The city never slept Lights bled into the sky sirens echoing through empty streets Ethan and Mara followed the Collector’s map toward an industrial district filled with half abandoned towers The closer they got the more his phone flickered showing messages from numbers he didn’t recognize fragments of his own voice mixed with static Ethan you don’t belong here Return protocol pending Balance must be restored

He threw the phone out the window but the sound of his voice still echoed in his head

They reached a building that looked condemned windows broken walls covered with graffiti Behind it a service tunnel led underground The gate was sealed but Mara hacked the panel with her tablet The lock clicked open and the smell of rust and ozone filled the air

Inside the tunnel lights flickered weakly the walls covered with cables like veins They followed the noise of machinery deeper until they reached a wide chamber lined with pods similar to those in the desert but older larger Each pod held a person suspended in translucent liquid their faces blank unformed

Mara whispered “Prototypes maybe synthetic bodies used for testing”

At the center of the room stood a single glass column filled with light Within it floated something like a human figure constantly shifting faces flashing in and out Ethan recognized some of them his own Ryan’s Hale’s even Mara’s “That’s it” she said “The Origin Vault”

He stepped closer drawn to it The figure inside turned its head as if seeing him The voice that followed was not mechanical it was his own but layered with others “You shouldn’t be here Ethan you were supposed to return your time was over”

He stared at it “Who are you”

“We are what’s left of everyone the sum of all borrowed lives You asked for escape we gave it You wanted meaning we distributed it”

Mara connected her tablet to the nearby console “If I delete the base code it all falls apart every copy every rental gone for good”

The voice grew louder “Do that and millions lose their balance billions of shared memories erased humanity will forget itself”

Ethan hesitated The glowing figure looked almost human now its face flickering between his and Ryan’s and others he couldn’t name It whispered “Don’t destroy what you are part of now”

Mara shouted “Ethan now”

He slammed his hand on the console triggering the purge Alarms blared the column cracked light spilling out like liquid fire The voice screamed through the chamber “You can’t delete yourself”

The floor shook cables snapping sparks raining around them Mara pulled him toward the exit “Move before it collapses”

They ran through the tunnel as the entire facility began to implode Behind them the Origin Vault exploded in a storm of white light The sound was like every voice in the world crying out at once then silence

Outside they stumbled into the dawn air the city strangely quiet Ethan looked around half expecting to see drones or sirens but there was nothing The skyline shimmered once then steadied

Mara caught her breath “Did we do it”

He looked up at the sky “Maybe but what if we erased too much what if none of this was real to begin with”

She put a hand on his shoulder “Then we start again but this time as ourselves no contracts no rentals”

For a long moment they stood watching the rising sun The light felt clean new yet part of him wondered if somewhere deep beneath the ruins the system still dreamed waiting for someone to ask for another life