full page of notes.
“Anything else missing? Any broken locks or signs of tampering?”
“Nope.”
And then came a full string of follow-up questions.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAfL4JXDqUB
She almost told him to stop.
It was way too procedural. She was starting to suspect Nightwing actually had a login to Gotham’s police database.
Just when Claire was about to crack from this paranormal bagel audit, both of them suddenly paused. Lifted their heads. Listened.
Then glanced at each other.
Robin bit his lip, like a kid who knew he was about to get caught.
Nightwing sighed and patted his head.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpAACM2lx1
“Batman’s here to pick you up.”
Then he turned to Claire. Still polite. Still sincere.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp7voQS1XuQ
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience, ma’am. I’ll continue investigating. Hopefully, we’ll find a resolution soon.”
Claire nodded. She couldn’t not nod.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa0tQxwqZUs
When a guy in a mask, with shoulders like that, speaks to you like a trauma counselor, you nod.
They walked to the window. Waved.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJ3grUUbhX
Like two city contractors who’d just finished fixing your plumbing at midnight.
Then they swung away.
Claire closed the window in a daze.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjwbG98aKoC
She felt like an NPC who’d just wrapped a side quest she didn’t know she’d started.
She climbed back into bed.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdeU5NvEHD
Closed her eyes slowly.
A final thought floated to the surface:
So… Batman really does come to this part of town at night.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmBUW6QTJm
To pick up his kid, no less.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMlcVTKKdlj
Claire opened her eyes.
She was back.
Same jazz music.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEAwGlJXDOz
Same crease in the pillow.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbdfJbustf
Even the sunlight hit the bed in exactly the same slant as before.
She sat up, and a ridiculous thought crept into her head:
—Technically, she could just keep booking hotel rooms forever.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbTC9k4y9Dg
Live the dream. Sleep for free.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDacSSFNb4
No bills. No consequences.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡumJlzanYAV
Time would reset before the credit card charge even processed.
“Calm down, Claire. You’re a law-abiding citizen,” she said to herself, with the conviction of someone who needed to believe it.
Just because the world had no tomorrow, didn’t mean you got to have no principles.
She decided to head to the café. Her morning existential spiral was basically on a schedule now, and the bagels never came out before ten anyway.
Which meant—almost certainly—that the blue-eyed cop would show up again.
And sure enough, right on the dot, ten o’clock.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8urdwh2Y11
The door swung open.
Claire looked at him.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJk9OLTeen
Those eyes.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ZoHV36rvH
Something about them felt familiar.
Had she seen them before? Or was it just that “default human template” kind of face? Was that a thing?
Before he could even speak, Claire opened a paper bag and handed over the exact number of bagels, pulling them from the tray with the ease of a choreographed routine.
The blue-eyed officer blinked. “How’d you know how many I wanted?”
Claire shrugged. “Hmm… psychic powers?”
He blinked again. Not suspicious, just processing—like someone who’d seen a lot of weird things in the city, but still needed a second.
“Don’t overthink it,” Claire said.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRh4B2RXbD
“Just a guess. Go on, now.”
But he didn’t leave right away.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAei6gcGoT4
He lingered for a beat, then stepped up to the counter.
“I’m Richard Grayson,” he said. “Call me Dick. If you ever need anything… I’m around.”
Claire nodded, but something inside her tensed.
It was the first time—the very first time—since the resets began that someone had told her their full name.
The first time a stranger had reached through this infinite loop and offered something—anything—that could’ve carried into tomorrow.
Even if she knew, for her, tomorrow wouldn’t come.
Dick turned and walked out, shoulders back, that easy gait of a man who belonged in black-and-white detective films.
Claire watched him go.
There was something about that silhouette, too.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOz4EFE4ezG
Something she swore she’d seen before.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO8CotTerKj
and then Add to home screen.