Sunday, April 16th, Late Afternoon

Just a little over three hours left.

I stumbled out of the area and into a small, leafy clearing. Velora Navis. Velora Navis. I know who you are now, Velora Navis.

So, that leaves me with a few more questions. One: where is she right now? Following Sirius and Anna? If so… from where? And how do I find her without getting spotted myself?

Or… is that the relevant question? I know she’ll be present for the confession. Is that enough time to stop her?

That was another big question. How do I stop her?

If she was anything like Anna, maybe I could try talking her down. I flashed back to Rigel, who’d given me the same advice.

I shuddered. Velora was a lot like Anna, but Anna wouldn’t kill anyone. Further proof, as if it was necessary, that Velora needed to be stopped.

Velora. Velora Navis.

I pushed a hand against my chest. My breath was still heaving.

Velora Navis!

I needed a foolproof way to stop her. Could I call the police, now that I knew who she was?

No… they wouldn’t believe me. I don’t trust them to handle this.

I need to take matters into my own hands.

My own hands… I looked down at my hands, and blinked.

I saw the blood that I’d lost in the previous loops oozing out of painless, gorey wounds. My jacket, normally a pale orange, and my shirt, normally a white tee with a single black stripe, were stained in hideous patterns of red, and torn in large gashes to reveal stab wounds.

Velora Navis had stabbed me. She stabbed me.

Not once. She stabbed me. Again, and again, and again, and again, and again.

She killed me. And she killed my sister. And she killed Sirius. She killed the love of my life.

Doubt thou the stars are fire, Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love.

Never doubt.

“It’d be so much easier if it were just an arcade game. In those, you shoot them, or they shoot you. It’s that simple,” I quoted. Who had said that to me? I couldn’t remember. It didn’t matter.

They were right. Shoot them, or they shoot you.

It’s that simple. Is that not the fundamental root of justice?

Then, the question of if I’ll have time to stop her… that’s irrelevant. It will only take a minute.

I won’t be cruel about it. I’m not like her. I’ll make it quick.

Yes, yes… and if I tell Anna to go to the fountain instead of the roof of the Astronomy Building… I know where she’ll be hiding.

I can stop her there.

I made my way to the booths on the upper side of campus, passing mostly unnoticed through the crowd. In the last loop, Sirius and Anna had been accosted by the crowd. Or, maybe it was this loop. Or, the one before?

Had it happened at all? When would I even have witnessed it?

I can’t prove that it did, or didn’t.

How can I prove anything at all? I can’t.

The only thing left to do is trust in myself. Only I know the truth.

I took a deep breath. I know what I need to do. My hands were physically shaking.

The Congee Chef Club was holding their demonstration in the west side of the lower plaza, as I had remembered from the first loop. This demonstration, I noticed, was perfect for a number of reasons. One, there was a small audience in front of it. Large enough of an audience that I would be shielded from the general public, and large enough to disappear into, but not so large that I had to be worried about too many potential witnesses.

And, I’d seen the club member set up a yam-cutting station with a kitchen knife. The knife in question wasn’t very large, only about a few centimeters longer than a pocket knife.

It would be easy to hide. But I needed a distraction.

The wind was starting to stir. As the club member stirred the pot, all eyes were on him. I took the opportunity to scan the table. The set of knives was next to him. On the other side, an already-cooked pot of porridge. The wind blew harder. There were some uncut vegetables… carrots, potatoes, and the like, next to them.

I could work with this.

I pushed my way through the modest crowd to the side of the table, and lifted up the corner of the pot, gently. I reached for a potato to stand it on, and in doing so, knocked over one of the carrots.

No eyes turned. For one, it wasn’t very loud. And also, I’m the bassist. Sometimes that comes with its perks. The began to stir.

Having left the wobbly pot with one end on the potato, I slipped back into the crowd, approached the other side where the knife was, and waited.

At some point during the club member’s demonstration, the wind flared. As intended, the pot of porridge sitting on the potato slipped and spilled all over with a loud crash.

While all eyes were on the steaming mess, I ducked behind the table and grabbed the knife, and a napkin to wrap it in, and stuffed it in my inner jacket pocket.

