Ryan felt like the ground disappeared under his feet.
"…What did you just say?" he asked slowly.
Demo looked at him calmly, like she had just said something completely normal.
"In the last timeline," she said, "I was the one who could see the timers."
Shaan pulled a chair and sat down beside Ryan without asking. "Okay," he said, "we are definitely sitting down for this conversation."
Ryan sat too, still staring at Demo.
"You remember the last timeline?" Ryan asked.
Demo nodded. "Yes."
"Everything?" Ryan asked.
"Not everything," she said. "But enough."
Ryan leaned forward. "Then tell us everything you know."
Demo was quiet for a few seconds, like she was deciding how much to say.
Then she closed her notebook and began.
"It started about two months ago," Demo said. "One day, I woke up and I could see timers above people's heads. Red timers. Just like you see now."
Ryan and Shaan listened carefully.
"At first, I thought I was hallucinating," Demo continued. "But then one of my neighbors disappeared exactly when the timer reached zero."
"Disappeared as in erased?" Shaan asked.
Demo nodded. "Yes. Not dead. Erased. The world changed like that person never existed."
Ryan felt a chill. "Same as now…"
Demo continued. "I started writing down names and times. I tried to warn people. Tried to save people."
Ryan asked quietly, "Did it work?"
Demo looked down slightly.
"…No," she said. "Every time I tried to save someone, something worse happened. Either they still disappeared in another way… or someone else disappeared instead."
Ryan and Shaan exchanged a glance.
"So fate always corrects itself," Shaan said.
"Yes," Demo said. "At least, that's what I thought at the time."
Ryan leaned forward. "At the time? So you learned something later?"
Demo nodded slowly.
"Yes," she said. "I learned there are fixed deaths and changeable deaths."
Ryan frowned. "Explain."
Demo took a pen and drew two circles on a page.
"Changeable deaths are like accidents," she said. "If you interfere at the right time, you can save the person. Like what you did yesterday with Arjun."
Ryan's eyes widened slightly. "So you know about that too…"
Demo gave a small smile. "Of course. When you saved him, the timeline changed again."
Shaan leaned forward. "So saving Arjun changed the timeline?"
Demo nodded. "Yes. That's why everyone's timers appeared earlier than before."
Ryan's heart dropped.
"…So we made things worse again," he said quietly.
Demo didn't deny it.
"Then what are fixed deaths?" Ryan asked.
Demo's expression became serious.
"Fixed deaths are different," she said. "No matter what you do… those people will disappear. You can delay it, you can change how it happens, but you cannot stop it."
Ryan immediately thought of Skye.
"…Skye," he said quietly.
Demo looked at him.
"Yes," she said. "In the last timeline… Skye was a fixed death."
Ryan felt like someone punched him in the stomach.
"No," he said. "No, there has to be a way."
Demo shook her head slowly. "I tried. Many times. Different ways. Different days. Different methods."
Ryan's hands clenched.
"…What happened?" he asked.
Demo answered quietly.
"In one timeline, I saved her from the accident. The next day, she disappeared in her house."
"In another timeline, I kept her with me all day. She disappeared right in front of me at midnight."
"In another timeline… someone else disappeared instead of her. A boy."
Ryan froze.
"A boy?" he asked.
Demo nodded.
"He could see the timers too," she said. "When he tried to save Skye… his timer suddenly appeared."
Ryan's chest felt tight.
"…And then?" he asked.
Demo looked directly at him.
"He disappeared instead of her," she said.
Silence filled the classroom.
Ryan couldn't speak.
Because he understood now.
That boy…
Was probably the one Skye was talking about.
The one who saved her in the previous timeline.
The one who got erased instead.
Ryan looked down at his hands.
"…So if I try to save Skye," Ryan said slowly, "I might disappear instead."
Demo didn't reply.
She didn't need to.
After school, the four of them met in Silent Garden again — Ryan, Shaan, Skye, and Demo.
This was the first time all four were together.
Skye looked at Demo carefully. "So you remember everything."
Demo nodded. "Yes."
Skye asked the question Ryan was afraid to ask.
"…In every timeline… do I disappear?"
Demo was quiet for a long time.
Then she answered.
"…Yes."
Ryan immediately stood up. "Then we just need to create a timeline where she doesn't."
Demo looked at him.
"You don't understand," she said. "This isn't just about Skye anymore."
Ryan frowned. "What do you mean?"
Demo looked at all three of them.
"In the last timeline," she said, "only some people had timers at first. Then more people. Then more people."
Ryan felt a cold chill.
"…And then?" Shaan asked.
Demo spoke quietly.
"Then one day," she said, "everyone had a timer."
Ryan's heart started beating faster.
"That's exactly what's happening now," he said.
Demo nodded.
"Yes," she said. "Because we are getting closer to Day 0."
Shaan crossed his arms. "Day 0… the day all timers reach zero?"
Demo nodded again.
Ryan asked the question none of them wanted to ask.
"…What happens on Day 0?"
Demo looked at him.
Her expression was serious.
"On Day 0," she said, "the world resets."
Silence.
"The entire world?" Shaan asked.
Demo nodded.
"Yes," she said. "Everyone disappears. The timeline resets. And everything starts again… slightly different."
Ryan felt like his mind was breaking.
"…So we're in a time loop?" he asked.
Demo nodded.
"Yes," she said.
Skye spoke very quietly.
"…How many times has the world reset?"
Demo looked at her.
Then she answered:
"…I think this is the 7th timeline."