I Run the Dragon's Emergency Hotline

The woman wearing Tessa's face was not a copy. She was a possibility. The room showed a future in which Tessa had accepted every complaint, solved every disaster and let the hotline decide which people deserved rescue. Her hair was silver. Her smile was calm. Her hands were covered in ticket ink. “You are the First Caller,” Tessa said. Future Tessa nodded. “I called because the world is about to end.” “Why not stop it?” “I did.” “Then why is it ending?” “Because I stopped everything else first.” The future city behind her was orderly and silent. No wars. No storms. No complaints. No children laughing in the street. Rowan moved beside Tessa. Future Tessa looked at him. “You still trust him?” she asked. “I am deciding.” “That is how the world ended.” Brindle roared from the office. “The queue is on fire!” Pip shouted that the ghosts had begun filling out duplicate forms. Tessa looked at the future map. The hotline did not need a perfect operator. It needed someone willing to leave a complaint unresolved when solving it would erase the customer. She took the termination ticket. “I refuse your request,” she told Future Tessa. The future woman smiled. “Then answer mine.” “What is the disaster?” Future Tessa pointed at Rowan. “He is going to tell you the truth.” Rowan's curse broke. He spoke one complete sentence. “Your mother did not hide the city from the kingdom; she hid the kingdom from you.” The room shattered. All the ghosts screamed. The mountain beneath the office opened its eye. The moon rang like a bell. Tessa landed on the floor beside the brass telephone. The line remained connected. A new voice whispered from the receiver. “Hello. I would like to report a world.” The ticket printer began counting upward. QUEUE POSITION: ONE. The end of the world had called first.