Mag-log in##AUTHOR’S POV The pen slipped from her fingers.For a moment, she couldn't breathe.The man standing before her had Ethan's face.The same features. The same eyes. The same shape of his jaw. Even the slight crease between his eyebrows was familiar.He wore an ordinary shirt and dark trousers, carrying a folder under one arm. There was nothing unusual about him. He looked like any other client coming in to have his accounts reviewed.But Claire couldn't stop staring."Miss?"His voice pulled her back.She blinked."I'm sorry."He placed the folder on her desk."I was told you would be handling my documents.""Yes. Of course."Claire forced herself to reach for the folder. Her fingers felt strangely numb. She opened it and began reviewing the contents, but her attention kept drifting toward his face.He noticed. After a moment, he gave her a curious look."Have we met before?"Claire's stomach tightened.The question was so ordinary. Yet it sent a strange ache through her chest.She l
##AUTHOR’S POV Claire woke with a strangled gasp.Her hands flew to her chest as she dragged in a desperate breath, her heart pounding so violently that she could feel it beneath her palms.For several seconds, she couldn't move.She stared at the ceiling, waiting for the familiar mechanical hum, the flashing monitors, or the cold voice of the machine to announce another warning.But nothing happened.There was only silence. Ordinary, undisturbed silence.Claire slowly turned her head. Her eyes widened.She was on the floor in her sitting.The pale curtains hung beside the window. Her bookshelf stood against the opposite wall, the kitchen doors slightly open. The cup of popcorn on the table was exactly where she'd left them. She pushed herself upright, breathing unevenly.Her television was on.A presenter sat behind a brightly lit desk, discussing an ordinary entertainment programme. The colours were clear. The sound was normal. There were no strange distortions, no flickering imag
##AUTHOR’S POV A technician approached and opened the laboratory door."Doctor, the equipment is ready."Dr. Nathaniel nodded."Bring her in."Claire glanced through the glass one last time.The other Madison hadn't moved. She was still watching.Then a researcher guided Claire toward the adjoining chamber.The room was colder than the observation area. A narrow medical bed stood in the center, surrounded by monitors, cables, and equipment she couldn't identify. Several electrodes were arranged on a tray beside it.A transparent screen separated the bed from the control station."Lie down," Dr. Nathaniel instructed.A technician fastened monitoring bands around her wrists and ankles. Another attached electrodes to her temples, forehead, and the base of her skull.The cold adhesive made her flinch.A researcher adjusted the equipment above her head."Baseline readings are stable. Heart rate. Eighty-four.""Neural activity?""Within expected parameters."Dr. Nathaniel moved behind the
##AUTHOR’S POV Dr. Nathaniel looked at her."Which message?""The one telling me I had ten days before the original ending."His expression changed."You received that?""Yes."He was silent.Then he turned back toward the display."That message was not part of our official monitoring system.""Then what does it mean?""We don't know."Claire felt her patience slipping."Do you know anything?""I know that your actions have changed the expected sequence of events. The original programme had a predicted timeline based on the information contained in your memories. But your interventions have altered it.""So the movie...""Whatever you call it, your memories provided a reference for events that had not yet occurred in this reality."Claire looked at the screen.For weeks, she had been relying on her knowledge of The Last Bell to survive.She had believed she was inside a story whose major events she could anticipate.But the story had changed because she had changed it.And now she un
##AUTHOR’S POVMadison was one of our central subjects. Her neurological responses were unusual—patterns we had never observed before.“Because of the experiment?”“Initially, yes.”He displayed another document: a series of brain scans dated several days before the outbreak.“After one of the procedures, Madison began displaying signs of a second consciousness. She recalled experiences that weren’t hers. Places she had never visited. People she had never met. Sometimes she spoke under a different name.”Claire’s mouth went dry. “What name?”Dr. Nathaniel looked at her. “Claire Bennett.”The room seemed to grow colder. She stepped back. “That’s impossible.”“She also described memories from another life. We recorded her.”“You’re saying Madison remembered *my* life?”“Not exactly.” He enlarged one of the scans. “Her activity showed two distinct patterns. One belonged to Madison. The other contained memories and responses associated with you—details she could not have known, experience
##AUTHOR’S POV Where are you taking me?""Below the military complex.""Why?""Because that's where the people who have been looking for you are waiting."He gestured toward a secured vehicle.Claire looked once more in the direction Mason had been taken. Then she followed.The vehicle entered a restricted section of the military complex.Instead of continuing toward the medical tents, it passed through two guarded checkpoints before descending along a concrete ramp.Claire watched the surroundings carefully.The walls were reinforced. Security cameras covered every corner, and armed personnel stood beside heavy steel doors.The deeper they travelled, the more the place resembled a research facility than a military installation.At the end of the ramp, the vehicle stopped before a wide entrance.A red symbol was displayed above the doors.Claire's breathing changed.She knew that symbol. She had seen it on the building outside Hwayang. The same warning marking. The same geometric pat







