Chapter 25 · The Other Victor

"Stay in the chair."

The voice came from behind. My voice. Same gravel, same dead calm I used when I wanted someone to stop breathing.

I didn't move. The injection chair dug into my spine, leather straps loose around my wrists. The needle was still in my arm, tube hanging slack. No drip. No burn. Just the metal crown cold against my temple and the smell of antiseptic that didn't belong in a place like this.

"You shot her," the voice said. Closer now. "You felt the trigger break. You watched her go down."

"Yeah." I kept my eyes on the glass in front of me. Empty observation room. No spectators this time. Just my reflection, and behind it, a second shape. Same height. Same build. "And she pulled hers first. So what."

"So you're still here." Footsteps, slow, circling left. "She put you down. You reset. And now you're in my chair."

I turned my head. He stood three feet away, arms loose, no weapon visible. Looked like me. Moved like me. Fatigues clean, no blood, no dirt. Like he'd just spawned in.

"You're the copy," I said.

He smiled. Wasn't my smile. Too wide.