Starting at a new school was always rough, but as long as there were no killer wasps, Vell had a feeling he’d do fine.

In an incredibly vivid anxiety fueled nightmare, Vell Harlan had foreseen his first day at his new school ending in horrific disaster, namely a swarm of murderous wasps. He’d initially been very concerned about this, but the psychometric app on his phone had confirmed he hadn’t received an omen, vision, or even a portent. Just to be sure, Vell pulled out his phone again, and checked that the psychometric energy levels around him remained low.

The app he used had been developed, appropriately enough, by the academy he was now set to attend. The cumbersomely named Einstein-Odinson College of Paracausal Forces stood as the reigning educational authority on all things paranormal, covering every topic from A to Z, and every other letter of every other alphabet as well. An app that detected psychotropic particle concentrations was child’s play for a faculty that had figured out the rune-circuitry sequence to allow teleportation. Instant matter transportation was incredibly expensive, but it was possible, thanks to the EOC faculty.

The exorbitant cost of teleportation also made it more practical for the College to ferry it’s students to the campus with an actual ferry -albeit a high-speed one. The Einstein-Odinson College was several hundred miles from any inhabited territory, built on an artificial island in the middle of the Pacific. It had the dual benefits of ensuring the College remained neutral among all the nations, and minimizing the damage of any potential explosions. Most of the people on the planet were, to be frank, baffled the school hadn’t blown up a long time ago.

As Vell would soon discover, there was a very good reason it hadn’t. He found his way to his assigned seat, sat down, and waited for the ride to start. The PA overhead announced that they would be departing.

“Please ensure your seatbelts are fastened,” the PA droned. Vell nodded along, even as he tightly fastened his seatbelt.

“And ensure that any live specimens are properly secured, because we’re still trying to catch the last one that got loose,” Vell mumbled, quoting his dream.

“And ensure that any live specimens are properly secured, because we’re still trying to catch the last one that got loose,” the PA droned.

Vell’s eyes narrowed. As he squinted, another student took the seat next to Vell.

“Hey man,” the chipper young man said. Vell looked at him. He was a young black man with a slight smile, and a remarkably calm demeanor considering the strange environment they were heading to. Just like Vell remembered him.

“Nice to meet you,” Vell said, for the second time.

“I’m Cane,” the other student said, confirming what Vell already knew. Cane extended his hand, and Vell shook it. He hadn’t seen Cane go for a handshake the first time around, and he’d felt rude afterwards. Vell had been a little in a hurry at the time. He’d had very little time to find the ferry after getting off the train, and Vell had had some bad experiences with trains in the past that made it even more nerve-wracking. About as nerve-wracking as his current sense of deja vu.

“Name’s Vell,” he said. He pondered the strange repetition, and decided to try something. “So, uh, have you heard the people you’re sat next to are going to be your roommates?”

“Yeah, actually,” Cane said. “My brother used to go here, he gave me the heads up.”

Vell nodded. He’d already known that. The only reason he knew about the roommate assignments was because Cane had told him last time.

The other students came and took their seats, and Cane sparked a conversation with each of them in turn. They introduced themselves in ways that Vell had heard before. Lucas, who preferred to go by Luke, and Renard, who preferred to go by Renard. Vell had laughed at that the first time around. Now he was too busy wondering why there was a first time around.

After hours spent weaving through dorms, laboratories, and academic facilities, Vell and company had nearly completed their tour of the extensive island campus. For a second time. Every high-tech lab had been filled with unique and spectacular gadgets, and an overwhelming sense of deja vu. Now Vell was being led to the end of the tour, the dining hall near the center of the island.

“And this is our lunchroom,” Vell mumbled to himself. “Don’t be fooled, you can eat breakfast and dinner here too.”

“And this is our lunchroom,” the tour guide said. “Don’t be fooled, you can eat breakfast and dinner here too.”

Vell nodded and looked to Renard. He’d be the one to speak next.

“Is brunch off limits?” Renard asked.

“Yes,” the tour guide said. “Brunch is banned.”

