Reboot

Monday – 9:00 A.M.

The public restroom near the east entrance of the shopping mall was unusually quiet for a Monday morning.

Three women occupied the room, strangers sharing nothing more than the same space for a few fleeting moments.

The youngest looked no older than seventeen. It was the first day of her senior year of high school. Long brown curls were pulled into a high ponytail, her bangs framing her face. She wore a pair of short denim shorts, an oversized athletic jersey, white sneakers, and just enough makeup to look awake after a summer of sleeping in.

At the opposite mirror stood a nineteen-year-old university student. Her long blonde hair fell perfectly straight over her shoulders, kept back by a simple headband. A flowing blue spaghetti-strap dress reached almost to her ankles, paired with leather sandals that clicked softly against the tile floor.

Near the sinks, a twenty-one-year-old woman adjusted the sleeve of her charcoal business jacket. Her black hair was tied into a neat bun, matching the polished outfit of blazer and skirt. A structured handbag rested beside her feet. She looked like someone already used to morning meetings and packed schedules.

None of them knew each other.

Their eyes met only briefly in the mirrors, exchanging the universal polite smile strangers offered before looking away again.

Then a frustrated voice echoed from one of the stalls.

“Damn it.”

The blonde student looked toward the closed door.

“Everything okay?”

A sigh came from inside.

“My period literally just started. I don’t have a tampon or anything with me.”

“I’m sorry,” the student replied, checking her own purse. “I wish I could help, but I don’t have one either.”

For a second, silence settled over the restroom.

Then the woman in business attire calmly opened her handbag.

“I do.”

She pulled out a tampon, walked to the stall, and crouched slightly before sliding it underneath the door.

“There you go.”

“Oh my God... thank you so much.”

“No problem.”

The older woman smiled warmly.

“We women have to stick together.”

A quiet laugh escaped from inside the stall.

“Seriously... you’re a lifesaver.”

A minute later, the stall door opened.

The high school student stepped out, visibly relieved, and walked to the sinks. She washed her hands while the other two finished gathering their things.

For one brief moment, all three stood side by side in front of the mirror.

Three strangers.

A chance encounter that should have ended there.

The lights flickered.

Everything went black.

The cafeteria was silent.

The transition was so abrupt that none of them could have said how they had gotten there.

One moment they had been standing in a restroom.

The next, they were seated around a small square table in the center of an otherwise empty shopping mall cafeteria.

The seventeen-year-old sat slumped forward with her head resting on her folded arms.

Beside her, the university student sat with one leg crossed over the other, fingers interlocked neatly on the tabletop, her arms stretched out as if trying to stay composed.

Across from them, the young businesswoman leaned back slightly in her chair with her arms crossed, jaw tense.

At the opposite end of the cafeteria sat around a dozen people.

Men and women.

Every one of them dressed in dark business suits.

Some had folders.

Some quietly spoke to one another.

Others simply watched.

They looked less like police officers and more like investigators—or agents from some government organization.

None of them acknowledged the three women directly.

But all three backpacks and handbags had been placed beside the agents’ tables.

The cafeteria itself had been completely cordoned off.

Temporary barriers blocked every entrance.

Beyond the large glass windows, the shopping mall was slowly filling with people starting their Monday morning. Shoppers occasionally stopped, looking curiously toward the strangely isolated cafeteria.

Some pointed.

Some whispered.

None of them came closer.

No one intervened.

The businesswoman finally broke the silence.

“This is ridiculous. I have a job to get to.”

The student nodded immediately.

“Same. I’ve got classes.”

The seventeen-year-old lifted her head just enough to grin.

“Well... I mean, it’s the first day of my senior year.”

She paused before a mischievous smile spread across her face.

“But honestly... I’d rather be here.”

She giggled.

For the first time since waking up in the empty cafeteria, the other two laughed as well.

The older woman shook her head with an amused smile.

“It gets better after high school.”

The student shrugged.

“I actually liked school.”

Their laughter faded.

Across the room, one of the suited agents glanced up from a folder.

Then another.

None of them spoke.

They simply kept watching.

The silence lingered for another minute.

No clocks ticked.

No announcements echoed through the mall.

The only sounds came from the distant murmur of shoppers outside the cordoned-off cafeteria and the quiet conversations among the suited agents across the room.

The university student let out a slow breath.

“So...”

She glanced between the other two.

“What do you think? How long have we been here?”

The businesswoman shook her head.

“I think the better question is...” She looked toward the agents. “...why are we here?”

The high school student lazily lifted her wrist and looked at her watch.

It read 10:00 A.M.

She sighed.

“Well... my first class officially started.”

She rubbed her forehead.

“My mom is not going to like that.”

The woman across from her raised an eyebrow.

“What are you even doing at the mall on a school day?”

“My mom had to pick something up on the way to school,” the girl explained. “She said it’d only take a minute, so we stopped here first.”

“And then?”

The girl frowned.

“I... don’t know.”

She searched her memory.

“I remember going to the restroom...”

She looked at the other two.

“...meeting you.”

Her voice became quieter.

“And then...”

Nothing.

The student nodded slowly.

“Same.”

“I don’t remember anything after that either,” the businesswoman admitted.

The three exchanged uneasy looks.

Just as the student opened her mouth to say something else—

"DO NOT TALK."

The voice cut through the cafeteria like a knife.

None of the agents had stood up.

A middle-aged man in a dark suit simply looked up from the folder in front of him.

His expression was cold.

Emotionless.

He hadn’t shouted.

He hadn’t needed to.

The words were calm, controlled, and unmistakably authoritative.

Every conversation in the room stopped.

The three women instinctively fell silent.

The seventeen-year-old lowered her eyes to the table.

The student straightened in her chair, unclasping her hands for a moment before quietly folding them together again.

Across from them, the businesswoman clenched her jaw but said nothing.

The agent held their gaze for another second.

Satisfied, he returned to reading the documents on his desk.

As if nothing had happened.

None of the three dared to speak again. The air suddenly felt heavier, and whatever little comfort they had found in talking to one another vanished beneath the silent watch of the people across the cafeteria.