POV: Maya Chen
Ashton's phone call lasts thirty seconds.
"Marcus, gather everyone. We're going to war."
He hangs up and looks at me. "We have twenty minutes before my team arrives. The Architects will reset your father in one hour. That gives us a forty-minute window to break into Chen Group, fight through their army, and save Victor."
"Those are terrible odds," Sophie says.
"I know." Ashton loads his gun. "Which is why we're not going through the front door."
He pulls up a blueprint of Chen Group on his phone. "There's a service tunnel that connects to the underground parking garage. It was built during the Cold War as an escape route. Only three people know about it—Victor, me, and now you two."
"How do you know about it?" I ask.
"Timeline 11. Victor and I were allies. He showed me all of Chen Group's secrets before The Architects killed him." Ashton's jaw tightens. "This time, we're saving him."
A convoy of black SUVs pulls up to the warehouse. Armed men and women pour out—at least thirty of them. They're all wearing tactical gear and carrying serious weapons.
A tall man with grey hair approaches us. "Mr. Xu. Mrs. Xu." He nods at me. "Marcus Chen, head of Xu Corporation security. Congratulations on your marriage."
I blink. "We got married twenty minutes ago in a car."
"I know. I filed the paperwork." Marcus smiles slightly. "Mr. Xu texted me during the chase. You're legally married as of 6:47 PM."
Ashton married me during a car chase while being shot at. That's either incredibly romantic or completely insane.
"Briefing," Marcus says sharply. The security team gathers around. "We're assaulting Chen Group building. Objective: rescue Victor Chen before The Architects reset him. Enemy count: approximately fifty hostiles. Rules of engagement: non-lethal unless necessary. Mrs. Xu's father is the priority."
Mrs. Xu. That's me now. Maya Xu.
It feels strange. In my first life, I became Mrs. Wang and lost everything. Now I'm Mrs. Xu, and I'm about to storm a building to save my father.
"Team One, take the main entrance. Draw their attention." Marcus points at ten soldiers. "Team Two, roof access. Team Three, underground tunnel with me, Mr. Xu, Mrs. Xu, and Miss Lin."
"I'm coming too," Sophie says firmly.
"You're a civilian—" Marcus starts.
"I'm a hacker who's been reborn three times and knows more about The Architects than anyone in this room." Sophie pulls out her laptop. "I can disable their security systems, unlock doors, and jam their communications. Try storming that building without me."
Marcus looks at Ashton. Ashton nods. "She comes."
We move out. Team One speeds toward Chen Group's main entrance. Team Two heads for the neighboring building to access the roof. Our team—me, Ashton, Sophie, Marcus, and fifteen soldiers—drives to a warehouse three blocks away.
Inside the warehouse is a hidden door in the floor. Marcus pulls it open, revealing a dark tunnel.
"This tunnel hasn't been used in forty years," Marcus says. "Watch for structural damage."
We climb down. The tunnel is narrow, damp, and smells like rust. Our flashlights cut through the darkness. We walk single file for ten minutes. My heart pounds the entire time.
Finally, we reach a metal door. Marcus types a code into an ancient keypad. The door groans open.
We're in Chen Group's basement. The parking garage.
Sophie opens her laptop. "Security cameras are... weird. Someone already disabled them."
"The Architects?" Ashton asks.
"No. Someone else. The cameras were shut down from inside Chen Group's main server." Sophie frowns. "Someone on the inside is helping us."
"Or setting a trap," Marcus mutters.
We take the emergency stairs up. Team One's assault on the main entrance starts—I hear explosions and gunfire from far away.
"They're distracted," Marcus says. "Move fast."
We run up the stairs. Forty-eight floors. My legs burn. But I keep running. My father is up there, about to lose every memory of me.
We reach the 48th floor. The door is unlocked.
That's wrong. Everything is too easy.
We burst into the top floor. It's completely empty. No Architects. No soldiers. Just my father Victor, tied to a chair in the middle of the room.
"It's a trap," Ashton says.
"I know," I say. "But he's my father."
I run to Victor. His face is bloody, but his eyes are alert. Alive.
"Maya," he whispers. "You shouldn't have come."
"Shut up. I'm saving you." I start untying the ropes.
That's when I see it. A collar around his neck. Metal, covered in strange symbols.
"Don't touch that!" Sophie screams. "That's a memory bomb. If you remove it wrong, it'll reset everyone within fifty feet!"
