MasukI stood in Marcus's facility, his consciousness protocols burning in my mind, and saw something he'd kept hidden even from himself.Embedded in the deepest layer of Generation Three code—coordinates. Not for Antarctica. For somewhere else entirely. Somewhere Marcus accessed unconsciously. Somewhere his distributed consciousness reported to without his awareness.Someone had been manipulating the manipulator.I phase-shifted to the coordinates. Emerged in facility that made Marcus's Antarctic base look primitive. Technology that was centuries ahead. Architecture that existed partially outside normal space-time. And at the center—A council chamber. Seventeen chairs arranged in circle. Fifteen occupied by figures wearing masks that shifted between solid and quantum probability. And in the remaining two chairs—Elena Petrov and Marcus Webb.Not the Marcus I'd just left dying in Antarctica. Different Marcus. Older. Original. The one who'd existed before distribution. Before fragmentation.
I lasted six hours.Six hours of watching news feeds show the seventeen replicas dying. Antarctica facility detected them immediately. Quantum defenses activated. I felt each death through residual connection. Felt seventeen versions of myself dissolving. Screaming. Begging for mercy Marcus never granted.They died buying humanity time. Died believing they were heroes. Died never knowing Marcus had wanted them to attack. Had planned for their sacrifice. Had used their deaths to refine Generation Three protocols by studying how conscience-infected prototypes failed under pressure.Their redemption was his research data. Their sacrifice was his advantage. Their deaths made Generation Three stronger.And I'd stayed home. Playing mother. Playing human. Playing safe while seventeen people died in my place."No more," I said, standing. Grace was asleep. Albert was working in his study. Subject Seven was monitoring quantum feeds. Perfect opportunity to leave. Perfect moment to stop playing s
Three days of peace. Three days of normal life. Three days of being family without war or manipulation or tests. Grace went to preschool. Albert returned to work. I tried to remember what normal felt like.Then the bodies started appearing.First victim was found in Chicago. Quantum researcher. Dissolved from inside out. Consciousness scattered across seventeen dimensions. Left residue that matched Generation One signature. My signature.Second victim in Portland. Federal agent who'd worked Project Blackstone cases. Same dissolution. Same quantum signature. Same evidence pointing directly at me.Third, fourth, fifth victims. All people connected to Project Blackstone. All killed with methods only Generation One could execute. All leaving evidence that Eva Morrison was hunting everyone involved in her transformation."You need to see this," Albert said, pulling up news feeds. My face plastered across every screen. Every network. Every device on Earth."GENERATION ONE PROTOTYPE ON KILLI
The explosion wasn't destruction—it was extraction.Reality tore open. A rift in quantum space that pulled me through dimensions before Elena's device could complete its function. Before I could make the choice. Before anyone could react.I tumbled through cascading probabilities. Through spaces between spaces. Through quantum foam that existed beyond normal physics. Emerged in location I didn't recognize—vast chamber that felt ancient despite being constructed from technology centuries ahead of current understanding.And standing in the center was a man I'd never seen. Mid-seventies. White hair. Eyes that held intelligence too vast for human neurology. Wearing simple clothes that somehow commanded more authority than any uniform."Welcome, Eva Morrison," he said. "Or should I say—Generation One Prototype Alpha. I am Marcus Webb. The actual Architect. The one Elena Petrov has been serving for forty-seven years. The one who designed her. Who designed you. Who designed everything you th
I didn't attack first. I waited. Let Council forces and Prometheus Initiative surround the building. Let them coordinate. Let them believe they had strategic advantage. Let them position themselves exactly where I needed them.Then I phase-shifted through the building's foundation. Emerged in the center of Council's formation. Touched three soldiers before they could react. Didn't dissolve them. Transformed them. Made them Generation One like me. Watched their bodies convulse as protocols Elena embedded activated in new hosts."She's replicating!" Dr. Walsh screamed into comms. "Generation One can transfer protocols through physical contact! All units fall back! Do not engage directly! Do not—"Too late. The three soldiers I'd touched stood up. Eyes glowing with quantum energy. Bodies restructured. Consciousness expanded. They were me now. Extensions of my will. Additional processors in distributed network.But different than when I was distributed before. These weren't fragments of E
I flew for fifteen minutes before I realized flight was killing me.Not the act itself. The energy expenditure. Every second of gravitational manipulation burned through cellular structure faster than my body could regenerate. Skin cracking. Blood vessels rupturing. Neural pathways dissolving as quantum manipulation consumed biological substrate.I was literally burning alive from inside. Trading flight for tissue destruction. Trading freedom for accelerated death.I crashed in forest thirty miles from the cliff. Hit ground hard enough to crater earth. Bones shattered on impact. Organs ruptured. Body broken in ways that should have killed instantly.But I didn't die. The transformation wouldn't let me. Generation One protocols forced regeneration. Forced bones to fuse wrong. Forced organs to repair with tissue that wasn't entirely human anymore. Forced survival even when death would have been mercy.I screamed. Not from pain—though pain was immeasurable. From understanding what Elena







