Chapter 137: The Choice Is Yours

The sky cracked.

Dillan stood beneath it, Sasha’s hand firmly in his.

The four-year-old version of himself smiled.

Then the child began to disappear.

"Wait."

Dillan stepped forward.

The child shook his head.

"You don’t need me anymore."

Dillan’s chest tightened.

"That doesn’t mean I want you gone."

The child smiled.

"I know."

His body dissolved into tiny fragments of white light.

One fragment touched Dillan’s forehead.

A memory entered him.

Not a warning.

Not a rule.

Not a command.

A simple sentence.

"You don’t have to be afraid of being left."

Dillan closed his eyes.

The final fragment disappeared.

The sky became silent.

Then the white eyes above them began to close.

One.

Two.

Three.

Until darkness swallowed them completely.

[MEMORY PURGE: CANCELLED.]

[WITNESS AUTHORITY: STABLE.]

[ORIGINAL CREATOR FRAGMENT: RELEASED.]

Dillan opened his eyes.

The Retained Self was staring at him.

"What?"

She smiled.

"He let go."

Dillan looked at the place where the child had stood.

"He finally did."

Mara exhaled.

"Then it’s over."

Celia shook her head.

"No."

Everyone turned toward her.

She was staring at the sky.

"The System is gone."

Dillan frowned.

"So?"

Celia pointed upward.

"That wasn’t the System attacking us."

Silence.

"Then what was it?"

Celia looked at Dillan.

"Something that existed before it."

The forest became unnaturally quiet.

Even the wind stopped.

Elara slowly looked around.

"I felt it."

Dillan glanced at her.

"What?"

"The same presence."

"From the Zero Lock?"

She nodded.

"It was there before you created the Locks."

Dillan looked toward the oak.

"Then why did it wait?"

Mara answered.

"Because you weren’t ready."

Dillan frowned.

"For what?"

Before Mara could answer, a soft chime echoed through the forest.

Everyone froze.

A translucent window appeared.

Not crimson.

Not blue.

Not white.

It was completely colorless.

[WITNESS RECORD UPDATED.]

Dillan stared.

"I thought the System was terminated."

"It was," Mara said.

"Then what is this?"

The window changed.

[THIS IS NOT A SYSTEM.]

Another line.

[THIS IS A RECORD.]

Dillan’s expression tightened.

A list appeared.

Seven names.

Sasha Ruren.

Aurelia.

Alina.

Dana.

Lyra.

Evelyn.

Dillan Ruren.

But there was an eighth line.

It was blank.

Dillan stared at it.

"Why is there another slot?"

The record answered.

[EIGHTH SUBJECT: UNRESOLVED.]

Elara’s face changed.

"No."

Dillan looked at her.

"What?"

She stepped backward.

"That shouldn’t be there."

"Why?"

"Because the eighth position..."

She swallowed.

"...was erased."

The blank slot began flickering.

Letters slowly appeared.

One.

Then another.

Then another.

Dillan’s heart began pounding.

A name formed.

SASHA RUREN.

Everyone froze.

Sasha stared at the record.

"But I’m already there."

The first Sasha remained listed.

A second Sasha appeared beneath her.

[SUBJECT 8: SASHA RUREN.]

Sasha took a step backward.

"That isn’t me."

The second name changed.

[CORRECTION.]

The name disappeared.

A new designation appeared.

[SUBJECT 8: SASHA’S FIRST CHOICE.]

Dillan’s expression hardened.

"What does that mean?"

The record responded.

[SUBJECT 8 IS NOT A PERSON.]

[SUBJECT 8 IS A CHOICE.]

[STATUS: UNRESOLVED.]

Aurelia frowned.

"A choice can’t be a person."

Elara slowly shook her head.

"Not normally."

The oak tree began bleeding crimson light from its roots.

Dillan stepped toward it.

"What happens if the choice becomes resolved?"

Elara looked at him.

"Then one of Sasha’s possible futures becomes real."

Sasha’s face went pale.

"Which one?"

Elara didn’t answer.

The record displayed three possibilities.

[FUTURE ONE: SASHA STAYS.]

A second line.

[FUTURE TWO: SASHA LEAVES.]

Then a third.

[FUTURE THREE: SASHA BECOMES SOMETHING ELSE.]

Dillan stared at the final possibility.

"What does that mean?"

The record went blank.

Then one final message appeared.

[FUTURE THREE CANNOT BE OBSERVED.]

Sasha slowly reached for Dillan’s hand.

Her fingers trembled.

"Dillan..."

He looked at her.

"I don’t want my future chosen for me."

Dillan nodded.

"It won’t be."

The record suddenly flickered.

[WARNING.]

The forest shook.

[SUBJECT 8 HAS BEGUN CHOOSING.]

Sasha’s eyes widened.

"What?"

Her shadow moved.

Independently.

Again.

But this time, it didn’t attack.

It simply pointed toward the forest.

Toward something approaching through the trees.

A figure stepped into the moonlight.

And Dillan recognized the silhouette immediately.

It was Sasha.

But this Sasha was wearing a white dress.

Her eyes were completely crimson.

And she smiled at Dillan.

"You finally chose her."

She tilted her head.

"Now choose me."

The forest went silent.

Two Sashas stood beneath the moonlight.

One beside Dillan.

One several meters away.

The second Sasha wore a white dress.

Her crimson eyes never left him.

"Now choose me."

Dillan didn’t move.

Sasha beside him stared at her double.

"What are you?"

The white-dressed Sasha smiled.

"You."

"No."

"Yes."

"You’re not me."