Renard laughed, and Vell put a hand on his chin. Everything was going on track so far. Unfortunately, that track led to death by wasp, so Vell wasn’t eager to follow it.

Sometime this evening, Vell was going to go to his new dorm room, say goodnight to his new roommates, and lie down just in time for a swarm of wasps to break through their window and kill them all. Vell had an obvious interest in preventing that, and in finding out why he was in a position to prevent it. They’d be set loose from their tour guide in a few minutes, and Vell would be able to start poking around for answers. He didn’t mind having to wait a few more minutes. There were a handful of events from the first go around he wouldn’t mind repeating.

While the tour guide ranted about tomorrow’s schedule, Vell kept his eyes on one of the side hallways. If his theory of repetition was correct, which all evidence was pointing to, in about thirty seconds a woman was going to walk around the corner, bump into someone coming the other way, and fall to the ground in disastrous fashion. While that was a solid moment of slapstick comedy, Vell was actually more interested in what the klutzy girl’s friend would do afterwards. The short one dressed in various shades of red was going to take advantage of the fact that all eyes were on them to flash the entire room at once. Vell’s interest was obvious.

He kept a close eye on the side hall as the klutz approached. She strode confidently and with purpose, headed right for the impact that would see her embarrass herself in front of the entire room. Then, just as the moment of impact approached, she stopped in her tracks.

The woman who should have been falling instead watched with a satisfied smile as the person she would otherwise have ran into walked by without incident. Vell stared at her for a second as her friend, who should have been exposing herself to the entire room right now, stepped up and had a short conversation with the would-be klutz before they went to a table and sat down.

“That about wraps it up for today,” their tour guide said. She should’ve been awkwardly shuffling them away from the indecent display. “Feel free to find me if you have any questions, and enjoy the rest of your day!”

With a friendly wave, the tour guide bid them good day and excused herself. Luke led the group to the nearest table to chat about their next move. Vell had other priorities. For the first time all day, something had changed without Vell changing it -and it had started with the two women now sitting in the center of the room.

“Excuse me for a moment,” he said. “I think I, uh, recognize that chick over there.”

“If you want to flirt you can just say so,” Luke said.

“Sure, I’m flirting, let’s go with that,” Vell said. He turned sharply and headed for the pair of women who’d somehow defied repetition. They stopped their conversation and eyed him warily as he approached.

“Hi, sorry to interrupt, can I talk to you?”

“That depends entirely on what you have to say, dear,” the would-be klutz said. She sounded British -too British. Like she was an actor putting on an accent. This, combined with her tightly-buttoned attire and stern demeanor, gave the impression of a mid-1800’s dowager despite the fact that she was in her twenty-first year and they were all in the twenty-first century.

“Well, this’ll sound weird,” Vell said. “But have you two been feeling any, uh...deja vu lately?”

The two women exchanged a look.

“Maybe a little,” the shorter woman in the red outfit said. “Why’re you asking?”

“Well, like I said, uh, odd stuff, but,” Vell said. He held up a finger for emphasis. “Things are sort of repeating themselves, I think? Except for you guys.”

The two women shared another look. They seemed impressed.

“Wow, got it all on your own, and on your first loop,” the little one said. “Nice going, dude.”

“And you’re handling it quite well,” the obscenely British one said. She turned to her friend. “We were both quite panicked our first time around.”

“I’m more of an internal panic guy,” Vell said. “So, uh, I take it that this is not the first time this has happened?”

The women were being remarkably casual about time loops, so much so Vell could only assume they had experience. Either that, or they were deeply, deeply insane. Vell chose to believe the first option.

“Quite so,” the tall one said. “And if you’re worried about the wasps, don’t be. We handle such problems. ‘We’ now meaning ‘us’, I suppose, if you’re interested in helping.”

“I’d like to not die, yeah,” Vell said. He’d already had more than enough first-hand experience with death. Most people only got the one go-around.

“Wonderful. Harley, be a dear and give him the basics, I’m going to get Leanne and set up for a meeting. Apparently we have an introduction to make.”

She clapped her hands together and nodded towards Vell.

“I’m Lee,” she said.

