The door to the dorm burst open. Black-clad figures decked out in tactical gear flooded into the small space, rifles scanning the room in an instant.

“ENFORCERS! ON THE GROUND! HANDS UP! NOW!”

The shouted commands startled Kaitlyn out of her reclining position on the bed and sent her scrambling for cover. Heather was screaming, nearly falling to the floor in a panic. The shouts continued as the men gestured at both girls menacingly. The cacophony of voices made it hard to pick out what any individual one was demanding of her, so Kaitlyn tried her best to put her hands up and stay still. Her heart pounded in her chest, adrenaline and fear spiking.

Am I going to die?

Rough hands shoved her to the floor and pulled her arms behind her. She felt restraints cinch painfully around her wrists as her face was pressed into the dark blue carpet. Her roommate was still screaming, and the sounds of heavy boots continuing to fill the room suggested that there were even more men than she’d initially seen just outside the door.

What the hell is going on?

“ID says this one’s her.” A gruff voice spoke from near her desk.

“Get her down to base.” A different voice spoke from further away. There was a slight pause. “We’ll bring her roommate in for questioning too. Could have gotten roped into this mess.”

“Yessir.”

Kaitlyn was hauled up to a standing position. Looking around, the crowd of faceless helmeted figures was searching the dorm, focusing on her desk and belongings. She spotted her phone already in a clear plastic evidence bag, while her wardrobe and backpack were being actively rifled through as she watched.

A shove nearly made her lose her balance. “Walk forward. Don’t look around, don’t stop, and turn when I tell you to.”

“Wh-what–”

“No talking.” The gruff voice cut her off. “You’re under arrest.”

Kaitlyn nodded dumbly and took a shaky step forward, then another. What… what the hell did I do?

***

A few hours later, Kaitlyn found herself sitting in a very uncomfortable metal chair in a rather intimidating room. The grey walls were entirely featureless aside from a door and large mirror along one side. A single bright lightbulb hung from the ceiling, illuminating the broad metal table that she was currently handcuffed to.

She stared at the man in front of her, a clean-shaven professional who was the spitting image of a secret service agent. The only thing missing was the sunglasses, which made sense given they were indoors. Though she would have almost preferred staring at darkened lenses rather than meeting this man’s piercing gaze.

Dang. And I thought Philip’s eyes were cold. Next to this guy, he seems positively bubbly.

The man set down a sheaf of papers he’d been shuffling. He leaned forward and met Kaitlyn’s eyes with a stare that sent her curling up on instinct. “Miss Kaitlyn. Do you understand why you are here?”

Kaitlyn just shook her head numbly. She stared blankly at the table. “I… I want a lawyer.”

The man smiled. It was a cruel smile without a hint of warmth. “No.”

“B-but! I have a right to a lawyer!”

“I don’t know where you got that idea, sweetheart, but you have no such right. You’ve been misinformed.”

As she stared in shock and confusion, the man reached down to the pile of papers and peeled off the top one. “A few weeks ago, a new trading account was opened with the brokerage PigeonCap. A relatively small amount of money - $300, to be exact - was then transferred over to it from a separate, pre-existing checking account. Now, events like these are fairly common. They happen every day.” He slid the paper across the table. “What is not common, however, is what followed.”

Kaitlyn looked down at the top document in front of her. It listed detailed information about her bank accounts, personal information, and stock trades. Her mouth dried up. Oh no.

“The first trade that this account made was to sell options on OMP.” He tapped the entry on the page. “A relatively large company that, as you may know, went through a merger recently. This account bought and sold options on this company with a timing that was… suspicious, to say the least. It managed to pinpoint the exact highest and lowest point of the stock’s price in a four week period, as if to maximize profits.

“Now, this certainly caught our attention.” Those unfeeling eyes pinned Kaitlyn to the spot. “This account netted a neat profit of $37,921.21. That’s over one hundred times the value of the initial investment. Quite a windfall. One that bore investigation. So we began putting together a case.”