My hands freeze. "How do I remove it right?"
"You don't. It requires a special key that only The Architects have." Sophie's face is pale. "Maya, this is the trap. They knew you'd come for him. They're using him as bait to reset all of us at once."
Victor looks at me with tears in his eyes. "Run, Maya. Save yourself."
"No." I grab his hand. "I'm not losing you."
"You have to. I've killed you a hundred times to save the world. Now it's my turn to die to save you." Victor smiles sadly. "Let me be your father. Just once."
The elevator dings.
The doors open. The leader of The Architects steps out, holding a remote control.
"Hello, Phoenix. Glad you could make it." He smiles. "Now, let's discuss your surrender. You come with us peacefully, or I press this button and everyone in this room loses their memories. Your father. Your husband. Your best friend. All reset. Blank slates."
I stand up. Ashton grabs my arm. "Maya, don't—"
"Let me go," I say quietly.
"No. We'll find another way—"
"There is no other way!" I'm crying now. "He's my father. And you're my husband. And Sophie is my best friend. I'm not letting any of you get reset because of me."
I pull away from Ashton and walk toward The Architect leader.
"Good choice," he says. "Now come here and—"
A gunshot explodes through the room.
The leader drops the remote. It skitters across the floor.
I spin around. Jennifer stands in the doorway, holding a smoking gun.
"Hello, stepdaughter," she says coldly. "Surprised to see me?"
She picks up the remote and looks at the leader bleeding on the floor. "The Architects promised me power. Money. Everything I wanted. But they lied. They were going to reset ME too after Maya was captured."
She aims the gun at my head.
"So I'm taking matters into my own hands. The remote has two buttons. Red resets everyone. Blue kills the person wearing the collar." Jennifer's finger hovers over the blue button. "Say goodbye to your father, Maya."
"Wait!" I scream. "You want my mother's shares? The inheritance? I'll give it all to you! Just don't kill him!"
Jennifer pauses. "All of it?"
"Everything. Every share. Every dollar. Just let him live."
Jennifer smiles. "Deal. Sign here." She pulls out a legal document. "Transfer all of Sarah Chen's assets to Jennifer Parker-Chen. Sign it."
My hands shake as I take the pen. This is everything my mother left me. My entire inheritance. The reason The Architects want me.
But it's just money. My father is my family.
I sign the document.
Jennifer snatches it away. "Pleasure doing business with you."
Then she presses the blue button anyway.
The collar around Victor's neck beeps once.
"NO!" I scream.
But Victor just smiles. "It's okay, Maya. I'm not afraid anymore."
The collar opens. It falls to the floor.
Nothing happens.
Victor is alive. Unharmed. His memories intact.
Jennifer stares at the collar in confusion. "What? That should have killed him!"
Sophie starts laughing. "You idiot. That wasn't a real memory bomb. We switched it twenty minutes ago when we hacked the security system."
Marcus holds up the real collar. "This is the actual bomb. And you just gave us legal proof that you tried to murder Victor Chen."
His soldiers surround Jennifer. She tries to run, but there's nowhere to go.
"You tricked me," Jennifer snarls at me.
"No," I say. "You tricked yourself. You were so busy wanting my inheritance that you didn't notice we were ten steps ahead."
Ashton appears at my side. "Timeline 15. I've been planning this moment for five lifetimes."
Jennifer is arrested. The Architects' leader is captured. My father is safe.
We won.
But as I'm hugging Victor and crying with relief, Sophie's laptop beeps urgently.
She goes pale. "Maya. We have a massive problem."
"What now?"
"The contract you just signed. Transferring all your mother's assets to Jennifer?" Sophie's voice shakes. "Those assets include your Phoenix powers. They were legally tied to your inheritance. By signing them away, you just... you just gave Jennifer your immortality."
My blood runs cold. "What?"
Jennifer, handcuffed and surrounded by soldiers, starts laughing. "You stupid girl. You just made me immortal. And now, when I die, I'll come back. Over and over. Forever."
She pulls a hidden knife and stabs herself in the heart before anyone can stop her.
Jennifer falls to the floor, dead.
We all stare at her body.
Then her chest moves. She gasps. Her eyes open. The stab wound heals instantly.
Jennifer sits up, fully alive, and smiles at me. "Hello, Phoenix. Or should I say, former Phoenix? Thanks for the upgrade."