Day 1728

I remember the first day. The Professor brought in the diadem, a supposed replica for his annual cosplay at the City Convention Hall. He was supposed to be dressed up as some Cyberpunk Emperor. He even had hired a team of entourage to accompany! Is that where he spends his research grants ?

I too wanted to attend that, but I was supposed to be helping out an intern complete the data-set training for our new neural models. I was supposed to help him train the AI to compete against Human Players in Glitch, an ethical hacking card game I came up with.

The Diadem looked majestic. I wondered, how much could it have cost? I wanted to try it out.

I put it on, took some selfies and placed it back at where it belonged. I would have been exuberant, if I could have attended the ComicCon, but instead, am left here on admin duty!

The day passed by. Nothing much happened, on the surface. Though I was constantly reminded of a decision, I took, two years back. The one, that set me off on the path I am on today.

I decided to end the day early, for a quick start tomorrow.

It was supposed to be a new day. And yet, I found the Professor bringing in the diadem again. As in, making me formally introduce to his adornment, as if this hadn't happened yesterday!

Perplexing! Completely perplexing!

Yes, I indeed made a mental check for a prank, but it may have been too elaborate even for the Professor to manipulate my twitter feed to look as same as yesterday. Yes, it checked out.

I knew then, I was living in the past, or rather trapped by it. Was I dreaming? Maybe, Yes!  Or perhaps I was in a simulation, too clear to be real. I had to check facts to make sure I was indeed, still living in yesterday.

I checked the news. Yes, it was old for me, but quiet enlightening for the old librarian.

I checked my smartphone. No pictures from yesterday, though this could have been deleted and set backwards a date, but I never left my phone unattended for long, yesterday. Plus, no one knows my behemoth password.

The final nail in the coffin. The call from my mother, saying the same things she said yesterday.

I slept, hoping it to be a nightmare. But I later realized, sleeping is what takes me back to my last save point. That is, the last time I woke up. Sleeping resets everything.

It has been 1728 days since then. I am still trapped, in that same day. All of my surroundings repeating itself. Only I change, but everyone else a constant.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I remember everything that has happened till now. It's just that, the day resets and I start the game all over again.

The initial days were pure unadulterated anarchy. I remember the very essence of my life, my sanity slipping away from me. The very foundation of my existence being questioned. An absolute abyss of existential dread staring back at me, whom I didn't want to confront at all costs. I tried to compress all my self, into the smallest possible mental space, I could find, a chance at making my life sustain.

Then I grew bored.

It was one thing, sitting at one place and getting immersed in an endless query, but completely different, when it comes to thinking the same thing, over and over again.

I saw this cat. That sometimes comes to our lab. (All because of the food, our intern feeds him)

I ignored it, only sometimes, occasionally meowing back to him. And when The Loop held complete sway over me, it was the least of my bothers.

Once, perhaps it was the 20th or 25th Day, when I was completely devoid of energy to poke any further into my situation, I realized I missed the cat. I missed everyone. Even though I see and hear them everyday, yet still, I am separated by a wide cavern from them, which is increasing by every second of the clock. Everyone's here, but I am still alone.

Here, I had the epiphany. The cat wasn't here today! It should have been impossible, and yet it wasn't there. I dug back further into my memories, when I realized, the cat's appearance is completely random. It comes in few days and stays out the other. It was as if, I am the Schrodinger's Cat, and the cat came to meet me in the box, this loop, every once a while.

But, I couldn't be sure of it. As I can't talk to a cat, all I could was observe it, thereafter.

This gave me a peace of mind. I knew, there could be a way out of this, a way to break this riddle, this loop. The cat perhaps had broken free, or the loop didn't affect it. I had to find my own way out.

Hence, I started to train myself. (Yes, you are reading it right)

The Loop afforded me endless time, and I had all the world's knowledge at my fingertips. All I had to do was make small strides and subsequently take great leaps.

I came to two conclusions very soon:

1. The diadem wasn't a replica of any kind, but perhaps is the source of all my agony and opportunity.

2. I could go anywhere and meet anyone I like, and keep living my life, until I fall asleep. If I sleep, the knowledge remains, but everything else resets.

No new relations. No amending mistakes for others. No common interests with anyone else any longer. I perhaps have become a sage. The daydreamer, the one who can achieve any knowledge he wants while he's awake, but never ever be able to see any dreams when asleep. (It was quite weird, when I realized, I wasn't seeing any more dreams. The lifeline of my creativity.)

I made a schedule, broke it down to micro-tasks and habits. I had a path to follow and I had no option, but to proceed further.

My trips to various parts of the world, has led me to the source of the diadem. (A lot of these trips ended up, in me being falling asleep mid-flight and starting the journey all over again. Who cares, when you can reuse the same money, over and over again. Plus, no need for return tickets. :D)

It seems the diadem belonged to the very last Priest King of the Indus Valley Civilization. A civilization, with no known cause of its fall, around 5000 years ago.

Tomorrow's day 1729. The smallest Hardy-Ramanujan Number.

The spark that the cat triggered in me, will surely culminate in something optimal. After all, he is my unlikely hero and I, a follower.