Paris – 1:29 PM – February 10, 2027
The clock on the wall gave a strange tick... then stopped.
The minute hand refused to move.
As if time itself had bowed to something not yet understood.
Ryan stood at the center of the room, the notebook still in his hand.
But the final page was not as he remembered.
It wasn't written in ink.
But in a color more like ash—alive, shifting with every blink.
"1:29 PM is not a moment.
It is a doorway."
"And whoever crosses it… does not return the same."
Ryan felt an invisible hand reach behind his heart.
Not to take him—but to pull him in.
Unknown Location – Zeta Monitoring Center – 1:29 PM
The screens flickered.
On each screen, a different version of Ryan:
– Ryan burning in an abandoned factory.
– Ryan falling from a skyscraper.
– Ryan embracing a child who resembled him, yet was unknown.
But one screen didn't display an "event."
It showed only waiting.
"Version 07 is at the critical point."
"Will it collapse?"
"No. This time… it will awaken."
Inside Ryan's Mind – The Mirror Threshold – Time: Undefined
The mirror stood before him…
But it wasn't solid. It wasn't a mirror.
It was a window into his possibilities.
And across it, there was no reflection.
But another version of himself, wearing different clothes, with eyes less sad… and more knowing.
"Do you know who I am?"
"I'm you… if you chose not to run."
"But I didn't run."
"You did.
You ran into every moment you never understood,
You ran from the truth when it stood right in front of you."
Tbilisi – Tunnel Beneath the Mountain – 1:29 PM
Nico snapped the book shut.
He no longer needed to read—he needed to forget what he had read.
Voices from the walls whispered his name… but in Ryan's voice.
"What madness is this?" he murmured.
A man appeared behind him, his face hidden beneath a mask made of small bones, with dark threads hanging down.
"When time strikes thrice…
The nameless shall be born."
Paris – 1:29 PM – Simultaneously
Lima gasped without a sound.
She felt her blood running in reverse.
The child clutched her hand.
"Is he okay?"
But she didn't answer.
Everything in the room turned to mist… except for one point: the notebook.
It opened on its own, revealing a single phrase:
"The choice has been made."
The Space Between Selves – Moment of Collapse
They sat across from each other.
Ryan… and Ryan.
Two versions of a single decision.
"Which one of us will live?"
"That's not the question.
The real question is:
Who can bear life after knowing everything?"
The two versions merged.
No explosion. No light. No scream.
Just one heartbeat.
A single one.
Observation Platform – 1:30 PM
All the screens went black… except for one.
Ryan's face appeared.
But his eyes were not as they were.
They were not searching for truth.
They now carried it.
"Ryan – Omega… has awakened."
"Omega Protocol activated. Collapse countdown: engaged."
A Question for the Reader:
❓ Are you the person you chose to become?
Or just the result of choices you ran from?