The bar was dim and crowded, filled with the low hum of conversation and the clink of glasses. Jake slipped inside, keeping to the shadows as he scanned the room for Jeremiah. The air was thick with the scent of cheap whiskey and sweat, the lanterns casting flickering light over faces both familiar and strange. Jake's heart pounded as he spotted Jeremiah at the far end of the bar, hunched over a drink, his expression troubled.
Jake moved carefully, weaving through the crowd, careful not to draw attention. He could feel the weight of the jammer Samuel had given him pressing against his side- a crude device, but their only hope of disrupting the watchers' control. He rehearsed what he would say, how he would act. He needed Jeremiah to trust him, if only for a moment.
He slid onto the stool beside Jeremiah, who barely glanced up. "You new here?" Jeremiah muttered, his voice rough with suspicion.
"Sort of," Jake replied, keeping his tone casual. "You look like you could use a friend."
Jeremiah snorted, staring into his glass. "Nobody's got friends in the canyon. Just people you haven't learned to fear yet."
Jake leaned in, lowering his voice. "I know what they did to you. The device in your ear. It's why you can't remember."
Jeremiah stiffened, his eyes narrowing. "What are you talking about?"
Jake reached into his pocket and palmed the jammer, activating it beneath the bar. "Trust me. I can help."
Before Jeremiah could react, Jake reached up and pressed his fingers behind Jeremiah's ear, feeling for the tiny lump beneath the skin. Jeremiah jerked away, but Jake held him steady, working quickly. He found the device and, with a practiced motion, dug it out. Jeremiah gasped, his eyes going wide with pain and shock.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then Jeremiah's face changed—his eyes clearing, his breath coming in ragged bursts. He looked at Jake, terror and confusion warring on his features.
"What did you do?" Jeremiah whispered, clutching his head.
"I freed you," Jake said quietly. "You'll remember soon. But you have to get out of here. They'll be looking for you."
Jeremiah staggered to his feet, nearly knocking over his stool. He looked around wildly, then bolted for the door, pushing past the other patrons. Jake watched him go, heart pounding. He knew what would come next- Jeremiah would run to the brothel, just as Lila had described. The loop was playing out again, but this time, Jake had been the catalyst.
Jake waited a moment, then slipped out of the bar, blending into the shadows. He made his way back through the settlement, careful to avoid the main paths. The night was quiet, the air heavy with anticipation. He reached the gate and slipped out, making his way back to the rendezvous point where Samuel and Lila waited.
They were crouched in the darkness, eyes wide with worry. "Did you do it?" Samuel whispered.
Jake nodded, breathless. "I found him. Removed the device. He freaked out- ran to the brothel, just like Lila said."
Lila's hands trembled. "So… did it work? Did anything change?"
Jake looked around, searching for any sign that the loop had broken. The settlement was as it had been- lanterns glowing, guards patrolling, the wooden walls looming in the night. The air felt the same, thick with the canyon's strange energy.
He shook his head slowly. "Nothing's changed. Not inside, not out here."
Samuel frowned, flipping through his notebook. "That doesn't make sense. The loop should have reset. Or at least shifted."
Jake sat down heavily, frustration gnawing at him. "Maybe we missed something. Maybe it's not enough to free Jeremiah."
Lila hugged her knees to her chest. "Or maybe the loop's stronger than we thought. Maybe it can't be broken from the inside."
They sat in silence, the weight of failure pressing down on them. Jake replayed the moment in the bar- Jeremiah's terror, the way he'd run. It had all happened before. He'd been so sure that changing the order, being the one to free Jeremiah, would make a difference. But the world was stubbornly unchanged.
Samuel scribbled furiously in his notebook, muttering to himself. "There's a pattern here. A sequence. Maybe freeing Jeremiah is just one step. Maybe there are others...other devices, other people."
Jake stared up at the stars, their cold light indifferent to the struggles below. "How many times do we have to try before something gives?"
Lila's voice was small. "As many as it takes."
The night deepened, the settlement quieting as the last lanterns were extinguished. Jake felt the canyon watching, the loop tightening its grip. He wondered if Miya was somewhere inside, dreaming of a world she couldn't remember, waiting for a rescue that might never come.
He closed his eyes, exhaustion washing over him. "Tomorrow, we try again. We look for another way."
Samuel nodded, his face set with determination. "We're not giving up. Not yet."
Lila squeezed Jake's hand. "We'll find her. We'll break the loop. I know we will."
Jake tried to believe her. But as the first light of dawn crept over the canyon walls, he couldn't shake the feeling that they were running out of time.