The basement walls pulsed like a living throat around us, each breath exhaling the scent of burnt hair and rotting citrus. The scalpel in my hand trembled—not from fear, but from memory. Its weight was familiar in a way that went deeper than muscle. I'd held this blade before. Used it.
Li's grin widened as he saw the realization dawn. "You're remembering! That's good. That means the medicine is working."
The thing wearing Anya's skin stepped closer, her bare feet leaving wet prints on the concrete. Not water. Something thicker. Darker. "We've missed you at the table," she said, and this time when her mouth moved, I saw the shadows writhing behind her teeth.
The ninth chair's flames turned from blue to gold, illuminating what crouched in the corner—not Mu, not anymore. Just a mass of twitching limbs and golden eyes, fused together in a mockery of human shape. It reached for me with too many hands, each finger ending in a tiny, whimpering mouth.
"Grandma gets hungry," Li whispered, pressing close. His small body radiated unnatural heat. "But don't worry. We saved her a special seat."
He pointed to the empty space between the first and second chairs—a gap just wide enough for a man to stand.
---
The First Bite
The walls peeled back in sections, revealing shelves lined with glass jars. Each contained a floating organ—hearts, lungs, brains—all perfectly preserved. All mine.
"Your liver was particularly tender in iteration 4,302," Not-Anya murmured, running a finger down one jar. "We served it with figs."
Li tugged my hand. "You always fight at first. But then you understand." His golden eyes reflected the firelight in fractal patterns. "This is what family does. We consume each other. We become each other."
The scalpel grew heavier. The numbers branded into my palm—9-217-1—began to itch.
The creature in the corner moaned, a sound that vibrated through the floor and up my spine.
"See?" Li beamed. "She remembers your taste."
---
The Second Bite
The first chair—the one holding my screaming doppelgänger—suddenly toppled over. The man's stitches burst as he hit the concrete, his mouth finally free.
"Key..." he rasped, blood bubbling between his lips. "The key is..."
Not-Anya's foot came down on his throat with a wet crunch. "No spoilers," she chided.
Li sighed. "Now we have to reset again." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue pill—identical to the one Anya had given him earlier. "Here. This will help with the transition."
The walls pulsed faster. The air grew thick with the scent of my own fear.
I looked at the pill. At the scalpel. At the thing that had been Mu.
Then I did what none of my other iterations had dared.
I laughed.
---
The Third Bite
Li's smile faltered. "Dad?"
I pressed the scalpel to my own wrist. "You said it yourself. This is what family does." The blade bit deep. Golden blood welled up, dripping onto the concrete where it sizzled like acid. "We consume each other."
The basement shook. The jars rattled on their shelves.
Not-Anya's head jerked sideways. "Stop him."
But it was too late.
I smeared my blood across the numbers on my palm—9-217-1—and the moment the digits connected, I understood.
Not coordinates.
Not a date.
A name.
The creature in the corner shrieked as the walls began to peel away entirely, revealing infinite corridors of identical basements stretching into the darkness. In each, a different version of me stood surrounded by different horrors.
Except one.
At the very end, a basement stood empty save for a single chair.
And sitting on it, whole and unharmed—
Anya.
Real Anya.
---
The Last Bite
Li's scream was the sound of a thousand fracturing realities. "You can't leave the table!"
The scalpel melted in my grip, reforming into a key—the same one from the previous loop. The numbers on my palm now glowed white-hot.
Not-Anya lunged, her jaw unhinging like a snake's.
I didn't flinch.
"Sorry, kid," I said, and plunged the key into my own chest.
The basement exploded into light.
---
I woke to the smell of jasmine and gunpowder.
Anya stood over me, her knife at my throat, her eyes wild with recognition.
"Prove you're really Chen," she demanded.
Behind her, the facility burned.
And in the ashes, something golden began to stir.