The glass containment capsule cracked again, and Fred instinctively pulled Daniella behind him as a violent tremor tore through Level Null.The body inside the capsule remained completely still. It looked exactly like Fred: the same face The same build The same scar beneath his right eye Yet the impossible date displayed beside the chamber continued to glow.SUBJECT CREATED: 1978.Fred stared at the figure with growing disbelief. "I was born in 1982."His mother stood several feet away, her face drained of color. "That is what the records say."Fred slowly turned toward her. "Then the records are lies."His mother did not answer. The older Fred stepped closer to the containment chamber. "She's been lying to you since you were a child."Fred looked at him. "You knew about this?""I knew there was an original.""But you didn't know where it was.""No."The older Fred's eyes remained fixed on the capsule. "I spent twenty years searching for it."Fred frowned. "Why?""Because every versio

Every capsule in Level Null opened at once. The sound of hundreds of locks releasing echoed through the underground facility as glass doors slid apart and the hidden subjects stumbled into the cold air.Some collapsed immediately, their weakened bodies unable to support themselves after years of artificial suspension. Others remained standing, staring at Fred with expressions ranging from confusion to terror.Fred could barely process what he was seeing. There were children among them. There were adults. There were elderly men and women.And despite their age differences, every one of them carried the same symbol beneath the skin of their neck: the Anchor mark. Fred slowly turned toward his mother. "What did you do?"His mother's voice came through the damaged speakers. "What I had to do.""You keep saying that."Fred's voice hardened. "But I am done accepting it as an excuse."The little girl standing behind him continued to watch him. She looked no older than six. Her dark hair fell

The woman beneath Level Null opened her eyes, and every machine in the underground facility responded as though it had been waiting for that single movement.The monitors flickered violently. Lights burst along the walls. A deep vibration traveled through the floor and shook the glass panels surrounding the chamber.Fred instinctively pulled Daniella closer to him. He could feel her trembling against his chest.“Mara,” the other Fred whispered.The name carried a fear that Fred had never heard in another man's voice.Fred looked at him. “You know her.”The other Fred did not answer immediately. His attention remained fixed on the woman inside the chamber. “I remember her.”Fred's jaw tightened. “That is not what I asked.”The other Fred finally looked at him. “She was the beginning of everything.”Before Fred could ask another question, the chamber doors opened. A cloud of cold vapor rolled across the floor. The woman stepped out. She looked exactly like Daniella.The same face The sa

The gunshot tore through the underground chamber before Fred could fully understand what was happening. He threw himself in front of Daniella.The bullet struck the metal pillar beside his shoulder, sending fragments of steel across the floor. The impact forced him backward, but he remained standing, shielding Daniella with his body.The scarred version of Fred lowered his weapon. “You still do that,” he said.Fred's breathing became ragged as he raised his own weapon.“Try shooting her again, and I will make sure you never get the chance to pull that trigger a second time.”The scarred man studied him with an expression that contained neither anger nor surprise. Instead, he looked almost disappointed, as though Fred had repeated a mistake he had witnessed too many times. “That is exactly how the first life began.”Fred's fingers tightened around his weapon. “What are you talking about?”Behind him, Daniella gasped.Her hand pressed against the back of his shirt, and he felt her nails

Fred struggled to rise from the laboratory floor as the last echoes of Daniella's scream reverberated through the restored chamber.The room no longer resembled the underground facility beneath Morgan Capital. The metallic walls had transformed into white laboratory panels, and the cold machinery had been replaced by rows of medical equipment.Cables hung from the ceiling, connecting the walls to the transparent chambers positioned around the room. Everywhere Fred looked, he saw evidence of a life he had never remembered living.The air smelled of disinfectant and burning electrical components. A red warning light rotated above the entrance, casting restless shadows across the faces of the people gathered beyond it.Thousands of them stood motionless. Every person had Fred's face.Some appeared to be children, while others were elderly. A few wore laboratory uniforms, and several had bloodstained clothing. They all watched him with the same hollow expression, as though they were waiti