The memory fragment hit my system like a lightning strike.
Light flooded my vision...white, blinding, pulsing.
I staggered, gripping the edge of the cabin's wooden table as the world around me flickered. Images surged through my head – disjointed, painful:
Lyra screaming.
Machines overloading.
My own hand slamming a console.
A voice shouting, "It's too much...shut it DOWN!"
A flash of blue light.
A rupture.
Silence.
Then...
Darkness.
When I blinked back into reality, I was on the cabin floor, chest heaving, sweat cold on my skin.
The other Aren knelt beside me, eyes wide with worry.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
I nodded shakily. "Yeah. Just… give me a second."
My heart hammered.
Because the memory fragment hadn't just shown me an accident.
It showed me the moment the multiverse broke.
And I was there.
I caused it or helped cause it.
The other Aren didn't push me. He waited until I caught my breath.
Finally he said, "Whatever you saw… we can figure it out. Together."
For the first time, those words didn't comfort me.
Before I could respond, the floor vibrated...barely noticeable, but enough to snap my attention upward.
A breach tremor.
The other Aren stiffened. "He's close."
"No," I said quickly, pushing to my feet. "Not yet. That vibration was too weak. He hasn't found us...he's just in the surrounding branches."
"Branches?" the other Aren repeated. "What does that mean?"
"It means he's searching," I murmured. "Like ripples in water."
We didn't have long.
"We need to move," Isaid. "I have one stabilized jump left."
The other Aren nodded and grabbed a backpack, stuffing in a few devices.
But something in his movements felt… off.
Too quick.
Too sure.
Too practiced.
I frowned. "How do you know what to pack?"
He froze mid-motion.
Then slowly zipped the bag.
"When you said he was 'in the branches'…" he said carefully, "'surrounding us'… how did you know that?"
A cold shiver crawled up my spine.
"I can feel it," I admitted. "Like pressure. Like something pulling at me."
His eyes darkened...fear flickering through them.
"You're becoming like him," he whispered.
"No," I snapped. "I'm fighting him."
"You're absorbing memories across timelines. You're sensing breaches without tech. You're..."
"I'm NOT him," I repeated, louder.
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then he exhaled slowly.
"Maybe not yet," he said softly.
Something inside me twisted.
Before I could respond, another tremor shook the cabin...stronger this time.
The other Aren grabbed my wrist.
"We need to leave! NOW!"
"Right! Let's go," I said.
He nodded and reached for my divergence generator.
And then I felt it.
An instinct.
A flash.
A memory of a memory.
A hand grabbing my wrist just like that...
except it wasn't my hand.
It was V-0's.
Pulling.
Steering.
Manipulating.
My stomach dropped.
I yanked my hand back.
"What are you doing?" I whispered.
The other Aren's expression didn't change.
But something in his eyes did.
They were too calm.
Too empty.
Too familiar.
And then he smiled.
Not kindly.
Not nervously.
Coldly.
Exactly like V-0.
"It seems," he said softly, "that you really aren't ready after all."
My pulse spiked.
"Who are you?"
He tilted his head.
"A version of you who made the right choice. One who accepted the truth instead of running from it."
"No," I breathed. "No, he found you. He turned you."
He stepped forward.
"He didn't turn me. He enlightened me."
My chest tightened painfully.
"You betrayed yourself," I whispered.
He smiled wider.
"I upgraded myself."
Without warning, he lunged for the stabilizer clipped to my belt.
Instinct kicked in.
I jumped back.
He swung again, faster this time...too fast. I blocked his arm, shoving him into the cabin wall.
He hit it hard, but didn't flinch.
"You're strong," he said, grinning. "Good. We need you strong."
"I'm not helping him."
"You already are."
A fissure split across the cabin ceiling as the breach energy gathered...drawn by our conflict.
He kept talking – calm, steady, certain:
"Every version of us has a role. Mine was to test you. Push you. See how far you've come. You passed most of his expectations."
"Most?" I echoed.
His smile vanished.
"You trust too easily."
V-0's voice echoed faintly through the forming breach.
"Bring him."
No...
NO...
The traitor Aren grabbed my arm, wrenching me forward. I elbowed him in the jaw...hard enough to make him stumble...but not fall.
He laughed.
"You think you can fight yourself?"
"No," I growled. "I can fight you."
He swung again. I ducked. The stabilizer fell from his fingers – skidding across the floor.
Both of us dove for it.
He reached it first.
But I reached him.
I slammed him into the ground, pinning his wrist.
He hissed in pain, eyes blazing.
"You're wasting time," hesnapped. "He's coming."
"I know."
The breach above us widened – red lightning crackling through the cabin walls. The air warped. Loose debris hovered.
I ripped the stabilizer from his grip.
He grabbed my collar, yanking me close.
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"He needs you alive. But trust me – when he gets you, you'll wish you weren't."
I kneed him in the stomach and tore myself free.
The whole cabin shook.
V-0's silhouette began forming inside the breach.
I clipped the stabilizer onto the generator...
It hummed, glowing faintly.
I activated it...
Aren-the-betrayer lunged one last time, reaching for my arm.
But the world dissolved into white light as the jump triggered.
His voice echoed after me:
"You can't escape yourself forever!"
And then!
Gone!