The entire crew convened in the command deck, trying to sift through what little data they had. Kaelen was restless, his mind churning over the strange message and the feeling of being hunted. He needed answers. Now.
Mira placed a tablet on the table. "This came through about an hour ago. It's a diagnostic from R0NIN."
The tablet displayed a series of readings. Kaelen quickly skimmed the report, his brow furrowing. The data looked corrupted. Distorted.
"There's something wrong with the timeline," he muttered, pointing at the screen. "The chronometer's off by exactly 638 seconds. It's… as if time itself is glitching."
Mira stepped closer, squinting at the display. "What does that mean?"
Kaelen took a deep breath. "I think the signal is manipulating time. Every time it plays, our clock jumps backward by that exact interval."
Laz Dren, the ship's engineer, looked up from his console, eyes wide. "You're saying we're… reliving moments?"
Kaelen nodded. "It's like we're stuck in a loop. Every 638 seconds, the signal rewinds us just enough to adjust our perception of time, but not enough for us to notice. We're moving forward in time, but it feels like we're in the same place."
"But why?" Laz asked.
Kaelen didn't have an answer. He rubbed his eyes, exhaustion settling in. "I don't know. But we're going to find out."