LOGINThe words still echoed in the underground chamber, long after the voice had gone.My creator has returned.Sharon stood frozen.The giant black hand still loomed beneath the cracked floor, its fingers slowly curling around the shattered concrete as if whatever was beneath them was trying to pull itself into their world.Alex moved to the front of Sharon."Nobody move."Daniel raised his weapon.Evelyn looked in horror at the floor."That isn't a host."The older Sharon nodded."No.""What is it?" Daniel asked.The older Sharon looked at Sharon."Your first creation."Sharon's stomach turned."I never created something like that.""You did.""No.""You just don't remember."There was another tremor.The black hand went under the floor.For a moment, everything grew strangely silent.Then came the system.TIMELINE 318CREATOR CONFIRMED.ORIGINAL ORGANISM DETECTED.THREAT LEVEL: UNKNOWN.COMMAND AUTHORITY: SHARON.Sharon looked at the last line."Command authority?"The older Sharon move
The moment the system announced Sharon as the first anchor all the screens in the chamber turned black.There was a stunned silence that stretched for three seconds, then the entire underground facility screamed.Not one voice, but thousands.It reverberated through the walls, the floor, the ceiling, and the steel beneath their feet as if every host connected to the organism had simultaneously awoken.Sharon covered her ears."What did you do?"The older Sharon did not reply.She fixed her gaze on the system that hovered before Sharon and a look of something Sharon had never seen on her face.Fear."You weren't meant to remember this soon."Alex moved closer."What did you mean when you said Sharon was the first anchor?"The older Sharon stared at him."You've been asking the wrong question.""Then give me the right one.""Ask why the organism chose her."Alex tightened his jaw."I already know that Blackwell experimented on her.""No."The older Sharon shook her head."That is what B
Sharon looked at the woman in the glass cylinder.She wondered for a moment if she was looking into a mirror from a future that she had never lived.The same face.The same eyes.In the same small scar under her left eyebrow.But this woman looked tired; as if she had been fighting something for decades and never got a break from it.Alex went in front of Sharon."Who are you?"The older lady laughed."You already know."I want you to say it," I said.Her eyes scanned him.But you still care for her,"Alex's expression hardened."You know me?"Before you knew yourself I knew you!The air was chilled in the chamber.Sharon walked over Alex."You said you created the apocalypse."The woman nodded."Not intentionally.""Tell me what happened, then.The woman gazed at the baby in Sharon's arms.She instantly changed her face.Fear.Real fear.Down with that child!Sharon tightened her hold."Why?"That's not the kid I think it is, because.Alex raised his weapon."Explain."The woman shoo
The ground blew up around them.Sharon barely had a second to react before Alex grabbed her waist and pulled her back, protecting her body as the ground cracked down the middle of the room.Daniel yelled something, but the sound was drowned out by a low growl that came from below.Everything under the facility shook.The ceiling creaked and cracked, sending down clumps of concrete.Warning alarms flashed red.And something beneath their feet began to breathe.Once.Twice.Slowly.Deeply.Like the ground itself had lungs.Sharon held the human baby close while starring at the silver-eyed child Michael held.The baby smiled."Mother."Sharon's heart stopped.Alex pulled her back."Don't answer it."Michael laughed quietly."You still think you can protect her."Alex raised his weapon."I don't need to think."Michael's expression changed."You should remember what happened the first time."Alex froze.Sharon looked at him."What does he mean?"Michael's smile widened."You don't remembe
For a few seconds, Sharon could not breatheShe looked at the two babies standing in the center of the underground chamber, one clinging to her chest and the other cradled in the woman who wore her face.They were identicalThe same tiny handsthe same pale skinthe same dark veins snaking up their necksand the same completely black eyes.The system's warning hovered in front of Sharon.TWO HOSTS DETECTED.ONE WORLD.ONE TIMELINE.ONLY ONE CHILD CAN SURVIVESharon's fingers tightened around the baby in her arms."No."She heard herself say it.Original Sharon looked at her sadly."You still don't understand."I understand perfectly.""No, you don't."Original Sharon took a step forward."The system isn't asking you which baby you prefer."Sharon's heart stopped."Then what is it asking?"Original Sharon looked up at the two children."It is asking which version of the future deserves to exist."A deep vibration suddenly rolled through the floor.The whole facility shook and dust fell
The system message was all Sharon could hear while she was staring at it, as all other sounds had faded away in the laboratory.This habit, known as "Alex Knight's bunker" lies directly opposite the St. John's School.CURRENT GUARDIAN: MICHAEL.Her stomach tightened.Michael was to be in front of her.The system was telling him that he was somewhere else, though.That really meant there was more than one Michael.Again.“How many different types of him are there?” Sharon whispered.Evelyn eyed her.“Enough.”Sharon turned sharply.Of course, this is not an answer.”Evelyn's face was expressionless.“Blackwell also learned that the organism could replicate biological patterns but could not replicate consciousness exactly, so they started making multiple copies of the same person until they finally found one that could carry the organism.”Daniel's jaw tightened.“And one of those versions was Michael.”“No.”Evelyn stared at the baby.“Michael was the first successful one.”Sharon's eye







