Maya’s POVThe nursery was not a place of birth. It was a tomb of perfect, frozen possibilities. Thousands of glass pods stretched into the darkness above, each one glowing with a soft, sterile light. Inside them, I saw versions of us. Kael as a ruthless conqueror. Kael as a broken man. Me as a creature made of pure, unthinking light.The Architect paced in front of his throne, his hands clasped behind his back. He did not look like a god. Up close, his skin looked like parchment, brittle and thin, and his eyes were flat, dull circles of slate. He was bored."You see, the universe is terribly messy," he said, gesturing to the pods. "It creates, it destroys, it makes mistakes. My job is to curate. To find the version of a life that makes the most sense and keep it here, protected from the chaos of time.""You aren't a curator," I spat, my voice echoing in the vast, tomb-like space. "You're a hoarder."The Architect smiled, a gesture that didn't reach his eyes. "A hoarder saves trash. I
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