2026-03-31 22:29:14
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Cameron’s POVThe message remained glowing on the screen.Nobody seemed willing to touch the phone.I stared at those words for seconds.My heart was beating painfully inside me.Or Brandon dies tonight.I looked toward Brandon immediately afterward.He was already looking directly at me.There was fear behind his eyes.But somehow, he still looked completely calm.“Don’t,” he whispered quietly.I frowned slightly before answering him.“Don’t what?”“Don’t even think about going alone.”I looked toward the phone again.“He threatened to kill you.”“And you think obeying him helps?”“I don’t know.”Brandon stepped closer toward me carefully.His fingers gently wrapped around mine.“Then don’t decide alone.”I looked into his eyes afterward.For some reason, those simple words mattered.Maybe because everyone had decided everything without me.Maybe because Brandon was finally asking me.“What would you do?” I asked quietly.“I’d stay with you.”I smiled faintly despite my fear.“That s
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Sofia opened her eyes inside complete darkness.There was no floor beneath her feet anymore.There was no ceiling above her head either.There wasn’t even a clear sense of direction.Everything existed around her simultaneously, without boundaries.Thousands of voices whispered inside her mind.Millions of memories moved through her consciousness.Some belonged to strangers she had never met.Others belonged to people she remembered loving.Sofia slowly lifted her hands before herself.They looked completely normal, somehow.She expected something different after becoming the system.Maybe glowing fingers.Maybe terrifying robotic eyes.Maybe at least some dramatic special effects.Instead, she looked exactly like herself.“That feels suspiciously anticlimactic,” Sofia whispered quietly.The system answered immediately inside her mind.“You remain physically unchanged.”Sofia jumped despite being completely alone.“Please stop appearing inside my thoughts.”“I am not appearing.”“You
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Sofia stared at the man standing inside the doorway.For several seconds, she couldn’t even remember breathing.Her father looked exactly as she remembered him, except somehow older, almost like time had been passing somewhere else while everyone inside this place remained trapped.His eyes moved slowly across the room before finally resting upon her.“You’ve grown,” he said quietly.Sofia’s lips parted, but no words came.Amelia suddenly stepped backward.Daniel’s expression changed completely.Even Ethan looked terrified.Sofia noticed all three reactions immediately.“You all know him,” she whispered.Nobody answered.Sofia looked back toward the doorway.“Dad?”The man smiled gently.“Yes, sweetheart.”Sofia immediately felt tears burning behind her eyes.“You died.”“I did.”“But you’re standing here.”“So are you.”“That doesn’t answer anything.”Her father laughed softly.“You always hated incomplete answers.”Sofia wiped her cheek angrily.“I hate everything right now.”“That
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Sofia couldn’t breathe after hearing her mother’s voice.The entire room seemed frozen around them.Nobody moved, not even Ethan beside her.Sofia stared at the floor beneath her feet.“Mum?”Her voice cracked immediately after saying it.The voice answered from below.“Yes, Sofia, I’m still here.”Sofia covered her mouth with trembling hands.Tears immediately filled her eyes.“No, this isn’t possible.”Ethan slowly approached her from behind.“Sofia, don’t answer her.”Sofia turned around sharply.“Why shouldn’t I?”“Because you don’t know what she is.”“That sounds like my mother.”“It sounds like your mother’s memory.”Sofia shook her head angrily.“You don’t know that.”“I know how the system works.”“And I know my mother’s voice.”Ethan’s expression softened painfully.“So do I.”Sofia immediately froze after hearing that.“You knew my mother?”Ethan didn’t answer immediately.Sofia stepped closer toward him.“You knew her?”“Yes.”“How?”“She helped create the first system.”So
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The hand remained gripping the broken floor.Sofia couldn’t stop staring at those familiar fingers.They looked exactly like hers, which somehow made everything worse.Amelia pulled Sofia backward before she could approach.“Don’t touch it,” Amelia whispered.Sofia stared at her with disbelief.“I wasn’t planning to hug it.”Daniel moved closer toward the opening.“It’s waking faster than expected.”Sofia immediately looked at him.“Who exactly is waking?”Daniel pointed toward the darkness below.“The first version of you.”Sofia frowned deeply.“I thought I was the first version.”“You are.”“Then who is she?”Daniel’s expression became strangely uncomfortable.“She is what you removed.”Sofia stared at him.“I removed another version of myself?”Daniel nodded slowly.“Not exactly.”Sofia sighed heavily.“I really hate that phrase.”Daniel almost smiled.“You always did.”Sofia immediately looked toward him.“Stop saying that.”Daniel’s smile disappeared.“Sorry.”The hand beneath t
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Sofia stared at Amelia without understanding anything anymore.Her mind felt like a room with broken windows.Every answer seemed to create another impossible question.“You are my sister?” Sofia finally asked quietly.Amelia nodded slowly, looking strangely hurt.“Yes, Sofia, I am your sister.”Sofia shook her head while stepping backward.“That cannot possibly be true.”Amelia looked toward Ethan before answering.“You don’t remember because they removed me.”Sofia’s eyes immediately narrowed with suspicion.“Who removed you from my memories?”Amelia’s expression became colder afterward.“Ethan helped them remove me.”Sofia immediately turned toward Ethan.“Is that true?”Ethan didn’t answer quickly enough.Sofia’s heart sank immediately after that silence.“Ethan, please answer me honestly this time.”“I helped remove some memories.”“Some memories?”“Most of them were dangerous.”Sofia laughed bitterly without feeling amused.“Apparently everything about my life was dangerous.”Am
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