Phase 3, The 3000th cycle. Or...at least that's what it said. It felt like the 21,000th cycle...Everything has been a blur. Everything you've ever known occasionally overlaps your brain in small loads. Said memories have led you back to 'Penrose-512'.

It's a small, makeshift living space, a familiar one at that. There was no pre warning for what you would witness in there, most obvious being the woman with the unorthodox hair color lying on a tattered bed, her eyes dull and weary from the effects of prolonged radiation exposure. Her skin, pale and gaunt, tells the story of her suffering.

This isn't the first time you've seen her like this, and it won't be the last in this infinite loop of searching and suffering. It was Ariane, the woman you keep visioning a relationship with, only...she looked alot worse than she did in your head.

She blinks, struggling to focus on you, her lips parting in a weak smile. "Elster... you came back," she whispers, her voice barely audible. 'Elster' was also something you've constantly envisioned. Only, the definition of it wasn't clear, in some cases, like this one, it sounded like a name, in others it sounded like something far deeper than just a name or a label. If 'Elster' was a name, why was Ariane mistaking you for them? Where's this original individual currently?

A tear escapes Ariane's eye, tracing a path down her hollow cheek. "I missed you," she murmurs. "Every version of you."