He slid over a second paper. “If it were just that, we would have moved on you in a month or so, once the case was all neat and tidy. But imagine our surprise when this account made a second trade just the next week. One with the exact same modus operandi.”

The man continued as Kaitlyn stayed silent. “Plenty of people have won and lost their fortunes on the stock market. But amassing this much money, this quickly, in this manner? As a teenage girl, nonetheless?” He leaned forward. “You should know there are lines you can’t cross, Miss Kaitlyn. There are rules in this world.”

This guy must be a detective or some sort of interrogator. Shoot.

Kaitlyn swallowed thickly. This wasn’t part of the plan. Getting a bunch of money at the very start of the loop was supposed to make things better, not land her in trouble. How did they even find out, much less so quickly? How was I supposed to know this was even a possibility?!

As her thoughts whirled in panicked circles under the man’s gaze, one question bubbled to the surface.

“Who… Who are you?”

“That’s not something you need to know. Suffice to say that I’m an enforcer.” The man’s eyes never left hers. “Now. How about you confess what you’ve been doing here?”

“I haven’t done anything wrong!”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“That’s for me to judge. And right now, you’re not doing a great job of stating your case.”

Kaitlyn hesitated. What could she say? She obviously couldn’t tell the truth - even if he did believe her, the warning she had received last time from mentioning the timeloop still worried her. She also didn’t have a convincing lie lined up here. She needed time to think. Is there a way out of this? What could I tell him that sounds reasonable, but also won’t land me in jail - or worse?

After a few minutes of silence, the interrogator sighed. “Well, since you’re not feeling talkative, let me explain the situation a bit more. Based on what we can see, this is a fairly cut-and-dry case of stock market manipulation, possibly insider trading and fraud as well.”

“Y-you can’t prove that.” Kaitlyn squeaked the words out hopefully.

“You seem to be misinformed yet again.” The man leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table. “The results speak for themselves. You have obviously done something against the rules. Based on that alone, I have the authority to put you away for a long, long time.”

“The reason we are here,” he pushed another piece of paper in front of her. “Is to give you a chance at redemption. You explain what you did and how, and we may be able to cut you a deal. Shorten the time you have to serve, reduce the penalties, things like that. The money itself is forfeit, of course.”

Kaitlyn settled back in her chair, mind going into overdrive. Ok, ok, no big deal. This is just the game telling me that I went too far. WAY too far, apparently. It’s fine, it’s fine.

But what in the world am I supposed to tell them? What’s my story? What can I offer that won’t dig this hole even deeper AND get me in trouble with the game? She paused. Actually, before that, what’s up with me not getting a lawyer? That’s like, the only thing I learned from watching criminal interrogation videos. And what happened to innocent until proven guilty? Is this guy even a cop?

There were too many unknowns here. One thing was for certain though - whatever she did, it sounded like she wouldn’t be getting back to Hartland University anytime soon. Not without a good explanation.

Her hands clasped together tightly in an effort to stop their trembling. It turned her knuckles white. “I… I can’t tell you.”

“That’s a real shame.” The man made to stand. “I suppose you’ll rot in jail then. If you ever change your mind–”

“W-wait!” Kaitlyn looked up with a frantic, pleading look in her eyes. Something the man had said nagged at her. “I… I might be able to tell you. You said you’re an enforcer, right? Are you the police?”

The man slowly lowered back into his seat. A look of annoyance might have flashed across his features, but she could have imagined it.

“I’m asking the questions here, miss. But I’m feeling a bit generous, so I’ll answer.” He folded his hands on the table. “I am an enforcer of the rules. Not just the law, but the fundamental rules of this very world.”

The proclamation made Kaitlyn go still. The rules of this world? That… that sounds a lot like…

She bit her lip. There was no guarantee this guy was really some agent of the game itself. He could just be a government agent with a grandiose sense of purpose. But if he wasn’t…

…Then this could be a golden opportunity for me to get some answers.

Only one way to find out. And that’s to ask. Bracing, she probed a bit further. “Then… do you know about… Heartthrob?”

