POV: Nathan Fifty seconds. Forty-nine. Forty-eight. I stared at the buttons, my mind racing through scenarios. This was a false dilemma. Had to be. The Mother Below wouldn't make it this simple. There had to be hidden variables, unstated consequences, a trap I wasn't seeing. "What happens if I don't choose?" I asked. "The timer reaches zero and I choose for you," the Mother Below said. "And my choice will be the worst possible outcome. For everyone." Forty seconds. I studied the room, searching for exits, alternative paths, anything that could give me a third option. The walls were featureless. The door had vanished. Just me, the pedestal, the buttons, and the ticking clock. "There's always another way," I said, more to myself than her. "Every problem has multiple solutions if you examine it from enough angles." "Do they?" The Mother Below's amusement was palpable. "Or is that just what you tell yourself to avoid accepting that sometimes there are only bad choices?" Thi
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