The rhythmic hum of the Temporal Operations base was usually a comfort to Lia. The low vibrations of the engines beneath the facility, the soft flicker of monitors, and the quiet beeps from machines working tirelessly all blended into a background symphony she had learned to associate with stability. But today, the sound grated on her nerves.
Something about those flowers gnawed at her. It wasn’t just the out-of-place bloom itself—it was the memory of another disturbance, long buried under a pile of archived cases. Lia sat in her dimly lit office, staring at the holographic display floating in front of her. The files from the old case blinked softly, the text shimmering with the data she had requested.
This was no coincidence.
The timeline disturbance from years ago had been subtle—just like this one. A minor change, a tiny anomaly in a different time period, but one that also didn’t make sense. She hadn’t thought much of it back then. She had been younger, less experienced, still learning the complexities of time travel. Now, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a pattern she hadn’t seen before.
Lia pushed her chair back, walking across her office to a small, metallic window that looked out over the vast corridors of the facility. Beyond the glass, agents moved in and out of briefing rooms, preparing for missions to various points in history. It all looked so orderly, so controlled. But the timeline was far from stable, she knew that much.
Returning to her desk, Lia tapped the holographic display, bringing up the details of the old case. She skimmed through the data, searching for anything that might connect it to the early blooming flowers she’d encountered today.
Case 13-482: Timeline Disturbance in Rome, 98 AD
Status: Closed
Disturbance Level: Low
Details: Report of unusual behavior in Roman climate patterns, attributed to volcanic activity. Deemed inconsequential.
Lia frowned. This case had been classified as a "natural anomaly" and closed quickly. But there had been something about it that felt…wrong. She remembered feeling uneasy when she closed the file years ago, but she had moved on. Now, with the flowers blooming early, that same unease crept back in.
She tapped her wrist unit, activating a secure communication line. “Ardent to Archive Division.”
A few seconds passed before a voice answered. “Archive Division here.”
“I need a full re-analysis of Case 13-482. Send any details on disturbances to me directly.”
There was a pause. “That case was closed over five years ago, Agent Ardent. Are you reopening it?”
“I’m not reopening it. Just get me the data,” Lia replied, her voice firm.
“Understood. You’ll have the file within the hour.”
As she waited, Lia leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling. Something felt off—more than just a simple anomaly. She couldn’t explain it, but every instinct told her that these minor disturbances were connected. And if they were connected, that meant something far more dangerous could be at play. The rules of time travel were strict for a reason. Even the smallest changes could ripple outwards, altering the future in unpredictable ways. And yet, the changes she’d encountered seemed almost…intentional.
Could someone be manipulating the timeline? If so, why such small, seemingly insignificant changes?
Her wrist unit vibrated softly, pulling her from her thoughts. The Archive Division had sent the data. Lia opened the file, scrolling through lines of text, diagrams, and charts from the old Rome case. Volcanic activity had been listed as the primary cause of the anomaly—a slight temperature shift over the course of two weeks, recorded in local weather patterns. No other major changes had been detected, and the case had been closed.
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But now, as she re-read the details, she saw something she had missed before. There had been a report of a sudden, unseasonable bloom in the Roman countryside—a patch of wildflowers that had blossomed weeks ahead of schedule.
Lia’s heart skipped a beat. There it was. Another early bloom, just like the one she had seen today. The cases were connected.
She leaned forward, narrowing her eyes at the display. If these changes were intentional, they had to be small enough not to cause immediate disruption. The timeline’s algorithms wouldn’t allow anything drastic without intervention, so whoever was behind this had to be cautious. But what was the goal? What could be gained by altering something as trivial as when flowers bloomed?
Lia’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a knock at her door. She turned, and the door slid open to reveal Kellan Marlow, a fellow temporal investigator she had worked with in the past. He leaned against the frame, his sharp blue eyes flicking from the holographic display to her.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Kellan remarked, his lips curling into a half-smile.
Lia waved him in. “I might’ve found one. Take a look at this.”
Kellan stepped into the room, folding his arms as he studied the data hovering above her desk. “Rome, huh? I remember that case. Thought it was just a volcanic shift.”
“That’s what I thought, too,” Lia replied, “but there’s more. Early blooming flowers. Same as what I found today in Falmouth.”
Kellan raised an eyebrow. “That’s a stretch, don’t you think? We’re talking centuries apart. Different regions, different climates.”
“Too much of a coincidence,” she muttered, zooming in on the records. “If these disturbances are connected, it’s not random. Someone is making these changes intentionally.”
Kellan frowned, leaning closer. “If that’s true, it’s subtle. Whoever’s behind this is playing a long game. But why?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Lia said, her voice low. “What if this is just the beginning? Small changes like this could be testing the boundaries. If they get away with this, what’s next? What’s the endgame?”
Kellan fell silent, his expression growing more serious. “You’re thinking this could be the Echoes?”
Lia’s gaze snapped to his. The Echoes. Rogue time travelers who operated in the shadows, known for bending the rules of time manipulation for their own gain. They were like ghosts themselves, slipping through history unnoticed, altering tiny details without leaving a trace. The Temporal Operations team had been hunting them for years, but they always stayed one step ahead.
“I don’t know,” Lia admitted, her voice tense. “But if it is them, we need to stop it before it escalates.”
Kellan nodded, his face hardening. “You think Command will approve an investigation?”
Lia sighed. “Probably not. They’ll say it’s too minor to pursue, especially with everything else going on. But if we wait, we could miss our chance to stop them.”
“Then we don’t wait,” Kellan said, his tone firm. “We investigate on our own. No one needs to know until we have more proof.”
Lia hesitated. Going rogue, even in the name of a potential threat, was risky. But Kellan was right—Command wouldn’t authorize a full investigation without more evidence. And if she was right about the Echoes, time wasn’t on their side.
“Fine,” she said after a moment. “But we need to be careful. If this is bigger than we think, we can’t afford to tip them off.”
Kellan grinned. “When am I not careful?”
Lia gave him a look, but she couldn’t suppress a small smile. Despite the tension of the situation, it was good to have an ally. She knew Kellan’s reputation for bending the rules, but he was also one of the best investigators on the team. If anyone could help her get to the bottom of this, it was him.
They spent the next hour combing through the data, cross-referencing historical records with reports of other minor anomalies. Slowly, a pattern began to emerge. Small disturbances, spread out over decades, even centuries. None of them had been deemed significant enough to warrant further investigation at the time, but now, looking at them together, they formed a web of subtle changes.
“Whoever’s behind this is patient,” Lia murmured, staring at the holographic map they had created, showing points of disturbance across history. “They’ve been making these adjustments for years, maybe longer.”
Kellan nodded, his expression grim. “But what’s the plan? Why change flowers? Why shift weather patterns? None of this makes sense.”
“I don’t know,” Lia admitted, leaning back in her chair. “But I’m going to find out.”
As they continued their search, Lia’s thoughts kept returning to the Echoes. If they were involved, it meant they had a goal—something beyond simply playing with the timeline for profit. The Echoes were elusive, but they were also smart. They wouldn’t risk exposing themselves for something as minor as early flowers unless it was part of a larger plan.
By the time Kellan left her office, Lia’s mind was racing. She stared at the floating map of anomalies, the points of disturbance twinkling like stars in the dark. Somewhere in that pattern was the answer she needed, the key to unraveling what was happening.
And she would find it, even if it meant breaking every rule to do so.