“And I’m Harley,” snapped the bubbly woman in red.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Lee continued, never missing a beat.

“Vell Harlan,” he said. “Nice to meet you too.”

Lee departed to fetch an apparent third member of their group while Vell took a seat with Harley. She held her round face in her hands and looked up at Vell with a sparkle in her eyes.

“So, you remember seeing me flash everyone, huh?” Harley said. She seemed to have mixed feelings about that.

“Yep,” Vell said.

“Well. Was not expecting anyone to remember that, but since we’re here,” Harley said. “How’d you like ‘em?”

Vell considered his words carefully, but Harley seemed eager for his feedback. Her freckled cheeks curved upwards as she smiled broadly -and expectantly- at Vell.

“They were, uh, nice,” Vell said.

“Thanks,” Harley said, apparently satisfied. “It’s hard to get feedback since most people I show them to forget afterwards.”

“Right. And you do this often?”

“Not often, but it’s been a long summer break, and I had to get something out of my system,” Harley said. “I usually keep my shenanigans less public, because I don’t like strangers getting involved, but, you know, one time doesn’t hurt anything. We’re the only people who remember what happens during the first ‘loop’ day, and everything you do on the first day basically gets undone, so you can kind of do whatever you want.”

Vell nodded.

“So you flash people because nobody will remember.”

“Oh I do more than flash people,” Harley said. “Like I said, no consequences! On the first day you can have all the sex you want and never need to worry about babies or diseases or anything, because time loops and then you technically never had sex at all!”

“Huh. So…”

Vell took a look around the room and pointed to a random table.

“So, say, tomorrow, on the ‘first loop’, I give all those guys twenty bucks, by the ‘second loop’, that money would be right back in my wallet.”

“Well, yeah, I guess,” Harley said. “But you might want to come up with some more ways to spend your loops. There’s going to be a lot of them.”

Vell’s eyes narrowed.

“Ah. So, the uh, wasp situation, that happened today, is that a…?”

“Regular occurrence?” Harley said, finishing his thought. “Sort of. It’s usually not wasps. I think this is a first, actually, at least while I’ve been here.”

“But, the people dying, that happens every day?”

“Basically,” Harley said. She saw the look of concern on Vell’s face and gave him a firm pat on the shoulder. “There there. You get used to it.”

After a brief discussion on the inevitability of death, Harley led Vell to an empty classroom that was apparently their headquarters for the day. While Lee finished preparing her presentation, Harley introduced Vell to Leanne, who had the physique of a Greek goddess and the conversational skills of a Greek statue. Leanne nodded at Vell once and then stared blankly forward towards Lee, pointedly ignoring any further attempts by Harley to coax her into making an introduction.

“She’s not mute, she’s just quiet,” Harley assured Vell. Leanne nodded in agreement. “She’s technically the senior member here, but since she’s not really interested in this stuff, other than the obvious apocalypse-preventing, Lee’s sort of in charge now.”

“Sort of,” Lee said, from the front of the room. “You’ll excuse me if my presentation is a bit rough around the edges, this is my first time. There were two upperclassmen who previously led the group, but they have since graduated.”

“Fun fact,” Harley said. “Once you graduate, you’re out of the loop! As soon as they hand you the diploma you just stop keeping your memories of the first loop. All the old memories stay, but in any new loops you're just like everyone else.”

“Yes, a detail I was about to make him aware of,” Lee said, glaring pointedly at Harley. “Now if you could please follow Leanne’s example and sit silently, I’d like to begin.”

Harley crossed her arms and waited patiently. Vell followed her example.

“So, Vell, as you are now well aware, the Einstein-Odinson College exists in a very dangerous state. The constant clash of magic, technology, and the ambition of those who research it creates an environment in which catastrophe is all but inevitable. Luckily, the College also exists in some kind of time loop wherein those same catastrophes can be prevented.”

Lee held up a binder she’d compiled of everything that had happened last year and perused it.

“Every day of every school year in which classes are held, an event of variably apocalyptic nature occurs,” Lee said. “Nuclear meltdowns, accidental summonings of eldritch beings, teleportation devices that move the body but not the soul, several instances of the undead by either scientific or magical means.”

