Chapter 20 · Do Not Wake Me

The other me is smiling.

Not the kind of smile you give a mirror. The kind you give someone you're about to bury.

She's standing three feet away in the core's white nothing-space, wearing my face, my hoodie, even the coffee stain on the left sleeve. But her eyes are wrong. They're too steady. Too sure. I've never looked at anyone like that in my life.

"You can't kill me," she says. "I'm the one who got out."

Behind me, Nyx is on his knees. Not kneeling. Collapsing. His edges are flickering like a bad render, black smoke peeling off his shoulders. The core's eating him. It's been eating him since he hit delete on every save file that wasn't me.

"Vera." His voice is static. "Don't listen."

The other me laughs. It sounds like my laugh. I hate it.

"He's corrupted," she says. "The system's trying to purge him. If you stay, you go down with the ship. But I already found the exit. I'm real. You're just the save file he wouldn't let go."

My hands are shaking. I don't know if it's fear or rage or the core destabilizing under us. The white floor is cracking.