''Noises?''; asked Nona rubbing her eye. Schrodinger peeked between her legs outside the door to check who it was.


    ''Several tenants have been complaining, and all agree that the noises, bangings to be more precise, coming from your apartment. Do you know anything?''; asked the old man, torn between being upset or worried at seeing Nona''s black circle eyes.


    ''I''m not aware of anything.''; she lied, shrugging.


    ''Miss Perenna, Nona, you pay the bills on time. I never had a single complaint. Is everything all right?''; he asked again, genuinely concerned. ''Have you eaten?''


    ''Everything is all right, Mr Who. It may have been my cat. I don''t know. I went to bed early the last couple of days. You know how it is. The meds sort of knock me out.''


    ''You would tell me if something was wrong, right?''


    ''Of course, I would. But as you can see, everything is fine. You are free to inspect the flat if it eases your mind. I have nothing to hide.''; said Nona, inviting the old man in.


    ''No, no, I don''t want to be that sort of landlord. You just remind me of my youngest, and I worry about you. I do.''


    ''All is fine. It is just my cat and me.''


    ''No boys?''


    ''No boys.''


    ''Girls?''


    ''Neither, just me and Schrodinger, my cat''


    ''And have you taken your meds all right?''


    ''Yes, I was actually about to make some coffee, orange juice, a toast and a pinch of drugs. Which I mean meds.''; she clarified.


    ''I don''t like to pry, but you look so tired, lass.''


    ''Well, not everyone can be as handsome as you, Mr Who.''; Nona attempted to draw a smile while jesting.


    ''That is the lass I know. All right, I''m just going to tell the others to piss off. And anything you need, knock at my door, all right, lass?''


    ''Yes, Mr Who, and thank you.''


    Nona closed the door, sighing. Her landlord was right. She looked and felt tired as if all her body carried the weight of time. She dragged her feet to the kitchen and turned the coffee machine on.


    ''So we are going to have toast for breakfast?''; asked Schrodinger, excited.


    Nona took a mug from the cabinet and didn''t reply to him.


    ''The toaster is on the other cabinet.''; he pointed with his nose. Still, she didn''t say anything. Just placed the mug under the coffee machine and pressed the button.


    ''Don''t do that, love of my life. I hate when you do this. Talk to me, my love, please.'' His voice was muffled by the coffee machine sizzling, crackling, and dripping into the mug. Schrodinger hated these days when Nona decided he wasn''t real. That cats don''t talk. It broke his heart each time, but he knew that the more he insisted, the longer she would ignore him.


    So he lay on her lap quietly while she was on the table, scrolling on her phone while drinking coffee. Schrodinger decided he hated this day already, and it had just started.


    The apartment was silent the whole day besides the sound of the keyboard and the muffling music coming from Nona''s headset. She was in front of her laptop, playing games since breakfast. She didn''t even take her pyjama off. Today was a bad day, and then her phone rang. Nona didn''t recognise the number and ignored it, but it kept ringing. She grabbed the phone and looked at the number flashing on the screen. The sound disappeared. Instead, goosebumps crawled all over her skin while a dusty sticky taste on her mouth exhaled into black particles. Nona answered the call: ''Hello?''


    ''Who the fuck are you?''; answered an angry woman''s voice.


    Nona didn''t know if it was supposed to answer. Was this real? Or was she having an episode?


    ''Hello? Hey! Bitch are you there?'' The voice sounded angrier than before. Nona didn''t know what to do. Maybe it was all in her head, and there was no reason an unknown number would call her.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ''Is Day there? Are you guys fucking? Can you fucking answer me, or is your mouth busy with his dick! Tell him, you fucking whore, I am in front of his apartment. Or he opens the door, or I will break it!''; as the call dropped, Nona could hear an aggressive knock on her door. Was it Mr Who again? It could only be Mr Who, right? ''Day open the fucking door! You fucking twat! Cheater! Fucking coward, open the door!''


    Nona stood up from her chair and slowly walked over eggshells to the door to spy on the peephole. She saw a tall blond woman with red lipstick and a red dress. She was beautiful, but she looked enraged. Nona sat on the floor with her back against the door.


    ''Just ignore it. You don''t have to open it.'' Schrodinger broke his silence.


    ''Is not real.''


    ''My love, I can''t play this game with you again.''


    ''What game?''


    ''Where I have to explain to you how everything really works. We have been doing this for a long time.''; Schrodinger complained.


    ''But it isn''t real.''


    ''If you need me to tell you today, it isn''t real. I''ll do it. But it is not going to change what you are.''


    ''I don''t want to be me today.''; she said.


    ''Then it is not real. You are not a Time-Space Vortex. You are just Nona. There is nothing special about you, and cats don''t talk, nor are they Time Travelers. Is it better?''


    ''No.''


    The woman''s banging on her door and loud cursing vanished.


    ''She is gone. You can go back to your game.''; said Schrodinger strolling to the office. Nona followed him and went back to the game. None of the guild members logged in that day and getting a friendly party to crawl dungeons was really hard. She had been kicked several times since this morning, which wasn''t helping with her bad mood.


    [99.99.9999 99:99] System notification: @_whiterabbit_ request to join the party


    [99.99.9999 99:99] System notification: @_whiterabbit_ request to join the party


    [99.99.9999 99:99] System notification: @_whiterabbit_ request to join the party


    Nona recognised the user name from Friday night. She tried to ignore it, but the notification spammed her screen, and she eventually accepted.


    [19.12.2023 18:31] @_whiterabbit_: Hi


    [19.12.2023 18:31] @_whiterabbit_: Am Day!


    [19.12.2023 18:31] @_whiterabbit_: When are you from?


    Day, the same name the other woman mentioned earlier. Was this related?


    [19.12.2020 18:34] @NotaTimeTraveller: You again??!!


    [19.12.2023 18:35] @_whiterabbit_: Have we talked before?


    [19.12.2020 18:37] @NotaTimeTraveller: You are asking me all the time when I am from.


    [19.12.2023 18:38] @_whiterabbit_: LMAO!!!!!


    [19.12.2023 18:39] @_whiterabbit_: That was a typo. That is so funny! I meant where you are from. So sorry.


    [19.12.2020 18:40] @NotaTimeTraveller: Why the fuck would you ask that you don’t even know me.


    [19.12.2023 18:41] @_whiterabbit_: Why is everyone so unfriendly in this game?


    [19.12.2023 18:41] @_whiterabbit_: I just ask to know if we are in the same timezone. Trying to make friends.


    [19.12.2023 18:42] @_whiterabbit_: Having bad day?


    [19.12.2020 18:44] @NotaTimeTraveller: Yeah, sorry.


    [19.12.2023 18:46] @_whiterabbit_: We are all assholes at a given moment.


    [19.12.2023 18:46] @_whiterabbit_: I’m Day btw.


    [19.12.2020 18:47] @NotaTimeTraveller: Nona.


    [19.12.2023 18:49] @_whiterabbit_: So, Nona what’s your story?


    [19.12.2020 18:51] @NotaTimeTraveller: You would never believe me


    [19.12.2023 18:52] @_whiterabbit_: Try me


    [19.12.2020 18:53] @NotaTimeTraveller: I’m the girl who can taste time.


    [19.12.2020 18:53] @NotaTimeTraveller: I’m a Time Space Vortex


    [19.12.2023 18:54] @_whiterabbit_: So this is not a bug? You are from 2020?


    [19.12.2020 18:55] @NotaTimeTraveller: You are 2023?


    [19.12.2023 18:56] @_whiterabbit_: fuck


    [19.12.2023 18:56] @_whiterabbit_: fuck, you''re joking, right?