9 November ???

Early Morning

🔔 Your phone rings. Unknown number.

💭 An unknown number. 6:12 AM. Kim was working late on the Ripper case. She wouldn’t randomly call unless something is wrong. This feels wrong.

🔔 Call Connects

(The line hums. It’s loud on the background. Still, you know it’s her. Who else?)

📞 Kim (to you)

Traveler? Hi.

Don’t interrupt me. I need you calm.

I woke up outside. I don’t remember leaving Secrets Hall. I don’t remember falling asleep. I just opened my eyes and I now I am standing in a street. It’s freezing. Not “window open” cold. It’s that damp, bone-deep cold. The kind that settles in brick. Look.. There are no cars. There are horses. Actual horses.

I can hear iron-rimmed wheels over cobblestone. And the air smells like coal smoke and wet fabric.

I thought it was a dream. I tried to rationalize it. Gas leak hallucination? Too much coffee? But listen.

I don’t think that’s the case. Oh.. This has gone horribly wrong.

(Muffled male voice through phone)

📞 Man

Ninth of November. Get your newspaper now.

📞 Kim (to you)

9 November 1888? That’s today? Open your laptop. Ask Mr. Sterces for the the exact time of Kelly’s death. Mary Jane Kelly. She is the fifth official victim of Jack the Ripper. Was it early morning or late night?

📲 Text to Mr. Sterces

Sir, what was the date and exact time of Mary Jane Kelly’s death?

6.25 a.m.

📲 Text from Mr. Sterces

What is Kim up to now?

6.23 a.m.

It was 9 November 1888. They think it happened between 3:30 a.m. and 6 a.m.

6.24 a.m.

📞 You

That’s not possible. Kim, where are you?

📞 Kim (to you)

No. Listen. If this is my brain projecting research, it wouldn’t get the environmental details this accurate. I’m in Whitechapel. The brickwork is industrial. Narrow workers’ housing. Factory smoke. The air is heavy. There’s mud under my boots. And I know this street layout.

(A violent coughing fit that doesn’t stop.)

📞 Kim (to you)

This is Buck’s Row. Where Mary Ann Nichols was found on August 31st. I know it because I memorized the map last night. You can find it in my office. Ask Mr. Sterces. He will send it to you.

Buck's Row

📲 Text to Mr. Sterces

Sir, may I please request the map of all the murders?

6.28 a.m.

📲 Text from Mr. Sterces

If I must.

6.27 a.m.

(Footsteps approaching.)

📞 Constable

Move along, miss. Bad business round here.

📞 Kim

Bad business? You mean the murders?

📞 Constable

Aye.

📞 Kim

It happened. Kelly is dead. Which means all five are dead. It just happened. That means… That means he is still out there. And they haven’t found her yet. We are hours away from chaos.

💭 You ponder on the day of the fifth murder. The most brutal one. If Kim is there now, then so is he. She needs to get out of there.

📞 You

Kim, you have to leave. Make sure you leave.

📞 Kim (to you)

Calm down. Panic later. I have to think now. I am in Buck’s Row. The street of the first official victim: Mary Ann Nichols. Found here at 3:40 AM. August 31st. If I remember correctly…. Throat cut twice. Deep incisions left to right. Abdomen slashed open. Jagged wounds. Lower abdomen mutilated.

Wait…

…

Did you just say something?

📞 You

No. (Tell the truth)

Yes. (Lie)

No. (Tell the truth)

Yes. (Lie)

📞 Kim (to you)

I heard something. We will keep an eye out.

Oh. I’m glad. I heard something.

Where was I? Right, there were signs of organ removal, though limited compared to later victims.

No reports of screams. Her skirts were raised. Money untouched. She had been turned away from lodging houses that night because she didn’t have fourpence for a bed.

(Two women whispering faintly nearby)

📞 Woman 1

Who will be next? God help us.

📞 Woman 2

The air feels tighter this morning.

📞 Kim (to you)

The women here are terrified. They are waiting. For him to come back. He already did. And every time it was even more horrifying than before.

(Horse passes loudly)

📞 Kim (to you)

Nichols had her abdominal cuts. The uterus of Chapman was removed. Eddowes had her kidney taken. And Kelly… She was extremely mutilated and her heart was removed.

(Constable shouts at someone)

📞 Kim (to you)

It doesn’t only show brute murders. It shows progress, control and confidence. Possibly anatomical knowledge. Time window under fifteen minutes in most cases. No sexual assault in the traditional sense. No robbery motive. This is organized. But we need to focus on Mary Ann Nichols first. We are here for a reason.

📞 Constable

Miss, I said move along.

📞 Kim

Of course, officer. I was just paying respects.

📞 Kim (to you)

He doesn’t like my coat. The stitching’s wrong for the era. We need to blend in better. But that’s secondary. Primary issue: I am physically here. This is not a hallucination. The details are too consistent. Too sensory. Too unsanitized. Something has gone catastrophically wrong.

Okay. Listen to me carefully. We do not panic.

If I am here on 9 November 1888, then the murders have happened. Which means theories are forming. Which means narratives are being shaped. And it’s not history yet… Which means we can find the information for the source itself. It’s a bit thrilling… Isn’t it?

📞 You:

Kim, you are stuck in 1888. That’s not thrilling.

📞 Kim (to you)

Right. Yes. You are right. We find the best theory and maybe that stabilizes whatever tore me out of 2026. So we start at the beginning.

💭 You imagine that she’s scared, but she’s right. If she’s inside the timeline, information isn’t archival yet. It’s fluid.

📞 Kim (to you)

We have two immediate options. The body of Nichols was taken to the morgue. If I go there, I can verify wound structure myself. But women don’t just inspect bodies in this time. Besides that… It’s going to be horribly gross and I will need to find a way to charm myself in… But they mention Jack was ‘skilled’ and it would make it possible to discover that ourselves.

Or I go to the police station, but I might risk being arrested or my name being written down.

But we will find witness statements and descriptions there. Some statements already contradict each other. And there are whispers of pressure “from above.” If records are already manipulated, we might be able to find the real records.

Which one do we test first?

Oh. Before I go. Don’t tell Mr. Sterces anything. He will go mental.

So, what will it be?

📲 Text from Mr. Sterces

Traveler, have you seen Kim?

6.35 a.m.

She is not in her office nor in her bedroom.

6.36 a.m.

💭 You close your phone.

📲 Text from Mr. Sterces

I am a digital butler. I know when you open your phone. Don’t ignore me.

6.37 a.m.

💭 Ok… I will have to lie to him.

📲 Text to Mr. Sterces

I don’t know where she is.

6.39 a.m.

📲 Text from Mr. Sterces

Alright. Tell me when she contacts you.

6.38 a.m.

Kim, go to the police station. We need the records.

Kim, go to the mortuary. We need physical proof.

📞 Call Disconnects