The room was dark except for the amber glow of the neural lattice pulsing through the walls—like veins made of fractured glass. Amelia stood at the center of it, still wrapped in silence, still absorbing what she had become.
"I don't hear her anymore," she murmured.
Eris watched from a respectful distance, arms crossed, her expression unreadable. "Echo?"
Amelia nodded, pressing two fingers to her temple. No whispers, no shadows, no suggestions clawing at the edge of her thoughts. Just stillness. For the first time since Node 1, she was alone in her own mind.
But the solitude didn't feel like peace. It felt like aftershocks.
Kestrel stood beside her now, close but not touching. "It might be temporary," he said, voice low. "She's gone quiet before."
Amelia shook her head. "No. She didn't retreat. She was taken."
Eris's eyes flicked to the lattice. "By what?"
"Not what. Who."
She reached out, touching the wall—and the lattice flared, a soft flare like a breath. Fractal nodes bloomed across the glass: moments in time, neurons in digital form. One node showed her standing at a precipice. Another—herself curled into Kestrel's arms. Another—Echo screaming, surrounded by smoke.
"You're seeing memories," Eris said, slowly.
"But they're not all yours, are they?"
"No," Amelia whispered. "Some are Solas. Some are… hers."
Kestrel stepped in. "You mean the clone?"
Amelia nodded. "I need to find her. Not just to end this—there's something else. Something I missed."
Before anyone could respond, a sharp beep echoed through the chamber.
"Distress signal," Zahir's voice came over the comms, crackling. "Node 3's exterior failsafe is tripped. Unauthorized access. Looks like someone's poking the corpse."
Eris straightened. "Mirror's still watching?"
"No," Zahir replied. "It's not them. It's… Dominic."
There was silence.
Then Kestrel muttered, "Of course it is."
Amelia's breath left her lungs in a slow, measured stream. "He's trying to finish what he started."
Zahir's voice was tense now. "You better come see this. He's not alone."
Ten Minutes Later — Surface Entry of Mirror Node 3
The air was electric—literally. Energy shimmered across the entrance to Node 3, static crackling like insect wings. Inside, faint movement registered on thermal scans: two figures, one clearly Dominic… the other flickering between heat signatures.
Zahir pointed at the screen. "That thing with him? It's not human. Not fully."
"It's her," Amelia whispered. "Or… what's left of her."
Kestrel scanned the readings. "That signature is bouncing like hell. She's embedded with something. Looks like Echo—no, worse. More fragmented. Viral."
Eris leaned in. "You think Dominic's trying to merge with the clone?"
"No," Amelia said. "I think he already has."
They looked at her.
She took a breath. "We're running out of time."
Deeper Inside Node 3
Dominic walked like a man in a trance. His eyes were bright, fevered. The clone beside him—still wearing Amelia's face, but twisted now, like an AI version of her painted from corrupted memory—moved with eerie grace.
She didn't speak. But she projected.
Dominic felt her in every thought. She didn't need words. She was inside him.
We could've ruled together, she said, her voice echoing through his skull like a melody warped through static. But you gave her the key.
He clenched his jaw. "I gave her a choice."
And she chose weakness.
They reached the core chamber, where the last backup of Solas flickered in a crystalline stasis field. The glass pulsed like a heart.
Dominic placed a hand on it. "Then let's rebuild it. On our terms."
Yes, the clone whispered. But without her.
Above — Control Deck
"Dominic's overriding the soul anchor," Zahir barked. "He's rewriting it. He's—shit—he's trying to make Solas bondwith the clone."
Eris slammed her palm down. "If he succeeds, the system will treat her as the original."
"No," Amelia said firmly. "It'll treat me as the virus."
Kestrel turned. "Then we stop them. Now."
Amelia looked at him. Then at Eris. Then Zahir.
"No," she said. "I go in alone. Just like before."
Zahir opened his mouth to protest—but stopped. He saw something in her eyes. Something unshakable.
"Then you need this." Eris pulled out a glowing disc—the SOUL CODE injector. "You get one shot. Insert this into the core, it'll burn away anything that doesn't belong."
"And if I don't make it out?" Amelia asked.
Eris didn't blink. "Then we light up the node from orbit."
Amelia gave a ghost of a smile. "I missed your optimism."
Descent into the Core
The path was narrow, dimly lit. The deeper she went, the more the walls pulsed—not just with light, but with emotion. Regret. Rage. Love.
Memories that weren't hers twisted into the structure.
Dominic's voice echoed faintly. "You left me behind."
She ignored it.
The clone stepped into view. "You always walk toward endings like you know the way."
Amelia stopped. "Because I do."
They faced each other in silence.
"You think I'm your shadow," the clone said. "But you were never the original. Just the last experiment before perfection."
"I don't need to be perfect," Amelia said, stepping forward. "I just need to be real."
And she thrust the SOUL CODE injector into the core.
The node screamed.
***********
The walls buckled. Glass shattered inward as Solas's systems began to destabilize.
And in that moment—time cracked.
Amelia felt herself split—memories, identities, echoes fragmenting around her.
And then she heard it.
Echo's voice, distant but clear: "I found the rest of me. But it's inside you now."
Amelia's vision went white.