LOGIN“I'm standing here because I've been inside you since the day you were born.”Lydia's words left Ava speechless.She stared at the woman who shared her face, struggling to understand what she had just heard.“Inside me?” Ava whispered. “What does that mean?”Lydia tightened her grip on Ava's hand.“My consciousness was transferred into you before you were born. Grandmother believed she could preserve me by giving me a new body. But the transfer was incomplete.”Ava stepped backward.“Then whose memories are mine? Yours or mine?”“Both. But your choices, your feelings, and your experiences belong to you. I never wanted to take those away.”Daniel pulled Ava behind him.“Stay away from her.”Lydia looked at him sadly.“You still don't understand, do you? If you separate us carelessly, Ava could die.”“Then tell us how to stop this!”Before Lydia could answer, the alarm intensified.GLOBAL ACTIVATION: 00:06.Noah rushed toward the control panel.“We have six seconds before the remaining
“My daughter.”The voice echoed through the chamber.Ava turned slowly toward the doorway.A woman stood beneath the flickering lights, wearing a white dress stained with old blood. Her dark hair fell over her shoulders, and her eyes were identical to Ava's.For a moment, nobody spoke.Then Amara whispered, “It can't be.”The woman smiled sadly.“Hello, little sister.”Amara staggered backward.Ava looked between them, her heart pounding.“Who is she?”Amara's lips trembled. “Celeste was my eldest sister. But this woman…”She swallowed.“This is Lydia. Our mother's first daughter.”The woman stepped into the chamber.“Not quite, Amara. I was the first daughter she acknowledged. There were others before me.”Noah immediately moved toward the control panel.“That's impossible. The system identified Celeste as the first subject.”“Because Mother wanted everyone to believe that,” Lydia replied.Her eyes settled on Ava.“But you don't need to believe anything anymore, darling. You only nee
“I'm your grandmother's first daughter.”The voice coming from Daniel's mouth was soft, almost affectionate.“And I'm the one your mother killed to create you.”For several seconds, Ava couldn't breathe.The chamber seemed to shrink around her. The alarms had stopped, the countdown had frozen, and the lights flickered weakly overhead. Yet none of those things mattered anymore.She could hear only those words.Your mother killed me to create you.Slowly, Ava turned toward Amara.Her mother stood beside the shattered console, one hand pressed against her mouth. Tears streamed down her face, but she didn't seem aware of them. Her gaze was fixed on Daniel as if the man she had watched Ava love had suddenly become the ghost of someone she had buried long ago.“Mum?” Ava whispered.Amara shook her head.“No.”Ava took a step toward her.“Tell me she's lying.”Amara's lips trembled.“Please…”“Tell me!”The force of Ava's voice startled everyone.Ethan moved toward her, but Ava raised her ha
“Hello, Ava. I’ve been waiting for you.” The voice came from Daniel’s mouth. But it wasn’t Daniel’s voice. It was deeper, colder, and ancient enough to make the air inside the chamber feel suddenly thinner. Every word seemed to travel through the walls before reaching Ava’s ears, as though the entire underground facility had spoken through him. Ava stared at the man she loved. His eyes were completely black. Not dark brown. Not shadowed by the dim lighting. Black. There was no visible white, no reflection, no sign of the familiar warmth that had always made her feel safe, even when the entire world seemed determined to destroy her. “Daniel?” she whispered. His head tilted slightly. The movement was so familiar that it hurt. Daniel used to tilt his head that way whenever she asked him a question he didn't want to answer. Sometimes he did it before kissing her. Sometimes before telling a terrible joke and pretending he expected her to laugh. But this time, there was no tea
The woman stepped out of the shattered Serpent core.And the world seemed to stop.She had Ava's face.Not a resemblance.Not the kind of similarity that made strangers mistake two women for sisters.She had the exact same face.The same dark eyes.The same shape of her lips.The same small scar beneath her left eyebrow.Even the faint mark on her neck was identical.But something about her was terribly wrong.Ava could feel it.The woman stood with the confidence of someone who had never been afraid of anything in her life. Her eyes moved across the chamber, examining the people who had gathered around Ava.When her gaze reached Daniel, she smiled."You're still here."Daniel raised his gun."One more step, and I'll shoot."The woman looked at the weapon.Then she looked at him."You said those exact words the last time we met."Daniel's expression changed.Ava turned toward him."Daniel?"He didn't answer.The woman laughed softly."Oh, he remembers. He just doesn't understand what
Ava couldn't breathe.She stared at the little girl standing inside the shattered Serpent core.Same face.Same eyes.Same lips.Same small scar beneath her left eyebrow.It was like looking at herself in a mirror from another lifetime.Except the girl was only about six years old.Barefoot.Pale.Wearing a simple white dress.And smiling.Not a frightened smile.A knowing one.Daniel moved in front of Ava.“Stay behind me.”The little girl tilted her head.“You always say that.”Daniel froze.Ava's heart pounded.The girl looked past Daniel directly at her.“You still let him protect you.”Ava whispered, “Who are you?”The girl smiled.“You know.”“No.”“You've forgotten.”“I don't know you.”The girl's smile disappeared.“That hurts.”Ava stepped forward.Daniel caught her wrist.“Ava, don't.”She looked at him.“She's a child.”Daniel's expression remained tense.“We don't know what she is.”The girl giggled.“You never did.”Daniel immediately raised his weapon.The girl didn't re