"Then why do you recognize my voice?"

Sasha’s expression tightened.

"Because you were born from me."

The white-dressed girl shook her head.

"Wrong."

She pointed at Dillan.

"I was born from his choice of you."

The color drained from Sasha’s face.

The translucent record appeared again.

[SUBJECT 8: SASHA’S FIRST CHOICE.]

[ENTITY TYPE: POSSIBILITY.]

[CURRENT FORM: TEMPORARY.]

[PURPOSE: REPRESENT UNRESOLVED OUTCOME.]

Dillan stared at the final line.

"You’re a possibility."

The white Sasha smiled.

"I’m the Sasha you created before the real Sasha ever had a choice."

Sasha’s hands curled into fists.

"So you’re the version of me he wanted."

"Exactly."

Dillan shook his head.

"No."

The white Sasha looked at him.

"No?"

"You aren’t what I wanted."

Her smile disappeared.

"Then what am I?"

"You’re what I was afraid I needed."

Silence.

The white Sasha’s crimson eyes narrowed.

"You wanted someone who would never leave."

"Yes."

"You wanted someone who would always choose you."

"Yes."

"You wanted someone who would love you even when you didn’t deserve it."

Dillan paused.

"Yes."

She stepped closer.

"Then choose me."

Sasha grabbed Dillan’s hand.

The white Sasha noticed.

Her expression became colder.

"She can’t give you what I can."

Dillan looked at her.

"What can you give me?"

"Certainty."

The word echoed.

"I will never leave."

Dillan remained silent.

"I will never question you."

She took another step.

"I will never choose someone else."

Another.

"I will never make you wonder whether you’re enough."

Sasha’s eyes lowered.

The words were designed perfectly.

Too perfectly.

The white Sasha smiled.

"Isn’t that what you wanted?"

Dillan looked at Sasha beside him.

She was afraid.

Not of the other girl.

Of what Dillan might answer.

He squeezed her hand.

Then faced the white Sasha.

"No."

Her smile vanished.

"I wanted that once."

The white Sasha stared.

"But I don’t anymore."

The record flashed.

[SUBJECT 8: CONFLICT DETECTED.]

The white Sasha’s body trembled.

"Why?"

"Because certainty isn’t love."

Her crimson eyes widened.

"You’re wrong."

"No."

Dillan stepped forward.

"Love means someone can leave."

The white Sasha shook her head.

"Then what’s the point?"

"Choice."

He pointed toward Sasha.

"She can choose me."

Then toward the white Sasha.

"And you can choose to walk away."

The white Sasha laughed.

"That’s impossible."

"Why?"

"Because I was created to stay."

Dillan’s expression softened.

"Then I won’t make you."

The white Sasha froze.

"You..."

"I won’t choose you."

Her face cracked.

"But I won’t destroy you either."

The crimson light around her body flickered.

[SUBJECT 8: AGENCY DETECTED.]

[UNRESOLVED POSSIBILITY: BECOMING AUTONOMOUS.]

The white Sasha looked at her own hands.

"I can choose?"

Dillan nodded.

"Yes."

She looked at the real Sasha.

Then back at Dillan.

A strange sadness entered her eyes.

"If I choose to leave..."

Dillan answered:

"Then I’ll let you."

The white Sasha lowered her head.

For several seconds, she said nothing.

Then she smiled.

Not like Sasha.

Not like a copy.

Like someone experiencing a choice for the first time.

"I choose..."

The forest held its breath.

"I choose to find out who I am without you."

The record erupted with light.

[SUBJECT 8: RESOLUTION DETECTED.]

[AUTONOMY GRANTED.]

[ORIGINAL DESIGNATION: REJECTED.]

[NEW IDENTITY: UNDEFINED.]

The white Sasha began dissolving.

The real Sasha watched silently.

"Wait."

The other girl stopped.

Sasha stepped forward.

"You’re still me."

The girl smiled.

"Maybe."

"And I’m still you."

"Maybe."

Sasha’s expression softened.

"Then I hope you find something worth becoming."

The white girl nodded.

"So do I."

She disappeared into countless white fragments.

The record vanished.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then Dillan heard a voice.

Not from the forest.

Not from the sky.

From inside himself.

"You passed."

Dillan froze.

Sasha looked at him.

"What?"

He slowly turned toward the oak tree.

A new symbol had appeared on its trunk.

An unfamiliar eye.

But unlike the stitched eye...

this one was open.

Mara’s expression changed immediately.

"Elara."

Elara stared at the symbol.

"I know."

Dillan stepped closer.

"What is it?"

Elara whispered:

"The Witness didn’t end the old system."

She looked toward the sky.

"It replaced it."

Dillan’s eyes narrowed.

"With what?"

A final line appeared in the air.

[NEW PROTOCOL INITIALIZING.]

[DESIGNATION: THE WITNESS RECORD.]

[PURPOSE: RECORD EVERY CHOICE WITHOUT ALTERING IT.]

Dillan stared at the words.

Then another notification appeared.

[FIRST ENTRY COMPLETE.]

Beneath it:

[DILLAN RUREN CHOSE NOT TO OWN SASHA.]

Sasha smiled.

But before Dillan could respond, a second line appeared.

[SECOND ENTRY PENDING.]

Dillan’s expression changed.

"Second entry?"

The oak tree split open again.

This time, no door appeared.

Instead, a single name was carved into the trunk.

AURELIA.

Aurelia stepped backward.

Her face went pale.

"Why is my name there?"

The tree answered.

A voice emerged from inside it.

"Because Aurelia has not made her first choice yet."