~June 18th, 1982~

~Cycle 35~

Jeremiah glanced up as a shimmering blue mass glided across the sky over La Ville Sans Fin. The comet. What was supposed to be a once in a lifetime event was a sight that everyone in the city had grown accustomed to.

The grey-haired man walked the streets of the city with his hands in the pockets of his baggy jacket. He fidgeted with a keepsake in his hands and carried a backpack.

The city streets were filled with abandoned cars. Their owners didn't want to wait for traffic any longer. Jeremiah passed by a bar with a ruckus inside. With everything being reset after each day, many saw it as an excuse to get drunk without consequence.

Near the coast he passed by a festival where people had planned to celebrate the comet's appearance. Now it was filled with empty stalls and amusements.

Jeremiah walked the streets until he reached a park in town. It was a few acres of grassland with trails, a wooden bridge over a small pod, and benches. There were few people there. Not many had an interest in a stroll through the park.

On all sides of the park were buildings, including town hall on one side, and the library on the opposite end. He passed through the park and headed towards the library.

As he walked, he spotted a baseball bat leaning against a park bench. Jeremiah casually picked it up as he went, letting the metal of the bat scrape across the ground as he did.

He reached the front door of the library. There was a glass segment where one could see inside. It was old-fashioned library where an attendant would usually wait at the front to allow people to check books in and out. Jeremiah lifted the bat over his head and smashed it against the window, going in for a second swing to clear out the remainder of the glass. From there he calmly reached inside, found the doorknob, and unlocked the library for himself.

On previous cycles, Jeremiah had spent hours searching for a way to get inside. But as the repeated cycles went on, he realized there was very little consequence for anything he did. At the beginning of each new cycle, it would be restored.

He set the bat against the door, turned the lights on, and began to peruse the library. He passed through the educational section and pulled out a medical book. He continued to the back of the library, where a few colorful tables were set out. On the wall were several illustrations of cartoon animals. There was a short cabinet with a series of children's books that Jeremiah had to squat down to look through.

Jeremiah picked out around ten children's books, some of them new, some old. He liked to tell Chloe new stories whenever he had a chance. He tended towards the one meant for very young kids, but he knew she was outgrowing those. He stowed the books he had chosen into his backpack.

Before he left, he heard a loud sound from outside. For the comet's arrival, some were setting off fireworks, but this clearly wasn't that. It sounded like a gunshot. Before Jeremiah left the library, he made sure to grab the bat and carry it with him.

Jeremiah headed east. He started to avoid the streets and instead took alleyways and sideroads through the city. Some people were reacting to their situation more... violently. He preferred not to take any chances.

Then he heard a scream coming from one of the skyscrapers. Jeremiah saw a body falling from above, the scream coming to an abrupt halt as it collided with a car in the streets. Jeremiah had to wonder, was he pushed by someone, or did he jump on his own? Not that it'd matter. They would be back when the cycle repeated anyways. Perhaps it'd happen again.

He continued carefully until he came to the hospital. A 10-story building with different departments on each floor. Jeremiah was familiar with it.

It was quieter than the rest of the city. He entered inside. Where there would usually be staff to check him in or direct him to different departments, there was no one. After the cycles repeated enough times, much of the staff stopped showing up to work.

Jeremiah stepped into an elevator and waited for it to take him to the top floor. Before he reached the top, the doors opened, and a nurse joined him.

"Hello," The exhausted nurse said while promptly pressing a button on the elevator. "Visiting someone?"

"My daughter." Jeremiah replied, "It's good of you to stick around."

She simply nodded. It wasn't like she was getting paid anymore. She was still helping the patients of the hospital out of the kindness of her heart. But Jeremiah could tell it was taking its toll on her. When the elevator came to her floor, she took a breath before stepping out.

Jeremiah reached the top floor and walked down the halls. In each of the rooms were children or teenagers. Some had a minor injury that brought them there. Others practically had nothing wrong with them at all, and they played in the halls.

Then there were a few unlucky ones. Jeremiah passed by the hospital room of a boy who must've been in some terrible accident. He heard there was a planned surgery for the boy tomorrow. But tomorrow never came. The best they could do is give him medication to eliminate any pain. Any treatment or surgery would be pointless, as it'd be undone with each new cycle.

Jeremiah came to a room with a nice clean view of the city through the window, with its many skyscrapers, the coastal waters, and the shimmering blue comet flying overhead.

A girl with brown hair was sitting in a hospital bed, with a heart rate monitor beeping beside her. She turned to Jeremiah; her face looked unusually aged. A child that young shouldn't have appeared that worn and tired. She was thin, with dark bags under her eyes. But when her eyes met his, she gave him the most genuine smile.

"Hi dad, I thought you worked today?" Chloe asked.

Jeremiah smiled softly, slinging his backpack off his shoulder, and setting the bat outside the room room, "My boss let me have the day off."

Chloe tilted her head, "Really? That doesn't sound like him."

"He decided to be nice today," He lied. There was no need to tell her that he was fired. Not that it mattered now. Jeremiah pulled up a seat next to her bed and slid the collection of kid's books out of his backpack. "I brought a few books with me."

Chloe tried to sit up but couldn't muster the strength. Jeremiah didn't want her overexerting herself, so he showed the cover of each book one by one.

"Where'd you get so many?" Chloe asked.

"I visited the library this morning."

"They let you take that many?"

Jeremiah raised a finger, "Your old dad can be very persuasive."

Jeremiah showed Chloe the cover of the last book. It had a scenic view of the countryside with a bird flying over it, and she nodded, "That look's good."

He expected her to pick that one. It was why he saved it for last. He placed it on his lap, opened it up, and began to read aloud to Chloe. For different characters he'd put on voices to amuse his daughter. He'd been getting better at it.

When the two grew hungry, Jeremiah stepped out to the hospital cafeteria, and helped himself to whatever he wished. Chloe had trouble chewing recently, so he made sure to get her flavored drinks.

Jeremiah spent the day with his daughter, reading stories, bringing in a television to watch her favorite shows, and chatting about whatever came to mind.

But as the day went on, he could see the light within his daughter dimming.

She was able to put less energy into each word. She laid motionless in bed. The heartbeat monitor's beeps became less frequent as the day went on. Jeremiah held her hand as he read her another story. Sunset turned to night. From the hospital window, a radiant blue light shone in. That of the comet flying over La Ville Sans Fin. At this time of night, it's light was strongest.

Chloe was able to put forth a little more energy, turning her head to look at the brilliance and beauty of the celestial body. He'd been through this so many times by this point he could have counted down the last beeps of the heart monitor. But he was never ready for the flatline that came after. Jeremiah gently gripped her hand and leaned next to her. He knew what was coming.

Jeremiah whispered, "I love you, Chloe. I love you so much."

The heartbeat monitor flatlined.

Jeremiah sat back in his chair, not releasing his daughter's hand. He still caressed it sweetly, as if she was still alive. His breathing became uneven. He tried to calm himself down, but even after seeing this so many times, it still brought him to tears.

On each cycle, Jeremiah's daughter would pass away like this. And when the cycle began anew, she was alive again. Unlike every person in La Ville Sans Fin, she restarted the cycle with no memory of what had happened prior.

He cursed himself for not finding a way to save her. The doctors and alternative medicine had failed. But Jeremiah blamed himself.

He knew he'd lose her each and every cycle. But at the very least, he could make her final moments as good as they possibly could be each time. It was what he'd done on all the cycles up to this one. He'd continue to be the best father he could, for her.