The screen crackled.
Mason smiled through it like nothing had changed.
Like he hadn't died in a fire five years ago.
Like he hadn't just killed my father.
"Amara," he said smoothly, "you've grown."
I couldn't breathe.
Elias froze beside me. "You know him?"
"He was my first…" My voice cracked. "My first everything."
I reached out and touched the screen—half expecting my hand to burn. "How are you alive?"
Mason tilted his head. "I never died. You did. In their records, anyway. That fire? It was staged. A way to erase us both."
"But why?" I whispered.
He looked away for a second.
Then back—eyes cold. "Because I failed the test. But you passed. And they didn't want us together."
I clenched my fists. "They? You mean the program?"
Mason nodded. "The Echo Project. But deeper. Project Dreadlight. They're the ones behind everything. The ones who cloned you… and rebuilt me."
"What?" Elias stepped forward. "Rebuilt?"
Mason laughed softly. "They gave me upgrades. Memory implants. Combat reflexes. The ability to predict thought patterns. I'm not like you anymore, Amara."
"No," I said quietly. "You're not."
He leaned in toward the camera. "But I remember everything. Your red notebook. Your laugh when you were nervous. The way you used to stare at the stars like they owed you something."
Tears welled in my eyes.
"Then how could you kill my father?"
He didn't blink.
"Because he was trying to shut it all down. Even if it meant taking you with it."
I felt like my world cracked in two.
"I loved you," I whispered.
Mason's smile flickered. "I know. That's why I'm warning you."
"Warning me?"
He leaned closer to the lens.
"She's coming for you. Not the clone—her. The one they never told you about."
My blood turned to ice.
"What do you mean her?"
Another voice answered—from behind us.
"She means me."
I turned.
And there—standing in the shadows of the room—was a girl who looked like me…
…but older.
Stronger.
Eyes like fire.
"Who…?" I backed away.
She smiled.
"I'm not a clone. I'm the original."
My knees buckled. "What—?"
"They made copies. Dozens. You were the only one that escaped. But I was the first. The real experiment. The one they buried."
She stepped forward. "They used me to design all of you. And now? I want my life back."
Elias raised his gun.
She raised her hand.
And he flew across the room, crashing into a steel panel.
"Stop it!" I shouted.
She turned to me.
"You don't get it yet, do you?" she said. "You're not the heroine of this story. You're the echo. I'm the origin."
****
The screen behind us went dark.
But one final message blinked into existence:
ONLY ONE AMARA GETS TO LIVE.