The jump dropped me into darkness.
Cold, damp air rushed against my skin as I staggered forward blindly, boots splashing into shallow puddles. My hand hit a metal wall, slick with condensation.
A tunnel?
No… a maintenance corridor.
Dim emergency lights flickered in the distance. The hum of old machinery vibrated through the floor.
I inhaled slowly.
"Okay… world number… who knows at this point."
The divergence generator was burning hot in my grip. Stabilization: 6%.
"Try not to die on me," I whispered to it.
A voice echoed down the corridor.
"Who...who's there?"
I froze.
The voice sounded like mine.
Younger, a little strained.
But absolutely me.
A shadow appeared at the end of the corridor – moving cautiously, steps uneven.
Then he entered the light.
My breath caught.
He looked… normal.
Unscarred.
Less tired than I was.
Hair messier.
Eyes brighter.
If I had lived a slightly quieter life, if I hadn't touched the QDD, if I'd taken fewer risks…
I might've been him.
His gaze widened in shock when he saw my face.
"Are… are you real?" he whispered.
"That's a complicated question," I said.
He stepped closer, studying me with an unsettling mix of fear and fascination.
"You're me," he said softly. "From another… another branch."
I nodded. "Looks like."
Tears gathered in his eyes – unexpected, raw.
"I knew it! I knew the multiverse theory wasn't flawed. Everyone told me I was crazy after the accident but I knew someone had survived it...someone like me."
He was shaking.
Talking too fast.
Panicked under his relief.
I raised a hand. "Slow down. What accident?"
His face crumpled.
"In my world… the QDD test went wrong. I...I was supposed to activate it with Lyra but… something overloaded. She didn't make it."
He swallowed hard. "I barely survived."
Pain flickered through my chest.
Lyra's absence was a hole I could feel even across timelines.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
He nodded shakily. "After that, I tried to rebuild the research. Everyone said I was unstable. Maybe they were right."
"You're not unstable," I said. "Just… alone."
His eyes glistened.
He nodded again, slowly, breathing unevenly.
A part of me wanted to sit with him...give him the connection he clearly needed.
But the generator buzzed in my hand, heat intensifying.
I had minutes.
"Listen," I said gently. "I need your help."
He looked startled. "Help? Me?"
"Yes. I need access to your lab. Your version of the QDD schematics. Anything that can stabilize this." Iheld up the generator.
He nodded eagerly.
"Yes...yes, of course! I can do that. Just follow me"
He turned toward a stairwell...
And stopped.
A second silhouette now stood behind us.
Tall.
Motionless.
Backlit by flickering red lights.
Another me.
But his posture was wrong.
Stiff.
Tense.
Eyes hollow, shadowed.
He stepped into view, face expressionless.
My gut twisted immediately.
This one was dangerous.
He looked between us with cold, calculating precision.
"So," he said, voice flat, "there are two of you now. That complicates things."
The younger Aren...the bright-eyed one –backed away in terror.
"What? who are you?"
The hollow-eyed one smiled thinly. "The version who knows the truth."
My breath caught.
Not V-0…
but something close.
I stepped protectively in front of the younger Aren.
"You need to leave," I warned.
He ignored me.
"I see why he's interested in you," hollow-Aren said to me. "You're predictable. Noble. Always trying to save people. Even yourself."
Then he shifted his gaze to the younger version.
"But you…"
His smile sharpened.
"…you're useless."
Before I could react, he moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
A flash of metal glinted in his hand – a stolen MSD shockblade.
"NO!"
The blade slashed.
The younger Aren stumbled backward, hand clutching his side.
Blood seeped between his fingers.
His eyes were wide with shock – betrayal –pain.
I lunged, tackling the hollow-Aren into the wall. He hit the metal with a sickening crack but barely reacted.
"You didn't have to do that!" Iyelled.
"Yes," he hissed. "I did."
He shoved me backward with unnatural strength – strength no version of me should have.
He advanced with the blade...
But a distant rumble shook the corridor.
Lights flickered.
The timeline groaned.
The hollow-Aren froze, eyes widening.
"No," he whispered. "Not now."
He looked at me with fury – almost fear.
"He's coming."
Then he disappeared into the shadows –vanishing down another branching corridor just as the world around us began to distort.
I scrambled to the injured Aren.
"Hey...hey, stay with me," I urged, pressing my hand over the wound.
He laughed weakly. "So… there really are worse versions of us."
"Don't talk. Save your strength."
"Sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean for you to see me like this."
"You're fine. You'll be fine." My voice broke.
But the ground trembled violently now...heavy cracks splitting down the walls.
Another collapse.
No...
No, no, not now.
I grabbed the younger Aren's hand. "I'm going to get you out of here."
He shook his head weakly. "Your device… it can barely carry you."
"I don't care," I snapped.
He smiled sadly! My own sad smile reflected back at me.
"Maybe… in another timeline… I did survive the accident," he whispered. "Maybe that version of me did something good."
"You did something good," I said. "You helped me."
He squeezed my hand faintly.
"Thank you… for being the version of us I wanted to be."
My throat tightened painfully.
Then the floor cracked open beneath him.
I lunged...
But he was gone, swallowed into the collapsing timeline.
"No!" My voice shattered in the empty corridor. "NO!"
The rumbling intensified.
The world buckled.
Tears blurred my vision as I activated the generator with shaking fingers.
The last thing I remembered before the jump tore me away...
Was the empty space where another Aren had just been.
Another life lost.
Another timeline broken.
Another reason to end V-0.