MasukThe command echoed through World Zero.BEGIN THE DELETION OF THE ORIGINAL.Ava didn't move.For several seconds, she couldn't even breathe.Then she looked at Ethan Collins.“Which original?”He didn't answer.“Ethan, which original?”His golden eyes shifted toward her.“You.”The word was barely audible.Ava felt Ethan Walker's fingers tighten around hers.“No,” he said.The voice above them repeated the command.DELETION SEQUENCE INITIATED.The walls began to glow.White lines spread across the floor, forming circles around Ava's feet.Elias immediately stepped forward.“Mother, move!”Ava tried.She couldn't.Something had locked her in place.Her body remained perfectly still while her consciousness screamed for movement.Ethan Walker pulled at her arm.“AVA!”Nothing.Ava looked down.The white lines were climbing her legs.Her fingers began to disappear.Not physically.They were becoming transparent.She could see the floor through them.“Oh God.”Elias's eyes blazed gold.“STO
The woman in the chamber opened her eyes.For several seconds, she did not move.Her chest rose slowly beneath the transparent covering. Her fingers twitched, and the monitor beside her began recording a heartbeat that had not existed moments earlier.Ava stared.The woman had her face.Her hair.Her lips.Even the tiny scar beneath her left eyebrow.But something about her felt different.The woman turned her head.And looked directly at Ava.“Is she awake?” Ethan Walker asked quietly.Ava couldn't answer.The woman inside the chamber lifted her hand and pressed it against the glass.Ava instinctively stepped closer.Their palms aligned.Two identical hands.Two identical fingerprints.Two women sharing the same face, standing on opposite sides of a barrier that had separated them for reasons neither understood.Then the woman inside the chamber smiled.“Finally,” she whispered.The glass trembled.Ethan Walker immediately pulled Ava backward.“Don't touch it.”“She's me.”“No.” His
Ava stared at the woman before her."I am the Ava Collins who died before you were born."The sentence made no sense.Ava wanted to laugh.She wanted to scream.She wanted someone to tell her that this was another trick, another reconstruction, another carefully designed lie intended to make her question everything she had ever believed.But the woman standing before her wasn't smiling anymore.She looked exhausted.Like someone who had waited too long to be remembered."Who are you?" Ava whispered.The woman tilted her head."I just told you.""No. You told me you were Ava Collins.""I am.""Then why do you look like me?"The woman's expression softened."Because you look like me."Ava shook her head."No."The woman sighed."You always do that.""Do what?""Reject the truth whenever it refuses to resemble the version of yourself you've grown comfortable with."Ava stepped backward.Ethan Walker immediately reached for her.But the woman lifted one hand."Don't touch her."Ethan stop
Ava couldn't move.The voice had come from inside her."Seraphina."She pressed both hands against her chest.The silver light beneath her skin pulsed again.Once.Twice.Then a third time.Seraphina stood before her, watching with an expression that was almost unbearably gentle."Don't fight it."Ava shook her head."That's not my name.""Not the one you remember.""I am Ava Collins."Seraphina nodded."Yes.""I've always been Ava Collins.""Yes.""Then why are you calling me Seraphina?"The woman smiled sadly."Because someone called you that before they taught you to answer to Ava."Behind them, the golden door remained open.The original Ethan stared into its darkness.His hands were trembling."Ethan," Ava whispered.He didn't respond.She approached him."What happened in World Zero?"He swallowed."I don't remember."Seraphina's expression changed."You do."The original Ethan shook his head."No.""You remember the beginning.""I remember Genesis.""Before Genesis."His breath
The darkness answered.And something beneath the worlds opened its eyes.SERAPHINA.The name echoed through the archive.Elias stood motionless, his golden eyes fixed on the darkness.The golden-eyed Creator staggered backward."No."Ava turned toward him."What is Seraphina?"He didn't answer.The Architect fell to her knees.Elara covered her mouth.Even the Author, standing at the edge of the collapsing archive, appeared to lose its composure.Then a voice emerged from beneath the worlds.Soft.Familiar.Terrifying."Ethan."The golden-eyed man closed his eyes.For the first time, Ava saw him tremble."Please," he whispered.The voice answered."You promised me you would stop creating ghosts."The archive shattered.Ava felt herself falling.Ethan Walker caught her hand, but the darkness swallowed them both.Elias screamed.And somewhere beyond the collapsing worlds, a woman began to sing.A melody Ava had never heard.Yet somehow, she knew every word.---She woke beneath a sky fi
Ava stared at him."Say that again."The original Ethan's fingers loosened around her wrist.He looked as though he wanted to take the words back, but he couldn't. They had already escaped him, carrying something neither of them understood."That's what I called you before they took your memories."Ava shook her head."No."His eyes glistened."I know.""No, Ethan. You don't get to say something like that and then tell me you don't know what it means.""I remember hearing it.""From where?""I don't know!""Then how do you know it was my name?"He looked at her helplessly."Because when I said it, I remembered losing you."The words silenced her.Around them, the library continued to collapse.Books dissolved into silver dust. The shelves folded inward, revealing a darkness that stretched farther than any world Ava had ever visited.Ethan Walker stood several feet away with Elias in his arms. Elara clung to the Architect, whose black-glass crown had shattered into pieces.But Ava bare







