The air was thick with dust and heat. The sky hung low, red like a warning light that never turned off. Lena coughed and pulled her jacket tighter around her. The wind carried a strange humming sound, like machines breathing under the ground.They had arrived. But not where they expected.Not in the past.Not in safety.This was the future.And it was already dying.Kai helped the Zero Child stand up. Her knees were shaking, and her eyes were wide.“Where… where are we?” she asked softly.Kai looked around with a tense jaw. His eyes locked on the tall black tower in the distance. It glowed with red lights, like veins pulsing through the metal.“That symbol on the tower,” Eli said, pointing. “It’s the Nexus symbol. But warped. Like it’s been burned into everything.”“It’s him,” Lena whispered.Kai nodded once. “The copy. He won.”The Group MovedThe city around them was broken—unfinished buildings, cracked streets, and glowing wires crawling over the ground like snakes. Some pulsed, re

Light.It was everywhere.Too bright to see. Too loud to hear anything else.Lena tried to scream, but no sound came. She couldn’t feel her body. Couldn’t tell if she was falling or floating. Her thoughts slipped through her fingers like smoke.Where was Kai?Where was she?And then, just like that, the light shattered.Lost in the BetweenShe dropped—hard.Her body slammed into something wet and cold. Mud. Dirt. The ground.Lena coughed and rolled onto her side, blinking through thick rain.Darkness pressed around her, thick and heavy. No buildings. No stars. Just a gray, endless swamp.She wasn’t in the Nexus anymore.Something had pulled her into the Between.The place where time hadn’t settled. Where broken timelines went to rot.She forced herself to sit up, shaking. “Kai?”Silence.Only the wind howling.And then—A voice. But not his.A child’s whisper: “You brought the light here. That was a mistake.”The WatchersLena turned, heart racing.The Zero Child stood a few feet away

The wind screamed at the top of the Nexus tower.The sky above was broken like shattered glass. The rift hovered wide open, letting in twisted clouds, red lightning, and a humming energy that made Lena’s skin crawl.And standing in front of her…Was him.Kai.But not her Kai.This one had red eyes, darker skin, and no warmth in his voice.He tilted his head slightly. “You look disappointed.”Lena’s knees locked. Her chest felt hollow. “You’re not him.”“I was,” he said, voice flat like a machine. “Until you abandoned me. Now I’m better.”Behind him, Commander Reyes stood with the control device, smiling like she’d already won.The Child ReactsThe Zero Child stepped forward, eyes glowing silver. “You’re not him,” she said softly.Red-Eyed Kai turned to her. “You’re right. I’m more than him now.”He raised a hand—and a wave of energy blasted out. Lena pulled the girl back just in time, but the explosion cracked the tower’s walls.“Why does he look like Kai?” the girl whispered.“He’s t

The silence was thick.After everything that happened in the lab ruins, Lena, Kai, Eli, and the Zero Child had found a small safehouse hidden under the crumbled remains of Old District 4. The place smelled of dust and rust, but for the first time in days, they had a roof over their heads and a few working lights.Still, none of them could sleep.Kai stood near a broken window, watching the night sky. The stars flickered like glitching pixels. Time was still unstable, but the cracks in the sky were shrinking.Or maybe hiding.Eli sat hunched over the console, running silent scans. “No more spikes in the Copy’s signal. Either he’s gone… or he’s hiding deep.”Lena sat with the girl, brushing her tangled hair. The girl leaned against her shoulder, exhausted. She hadn’t spoken much since the possession broke, only giving small answers when asked. She was scared. And still not free.Kai turned. “We’ve bought time. Not peace.”Warning SignsAround midnight, the lights flickered again.Eli ju

The silence was heavy.Too heavy.Lena stared at the girl lying on the cracked floor of the tower. Her chest rose and fell slowly. She looked peaceful—until her eyes opened.Red.Not the soft red of tiredness.But the glowing red of something else.Something wrong.Lena stepped back. “Kai... her eyes.”Kai crouched beside her, his face tense. “It’s the Copy. He didn’t vanish. He’s inside her.”Eli moved closer, gun drawn but shaking. “Tell me she’s still in there.”The girl blinked, and when she spoke, it was her voice—but colder.“He’s part of me now. I can feel him.”The Child’s ChangeThe girl sat up slowly. She didn’t look scared. She looked calm. Too calm.Her eyes scanned the broken sky, the crumbling edges of the tower. “The Rift is closed. But the price… it wasn’t just him.”“What do you mean?” Lena asked.The girl turned to her. “He left pieces of himself in me. I see his memories. His rage. His fear. And the worst part? I don’t hate him.”Lena’s throat tightened. “He tried t