Temporal Probability

A brilliant algorithm developer discovers her meticulously planned life being systematically dismantled by temporal anomalies, leading her to hire a skeptical PI to investigate. As her groundbreaking prediction algorithm nears its launch date, she uncovers an impossible truth: her future self is deliberately sabotaging her present to prevent a catastrophic event only visible in the algorithm's blind spot. With reality becoming increasingly unstable and time itself beginning to fragment, both versions of herself must confront their shared obsession with control and perfect preparation. As timeline collapse threatens everything they've worked for, they face an impossible choice: continue their pattern of mutual destruction, or trust in the very uncertainty they've spent their lives trying to eliminate.

Chapter 1: The Perfect Mistake

Alina Bell watched her immaculately prepared lunch dissolve into another failed probability. Vietnamese spring rolls spiraled across her desk in a perfect golden ratio, steam still rising - now destined for the same fate as every other carefully planned moment of the past six months.

"Wells ordered pizza for the whole floor," Jamie said from the doorway. "Beta test results exceeded projections."

Alina's phone lay dark despite its full charge, another small impossibility in a growing constellation of them. She began wrapping the spring rolls, each motion precise, each fold a reminder of preparation meeting void. The cancelled client meeting she'd rehearsed for seventy-two hours straight. The birthday party where every guest received phantom schedule changes. The conference where her keynote evaporated from existence moments before she took the stage.

"Statistically impossible," Alina murmured, running probability calculations. "Even randomness follows patterns."

Jamie shifted, her stance echoing decade-old memories of MIT hallways, before Alina's algorithms learned to predict human behavior with terrifying accuracy. "You're the one who taught the AI to recognize patterns. What's it telling you?"

"That's just it." Alina traced her finger through the condensation on her desk. "The algorithm glitches on my data. Only mine. Like something's interfering with its predictions."

"Then treat it like code," Jamie said, eyes sharp with fifteen years of friendship. "Debug it. Before Wells pushes the expansion live next week."

Twenty-three hours later, Alina descended into Oliver Graves's basement office, where film noir aesthetics met cutting-edge surveillance tech. Rain traced fractals across his window while three monitors displayed CCTV feeds, their glow catching the edges of his skepticism.

"You want me to investigate bad luck?" he asked, professional distance in his voice.

"I want you to investigate temporal impossibility." Alina placed her tablet between them. "Six months of documented anomalies. Security footage, timestamps, witness statements. The pattern isn't random - it's orchestrated."

She watched his eyes track across her data, noting the moment probability gave way to impossibility.

"Split screen," he said, pausing on the coffee shop footage. "Same timestamp..."

"Two versions of me," Alina finished. "The second one older, wearing clothes I don't own, moving through spaces I've never occupied. The barista remembers both interactions in perfect detail."

Thunder cracked outside, defying the clear forecast. Fluorescent lights flickered, and Alina's reflection fractured across Oliver's monitors - for a moment, another face overlaid hers, lined with years and weighted with knowledge she didn't yet possess.

"Take the case," she said, her voice steady despite the temporal vertigo. "Before the algorithm goes live. Please."

Oliver studied her with eyes trained to spot deception, then glanced back at the tablet. "Most people hire me to uncover truths they don't know. You're hiring me to confirm a truth you're afraid to face."

Alina stood, smoothing her blazer - a gesture of control in a reality increasingly beyond it. "Your rates are irrelevant. Find out who's systematically dismantling my life."

"And if that someone is you?" Oliver called as she reached the door. "A future version trying to prevent something?"

Alina's hand stilled on the knob. Through the frosted glass, city lights cast quantum shadows. "Then I need to know what could be worse than this perfect destruction."

Outside, rain fell in precise helical patterns while digital displays counted different times, each one ticking toward a future she hadn't prepared for - and another version of herself was trying desperately to prevent.