All without a hitch.

As I made my escape, though, I bumped into someone. A young man in a red zipper hoodie, who seemed to have been taking careful notes on porridge.

I recognized him. I recognized him and his girlfriend, the girl with the yellow scrunchie, as I stepped aside.

The boy muttered an unintelligible apology, and turned back to her. Him, and his girlfriend. I’d been jealous of them, that time.

It seemed like a simpler time.

It was at that moment, with my eyes on the couple that I had been so jealous of not 24 hours ago, and my hand on the knife in my pocket, that I really stopped and wondered.

What am I doing?

I’m planning to commit murder.

What the hell am I doing?

I’m planning to kill someone!

I pushed through the crowd and found another isolated spot, and took a deep breath. I’m planning to kill someone.

Oh, my god. I ran my fingers through my hair.

I’m planning to kill someone.

No, no, no, no, no, no. I’m planning to prevent Sirius and Anna’s murders. And this is the most efficient method. If I save them today, but leave her alive, then there’s no guarantee that she won’t try to kill them tomorrow.

Or the day after, or the day after that.

I must prevent the murders in such a way that keeps her from acting after tonight. This is the most efficient method.

Efficiency. Security.

I’m saving lives.

I’m planning to commit murder!

I’m saving two lives. Even if I go to jail, I’m giving up myself, for Sirius and Anna. Because I want them to be happy, together. They will be happy. I’m sure of it.

I’m planning to commit murder!

This is justice! The justice of a seer. I will know that I acted justly. Even if no one else believes me, that’s okay. I’m doing what I can do, with my own power.

Notice me.

Notice me, notice me, notice me, notice me.

Blood was seeping up from my fingertips. Red blotches, red splatters. From my fingernails, to my palms, up my forearms, covering my jacket. I suppose anyone else would have seen this as disgusting. But to me… all it was was some irrational part of me, some part that refused to listen to the cold rationality, playing tricks on me.

I can do it.

Sunday, April 16th, Evening

Just over an hour and a half left.

I messaged Anna the lie, that the Astronomy Building would be closed. I was in the middle of telling her that the fountain was a good spot, before stopping myself. No, Sirius had naturally led them to the fountain. If I left things like that, things should naturally progress…

So, the next order of business was to track them down. Around this time, they should be in Cafe Tristan. Thinking back to the girl with the green hat, Velora Navis... she should be there, stalking them, as well.

And since I didn’t confront her in this timeline, she should be closer to them. I cackled to myself. As if by a burst of divine inspiration. ‘I just know.’

Velora Navis… Never doubt I love. This is an act of romantic, and sisterly love. Never doubt I love.

Never doubt.

I nabbed a pair of promotional sunglasses, made my way to Cafe Tristan and peered inside.

Velora Navis wasn’t inside. No… there was no girl in a green hat. No green hats on the table. None! What had she been wearing? When she was stalking me, I believe I saw a green hoodie, too…

But no one was wearing one.

Did she change? Did she know to?

Does she know what I know? Impossible. It can’t be. My mind was spiraling. If she did, now? Was she witness to each of the loops? Another seer?

She can’t be. She isn’t a seer… She can’t be.

My mind was spiraling.

And it spiraled to a dead halt when I spotted her. The light brown hair, tied in two side-plaits. Her face was round, round as it had been in the photographs I’d seen with Mintaka.

Yes… that’s her. Unaware of my existence. No… I was wrong. She wasn’t a seer.

Because I’m the only seer. I couldn’t help but stifle a laugh.

Yes… it’s a power that belongs only to me. For once. For once!

I drew the knife from my inner pocket, and let it sit in my hands. Perhaps if I could stop her early… I shoved it into my outer pocket. I didn’t want to kill her in front of Sirius and Anna. Perhaps… if I could do it after she exited this restaurant.

Yes. I looked down at my hands. They had been shaking, shaking, shaking, but now, they were still. And no longer covered in false, hallucinatory blood, either.

All of me had accepted that cold rationality.

I drew the knife one more time. I should get used to how it feels in my hand. As I did, I started to polish the blade.

A hand grabbed my wrist. I froze.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”