Loren’s Apartment, 6:39 AM.Wednesday, February 23rd​, 2022. A firm knock on the door broke him out of his musing, and he frowned. No way was it Peter; that asshole just started hammering straight out of the gates. He couldn’t for the life of him think of who it could be. Emma sat up in bed, rubbing at her eye, and …

Loren’s Apartment, 7:37 AM.Tuesday, February 22nd​, 2022. Loren did not even bother getting out of bed to clean up the shattered glass; instead, he just rolled over and went straight back to sleep; he’d get to it eventually. He’d had the ability to stop time, and he still failed to get anything meaningful done—and he had still died. Again. It hadn’t …

Common Cell, Hero HQ, 2:55 AM.Wednesday, February 23rd​, 2022. “Alright,” Serpentine said, grinning, “What do you need me to do?” Loren nodded in acknowledgment and started tying the torn pieces of his shirt together into a long cord. “First thing we need to do is get that bracelet off,” Loren said easily, tying off the third piece and judging the …

Secure Cell, Hero HQ, 7:52 PM.Tuesday, February 22nd​, 2022. Loren blinked and immediately recoiled from the bright light above him, holding his hand up in to partially block the falling glass—but it didn’t explode. It took a moment longer before he could take in his surroundings, and he realized that he hadn’t died; he was sitting in a cell, on …

Sixth Floor, Heroes HQ, Setalite City, 2:25 PM.Tuesday, February 22nd​, 2022. In the end, he decided on the locker; nothing bad had ever happened in one of those, right? It was a tight squeeze, but he managed to get inside and shut the door. He could even see part of the room through the grate on the front of the …

Loren’s Apartment, 4:57 AM.Tuesday, February 22nd​, 2022. He’d spent most of the time since he had woken up just curled up and reflecting on his actions. Everything he’d tried so far had failed, but that wasn’t to say that it was useless. He’d learned a great deal about the situation in Setalite City. Two bombs in two different cities, the …

An empty house, 7:27 PM.Tuesday, February 22nd​, 2022. Loren crawled over to lean against the wall instead of attempting to hold himself upright in the middle of the room, and when he managed to make himself comfortable, he let his attention drift to the homunculi moving about the city. They were starting to be killed with an almost methodical frequency, …

Loren’s Apartment, 5:30 PM.Tuesday, February 22nd​, 2022. Loren leaned back against the table and pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose; Emma, now with her mask off, watched him quietly. Number 21 just died, which meant he had all of three homunculi left-two of them stuck in the heroes HQ with muddied connections, and one left hiding in …

Loren’s Apartment, 2:22 AM.Tuesday, February 22nd​, 2022. He’d died again, Loren thought hollowly, touching his face with his hands. If that was the kind of thing soldiers had to deal with, he was glad he never enlisted. Being shot in the face had been painful, though not as much as being cut into pieces had, and an entire section of …

Downtown, Setalite City 11:39 PM.Tuesday, February 22nd​, 2022. Loren stayed low to the ground, crouched behind a dumpster, peeking out towards the partially lit road ahead. “Where are we going?” Sparklite said before frowning when he didn’t respond immediately. “What are we doing?” He was watching the people from the festival as they passed by in groups. “Loren,” Sparklite complained. …