Penelope took her lunch back to her room.

She had been trying to make herself eat around the others to acclimate herself to the chaos and people, but sitting in a room full of people while gnawing on dried meat wasn't the most settling. It helped that Circe almost always sat with her. Despite the brunette's excitable personality, the consistency was comforting.

Penelope put her shallow bowl of various fruits and some jerky down on her bed, then turned around and dropped the plank into the holders to bar the door.

You wanted to talk, so talk.

Jeru appeared on her bed and tilted his head as a grin crossed his face. "Technically, you're the one who wanted to talk."

We were lined up in a 25 by 25 square and you told me that you initially summoned 625 people. So why are there only 584 Humans when I start out? Penelope folded her arms against her chest and leaned against the door. What happened to the other loopers?

The blue Elf took a deep breath and fidgeted with the collar of his purple robe.

JERU!

"I didn't know how to cast the spell." The incorporeal man sighed. "I mean, I knew enough of the basics to get things going on my side, but for something like this there are layers upon layers of things that you have to set up. Every word matters and has to line up with the intent of the spell or else things go off the rails." He swallowed. "Casting spells without a system isn't anywhere close to how easy it is within a system, which is why they got used at the University to help teach new mages how to channel magic."

He stood up and started pacing. "Usually, I don't have to give this speech until the looper is starting to consider giving up." His black eyes were full of sorrow as he fixed them on her. "I didn't even fully understand what was happening when Joe passed the card." He closed his eyes. "Then Darlene wasn't there after she passed the card and I started wondering what went wrong."

The loopers disappear after they pass the card? Penelope pushed off of the door, then came over and sat on her bed and grabbed a piece of green fruit. It was hard like a peach but tart like a sour apple.

"I didn't know what was going on at first." Jeru hung his head. "At first, I'd hoped that the loopers would retain some of their memories after the card was passed off, but when we couldn't find Joe, Darlene thought I was making stuff up. She thought I was like a defective computer ai and passed me off to the next looper. I was more discreet about checking on those two, but their names weren't on the overall roster of those connected to the system."

What happened to them?

"Darlene? She got bored of healing the same injuries over and over again and passed the card off to Jeff. Now, that guy liked a challenge, but he refused to work with a team, which always ended up with him heading in alone and trying to use what he learned from the previous fight to teach him how to avoid death on the next run. He's one of the ones who spent more time in here than almost anyone else, but he never finished this floor."

That's not what I meant. Penelope finished her tart fruit and moved on to the yellow berries that they'd found. I don't want to know why they gave up; I want to know what happened to them.

Jeru tapped the side of his head. "I can see in your head, you remember? You'd love a detailed breakdown of who each looper was, what they did on each floor and what wall they ran into that caused them to give up and pass the torch to the next looper."

Fine, you're not wrong. Penelope wiped her hands on one of the rags that they were using as cloth napkins. But that's not what we're talking about right now. She looked at the man pacing the floor. What happens to the loopers when they pass off the card?

"Honestly, I don't know for sure, but I've got two prevailing theories."

Penelope waited for a moment, but when Jeru didn't continue, she prompted him. And those are?

"So the way the spell works is the card serves as a physical anchor that binds with your soul. This way the you who received the card will always have all of the memories and experiences that you've accumulated on every run." Jeru gestured at her chest. "So that card is technically what is looping and not you."

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Penelope touched the spot on her chest where Nate had pushed the glowing card. Wait, so you're telling me that this card ate my soul?

"Ate is a strong word." Jeru waffled his head. "I like bonded better. Modified might even be a simpler way of describing what happened."

If it modified our souls, then each looper would still be around with all their memories. Penelope glared at the blue Elf. Since they're not, 'consumed' sounds like what happened to them.

"Well…" Jeru winced. "That's one theory. It's possible that the souls of each former looper are stored within the card and without a body to put the soul back into, their bodies were simply removed from the loop so there wouldn't be a corpse at the beginning of every new loop."

Penelope blanched at the thought of there being 41 bodies every time she restarted the loop on the surface. She imagined the commotion that it would cause as well as the panic.

And the system just did that for you?

"The system was originally designed to be a training simulator to teach new mages how to cast spells." Jeru bobbed his head. "It was then adapted to mana-rich environments in an effort to condition magical attunement to the locals who didn't have any magical aptitude."

And your point is?

"The point is that the system was given the underlying directive to make modifications to the environment to enhance the chance for the desired outcome. This particular system has taken that directive and expanded upon it, which is why you're able to influence which spells and skills you get with each level up as well as the stats that you acquire when you level up." Jeru sighed. "Basically, I used the system to help me build the loop, so there are some aspects of it that…" His voice trailed off as he searched for the words. "I don't know what everything does."

Great. The fate of the Universe is in the hands of a boy who was given more power than he could control and… Penelope swallowed. Me.

"At least you can leave the loop!" Jeru sat down next to her. "I'm stuck in here until either someone clears it or gets careless with the information and the Archdemon ends the loop on his end!"

You mean leave the loop as in get my soul shredded like it got thrown into a cosmic garbage disposal while passing this curse off to the next person who has no idea of the magnitude of the destiny that's been shoved on their shoulders? Penelope shook her head. No, thanks.

"That's not the only option." Jeru bristled. "There's a chance that the system takes each looper out of the loop to keep from contaminating the runs by having multiple loopers."

Which means?

"That there's a chance that when this is over, they're all still on earth and don't get taken."

Which means they die. Penelope scoffed.

"It means that what would have happened if I'd done nothing happens anyway." He held up a finger. "OR! Or, they still have all their memories so they have a chance to avoid their fate since they know their death is coming and they've got all the experience that they accumulated while they were a looper."

And what are the chances of that if there's not a system on earth? Penelope narrowed her eyes.

"I didn't say it was going to save everyone, just that there was hope."

What happens if their souls are trapped in this card? Penelope pointed at her chest.

"What do you mean?" Jeru looked away.

JERU! I know you can read my mind, so you know exactly what I mean!

The blue Elf wore a look of shame as he turned back to her. "The card will disappear like me once the loop ends." He shrugged. "I'm hoping that means that we get to pass over into the afterlife, but…" He swallowed. "We might just stop existing."

Silence blanketed the room as Penelope absorbed what was waiting for Jeru at the end of her run. And not just for Jeru, but for all the other loopers as well.

Is there a way to check? She touched her chest, but the card didn't manifest. How do I see this thing?

"You'd need someone who is proficient in soul magic." Jeru held up his hands. "And that's not me. My dad might know of a way to fix it, but…" A tear formed in his eyes. "He won't be alive by the end of the loop."

The gravity of the situation hit her. Penelope clenched her jaw. That's just one more thing I'll have to figure out.

"We've tried. Tom and I spent over forty years researching everything that we had access to. Trust me, there's no one that you can ask who can give you the answer."

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