You return from the flickering timeline with lingering clove on your lips and a sense of déjà vu you can't shake. Back at the chai stall, Chiku flaps nervously. "Someone else is steeping time now," he squawks. "And they're not sipping politely."
Across town, graffiti appears overnight—cryptic tea leaves sprayed on walls, always in mirror script. The mark of Samar, a rogue timeline walker. Once a gifted tea scholar from an alternate Mysore, he now brews brews that distort memory and twist futures. He's collecting nani's recipes too... but for entirely different ends.
While Chiku investigates from the skies, you find the third recipe tucked into your nani's old anklet:
"Whispering Nilgiri"1 sprig lemongrass, 4 crushed regrets, steeped under moonlight, stirred with truth you're scared to tell.
You gather the ingredients that night. As the tea simmers, moonlight filters through the rainclouds. You stir with a trembling hand—and this time, you don't sip alone. Samar steps from the mist, smiling like he knows you in another life.
"You always were nani's favorite," he murmurs. "And you always hated that," you reply.
Just as time begins to twist, Chiku screeches overhead: "You're not done steeping your truth, girl!"