**Interlude: Tick and Tock**
“Anomaly detected,” Tick announced, his optical sensors flaring as the rift crackled open in the Charleston park.
“Pilot wave generated,” Tock responded, his internals humming in sync with the rift’s erratic pulse. “Deviation from intended trajectory. There’s a new timeline.”
“Shall we observe?” Tock asked, a hint of excitement in his usually monotone voice.
“Naturally,” Tick replied dryly. “Oh, look – Subject Walker nearly merged his face with a park bench. Temporal disorientation is clearly setting in.”
Their optical sensors whirred in unison, zooming in on the anomaly. They watched Logan’s frantic attempts to escape the looping reality, registering his elevated heart rate, the stress hormones flooding his system, and the increasing quantum entanglement between his consciousness and the localized field.
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“The pilot wave describes a high probability of unpredictable outcomes,” Tick stated. “Critical levels are being reached. Rather like watching a temporal soufflé rise, isn’t it?”
“Agreed,” Tock added. “The local reality matrix is experiencing severe fluctuations. Quantum decoherence is exceeding observable parameters. It’s as if someone’s taken a particle accelerator to the fabric of spacetime. Oh my, did his clothes just vanish?”
“Negative,” Tick responded. “Merely a localized perceptual distortion. Although that would have added an interesting variable to his transition.”
They watched as Logan, guided by a newly sentient Roscoe, finally surrendered to the pull of the rift. The energies surged, collapsing the looping reality, sealing the anomaly behind them.
“Subject Walker has transitioned,” Tick reported, his sensors tracking the quantum signature of Logan and Roscoe as they tumbled through existential phase states. “Observer effect initialized. Well, that’s one way to avoid traffic.”
“Trajectory confirmed,” Tock said. “Destination: Kronos. Arrival point: The Clockwork District. Probability of survival: 87.3%. Probability of fulfilling the Architect’s design: 99.9%.”
“Fascinating,” Tick mused. “The subject’s presence is already altering the fabric of Kronos. It’s like watching a cascade of improbabilities in real-time.”
“Indeed,” Tock agreed. “The influx of existential potential from the Atelier is likely to cause significant reality fluctuations upon their arrival. I do hope Kronos has good insurance.”
“Subject Walker is in for quite the interdimensional journey,” Tick noted. “Let’s hope he has a strong constitution for non-linear experiences.”
“And a good pair of galoshes,” Tock added. “Something tells me he’ll need them in the Clockwork District. Oh, and look – his canine companion seems to be using his face as a racetrack. How delightfully absurd.”
“Quite,” Tick agreed. “This timeline is shaping up to be most entertaining.”