“Blech. Too many zombies,” Harley said with a small grunt.

“You have a problem with the undead?” Vell asked.

“Not personally, the zombie apocalypse is just played out.”

Lee snapped her binder shut to draw attention back to her.

“The point is, on a regular basis, the apocalypse, or at least mass destruction of the Einstein-Odinson college, occurs,” Lee said. “This is only prevented because, for unknown reasons, time loops in on itself whenever such an event occurs, and a small group of people retain their memories of the first loop. We act to prevent the apocalypse that occurred on the previous loop, and we have so far succeeded without fail on every daily loop.”

Lee stepped away from her podium for a bit.

“Now, there are a few-”

She stopped as her foot slipped slightly on a ledge that held the podium up from the floor. Lee managed to catch herself on the edge before falling completely and then stood to regain her composure.

“There are a few rules we try to follow,” Lee said, acting as if nothing had happened. “And a few interactions you should be aware of.”

Lee perused a separate binder she’d prepared, filled with the rules and regulations that she had collected.

“First of all, you should know that we don’t tell anyone who’s not a ‘looper’ like us about the time loops,” Lee said. “A half-awareness of the time loops can have unpleasant psychological consequences. Contemplation of temporal repetition can have some unpleasant repercussions for a person’s sense of self-determination and free will. It tends to drive the person afflicted, well, severely homicidally insane. Our predecessors called it Butterfly Effect Psychosis.”

Having set herself up for a clever segue, Lee moved on to her next point.

“Though speaking of the Butterfly Effect, the second thing you should know is that it doesn’t actually apply as much as you think,” Lee said. “While we can use our knowledge of past events to change what’s going to happen, it requires some applied effort. When you try to change something, the universe will try to change it back, so it can stick to the ‘script’. Say you step on a butterfly -like that one, for instance-”

Lee pointed at the classroom’s window. A single butterfly with iridescent purple wings had alighted on the windowsill.

“-the universe will simply put a different butterfly where it should have been. We must put in a certain level of effort to make sure the future stays changed.”

She looked at Vell to make sure he wasn’t getting overwhelmed with knowledge. To his credit, Vell seemed to be handling the information dump quite well. Now that it was done being used as an example, the butterfly fluttered away, leaving Lee to continue her explanation without any fortuitous visual aids.

“That said, we try not to change too much,” Lee said. “We ask that you please avoid buying any lottery tickets, doing any gambling, stock trading, et cetera. You’re free to make some minor adjustments as it suits you-”

“Like how Lee avoids tripping on her own feet all the time,” Harley said.

“Or engaging in wanton sluttery like Harley,” Lee said without skipping a beat.

“Don’t slutshame me,” Harley said.

“It’s just a statement of fact, dear,” Lee said. “You’re free to sleep with whoever you please in whatever quantity you please. You whore.”

“Klutz,” Harley snapped back.

“Tramp," Lee said, before remembering there was a stranger in their midst. "Oh, Vell, dear, you’re new, I should clarify that these insults are not genuine.”

“I love Lee, I just like to call her a dipshit sometimes,” Harley added.

“I figured,” Vell said. Any two people who truly hated each other would use much more scathing insults.

“Anyway! Back on topic,” Lee said. “Do you have any questions, Vell?”

“A lot, actually, but I assume you’d have told me if you knew,” Vell said. “Like, ‘why is this happening’?”

“You’re right, I would tell you if I knew, which I don’t,” Lee said. “We assume it’s some kind of curse, or maybe a practical joke Loki is pulling.”

“Personally, I think Einstein built some kind of time machine loopy mechanism as a safeguard,” Harley said. “Leanne, what do you think?”

Leanne shrugged her broad shoulders and said nothing.

“At any rate, this has been happening for a very long time and no answers have revealed themselves yet,” Lee said. “We’re usually a bit too concerned with stopping the apocalypse to investigate it too deeply.”

“Alright, I think that about covers it for now,” Vell said. It was time to move on to his top priority. “Can we please do something about the murder wasps now?”