She flinched, expecting the world to freeze. However, the man responded. “I know about a lot more than you do, Miss Kaitlyn.”

No way. Absolutely no way. Shock rocked her. This is… he knows?!

“T-then!” Excitement and fear coursed through her in equal measure. “You know why I’m here? About my situation?”

Her question was met with a raised eyebrow. “Why do you think we’ve had our eyes on you? If you hope to use your ‘situation’ as a shield, though, you will be sorely disappointed. Your situation is precisely why the rules exist.”

“Why am I here?” She blurted out the words without thinking.

The man sighed. “Enough talk. It seems as though you aren’t willing to cooperate. Our business is concluded, Miss Kaitlyn. I hope you enjoy living with the consequences of your actions.”

“Wait!” Desperately, she called after the man as he adjusted his suit jacket and turned toward the door. No! I have so many questions still! “How do I get out of here?! How do I escape the time loo–”

The man froze mid stride, his hand reaching for the door. Deafening silence of a world gone still filled Kaitlyn’s ears. Suddenly, her vision went dark. The room, the table, and the interrogator all vanished in an instant, replaced by that endless inky blackness. Kaitlyn blinked and raised her hand in front of her face, but saw nothing.

A moment later, two large exclamation points glowed in her vision, deep red like the color of blood. They floated there silently, slowly blinking. It seemed… even more ominous than before.

Before she could consider the implications of the change, Kaitlyn lost consciousness.

***

Sunlight shined directly into Kaitlyn’s open eyes. She tried to close them or pull a blanket over her head, cursing the sudden brightness of the morning light. But nothing happened.

She tried again. Nothing happened. She tried moving her hand, her foot, anything. Her body still didn't respond. She couldn’t dart her eyes around in panic, her vision was locked on the wall in front of her. She couldn’t even scream.

Oh God oh God what is this. What’s happening to me?!

A tidal wave of panic threatened to overwhelm her. She tried to calm her rapid breathing - the one thing she still had control over, apparently. At least she wouldn’t suffocate.

Ok, Kaitlyn, think. How do we fix this? Can we call for help? Can I breathe out hard enough to do that? After a few attempts, it was obvious she couldn’t. She only succeeded in breathing a little more loudly through her nose. Cool. Great. This is great. Ok. Don’t panic.

She lay that way for a long time, her panic intensifying every moment. Was this related to the two exclamation points? Was this the game’s way of punishing her for trying to make money? Maybe she’d be stuck like this forever. No, no, no way. It’ll wear off. It has to.

After what felt like an age, feeling began to slowly return to her body. It started in her fingers and toes, then crawled up her limbs with the sensation of pins and needles. Soon enough she could move her whole body again. The last thing to regain feeling was her mouth and tongue.

She sat up in a cold sweat and stretched, making sure that everything still worked. Her hands still shook from fear.

Right. Well. She let out a slow exhale, shuddering. That puts an end to that line of exploration. No more even hinting at the time loop or future stuff. Her phone clock indicated that she had been frozen for about an hour. That was way worse than the simple headache she’d endured on her first offense. If the consequences got worse each time she messed up… She didn’t even want to think about what three exclamation points would bring.

Maybe there’s a threshold where they start to notice my trading at. Maybe I could scale it back, include a few misses in there, and get by just fine. But I don’t think I want to chance it right now.

Disturbed, she stood and rushed to get ready for Heather’s arrival. Between the reset’s consequences and the unexpected effects of her stock trading, she was rattled. Her attempts to “cheat” and tinker with things outside of the designated game’s scope had ended poorly, to say the least.

It’s not being particularly subtle about it, either. She pulled on a plain tshirt and jeans. I should probably make a bigger effort to stay between the lines for a while. I mean, not that I wanted to try out altering larger-scale political events or anything, but… I REALLY don’t want to now.

A knock came at the door. Taking one more deep breath to steady herself, Kaitlyn stepped forward to begin the loop.