Marcus dissolved in Timeline Null, his physical form unable to exist in a reality that had forgotten how matter worked. But his consciousness remained, and the billion trapped souls could see him clearly."You came here to die with us," one whispered. It might have been a man, a woman, a child—identity had blurred after seventeen years of suffering."I came here to get you out," Marcus corrected. "Dying is just what happens if we don't move fast."Through the deteriorating bridge connection, he felt Elena screaming his name. Felt Richard trying to pull him back. Felt the entire Vale family desperately attempting to stabilize his presence in the dead reality.But Timeline Null fought them. It was a reality that had rejected existence. Anyone entering it would be rejected too.Marcus felt his consciousness beginning to fragment, pulled apart by the same forces that had killed eight billion people seventeen years ago. The Swarm's consumption hadn't just destroyed bodies—it had unmade th

The dimensional barrier shimmered around Earth like a soap bubble, and for the first time since the Swarm attack, humanity breathed without fear. Three days. No cosmic threats. No reality-bending crises. Just time.Marcus stood on the roof of Vale Industries, watching the sunset with Elena. The city below was rebuilding. Crews worked on damaged buildings. People emerged from shelters. Life, messy and imperfect, continuing."I keep waiting for something to go wrong," Elena said."Same. But the fragments' barrier is holding. Nothing's getting through for seventy-two hours." Marcus pulled her close. "We actually get to do this. Get married without an apocalypse interrupting.""Your family's going to make it weird anyway.""Obviously. But that's regular weird, not cosmic weird. I'll take it."Below, preparations were already underway. Catherine was coordinating security with her hybrids. Sophia was handling technical logistics. Amanda was managing the guest list, which had grown complica

Raven's expertise proved immediately useful and deeply uncomfortable. She analyzed the seven achievements the Global Citizenship Council had prepared and found vulnerabilities in all of them."The dimensional integration looks impressive until you notice Timeline Epsilon-Four has been having daily territorial disputes with its neighbors. The consciousness rescue from Timeline Null is great, except three percent of the refugees are still psychologically unstable. The Grief Eater resolution only worked because Marcus almost died—not exactly a repeatable strategy.""Your point?" Amara asked coldly."My point is the Auditor will find these flaws immediately. We need to address them or pivot to different achievements." Raven pulled up holographic data. "You're presenting your best wins. You should be presenting your best recoveries. Show how humanity handles failure, not just success."Through the bridge network, Marcus felt resistance to this approach. People wanted to show their victorie

The Sovereign's form shifted, pulling light from the surrounding air until it was almost too bright to perceive. Through the bridge network, Marcus felt eight billion people holding their breath, waiting for a verdict that would determine whether their species continued existing."I have deliberated," the Sovereign said. "And I find humanity... adequate."The word landed like a stone. Not approved. Not worthy. Adequate."You meet minimum requirements for multiverse citizenship. You have demonstrated basic dimensional stability, rudimentary consciousness manipulation, and capacity for collective action. These qualities permit survival but do not merit elevation."Through the bridge network, Marcus felt relief and disappointment mixing. They'd passed. But barely. And the Sovereign's tone suggested this was more reprieve than victory."However," the Sovereign continued, "adequacy alone does not explain my presence. The Architects of Reality do not attend citizenship trials for species t

The ancient figure stepped through reality like it was tissue paper. It looked human but moved like something that had forgotten what humanity meant. Through the bridge network, Marcus felt eight billion people collectively holding their breath."I am Marcus Vale," the figure said. "The first Marcus Vale. Created approximately twelve thousand years ago as an experiment in recursive consciousness evolution."Both copies stared. The one claiming to be original spoke first. "That's impossible. Humans haven't existed for twelve thousand years as a dimensional-aware species—""Correct. Because I keep resetting you." The ancient Marcus smiled, and it was sad. "Every time humanity reaches the threshold of dimensional citizenship, I evaluate whether they've evolved enough. If they haven't, I reset the timeline and start over. This is attempt number forty-seven."Through the bridge network, horror rippled outward. Margaret's voice was shaky. "You're saying we've done this forty-six times befo