LILITH
The last thing Lilith registered was the cold.
Not the blood.
Not the six bullets in his chest and back.
Not the seven people standing around him.
He recognized every face.
He had eaten breakfast with them that morning. He knew their coffee orders. He knew their children's names. He knew their schedules and their habits because knowing details was part of his job.
Now they were standing around him with weapons.
Director Shen stood in the center of the room.
Lilith had trusted him for eleven years.
That had been a mistake.
"Boss."
Lilith didn't answer.
"You've been shot six times."
"I know."
"Good. Just checking."
Lilith heard the faint amusement in Gemini's voice.
Even now.
"You're enjoying this."
"Not particularly."
A pause.
"Okay, maybe a little."
Lilith closed his eyes.
"Gemini."
"I told you Shen was going to betray you."
"You did."
"Seventeen times."
"You counted?"
"Of course I counted."
Lilith opened his eyes again.
Director Shen was still watching him.
Shen had been his mentor for eleven years.
He had trusted him with classified information, with projects, with decisions that could have ruined both of them if they had gone wrong.
Now Shen stood there and watched him bleed.
"You were always going to be a problem," Shen said.
Lilith's breathing was getting harder.
"I was always going to be your problem," he replied. "There's a difference."
Shen's expression changed.
Then he nodded.
Someone behind Lilith raised their weapon.
Lilith heard the movement.
He didn't turn.
There was no point.
Gemini's voice came quietly through the system.
"Boss."
"What?"
"Don't move."
"I wasn't planning to."
"Good."
A pause.
"Because you're really bad at listening when you're dying."
Lilith almost smiled.
Almost.
The next shot never came.
There was no need for it.
Lilith was already dying.
[COUNTDOWN: 30 SECONDS.]
The room was white.
He had stood in this room hundreds of times.
He knew every exit.
Every camera.
Every security measure.
Every blind spot.
He had designed the facility himself.
He had designed the room where he was now dying.
Lilith looked at the people surrounding him.
Seven people.
Seven familiar faces.
He remembered every one of them.
Then Gemini spoke again.
"There's an option."
Lilith looked toward the ceiling.
"Go on."
"Another world."
Silence.
"A different timeline. Different body."
"How?"
"Emergency transmigration."
Lilith stared ahead.
"You're serious."
"When have I ever joked about something this inconvenient?"
"You joke about everything."
"That's different."
Lilith took another shallow breath.
"How long?"
"Thirty-five seconds."
"And the body?"
"Seventeen-year-old boy. Noble family. He's been poisoned for about three weeks."
"Is the body usable?"
"Barely."
A pause.
"But you've worked with worse."
"That's reassuring."
"Your current survival probability is zero percent."
Lilith glanced at him.
"You're terrible at reassurance."
"I've never claimed otherwise."
[HOST COMPATIBILITY: 67%.]
Lilith frowned.
"Sixty-seven percent?"
"Yeah."
"That isn't reassuring."
"I know."
"Then why did you say it?"
"Because if I didn't tell you, you'd complain later."
"I would."
"Exactly."
Lilith looked down at his hands.
They were steady.
They had always been steady.
Even now.
Even while he was dying.
He had spent fifteen years building his career around careful planning.
He checked everything.
He calculated every risk.
He accounted for every variable he could see.
He had failed to account for one thing.
The people he trusted had decided to kill him.
He had trusted Director Shen because the available information had supported that decision.
He would not make that mistake again.
Gemini was quiet for a moment.
Then—
"I tried to warn you."
Lilith sighed.
"Not now."
"Seventeen times."
"Gemini."
"I just want that acknowledged."
"I acknowledge it."
"Thank you."
Lilith stared at the ceiling.
"You're enjoying this."
"I really am."
A beat.
"Not the dying part."
"I assumed."
"Good."
Lilith coughed.
Blood filled his mouth.
Gemini's voice changed immediately.
"Hey."
Lilith wiped the blood away.
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not."
"I've been worse."
"You've been unconscious before."
"Exactly."
"That isn't the same thing."
Lilith didn't answer.
Gemini went quiet.
For once, he didn't argue.
Lilith appreciated that.
After a few seconds, he asked, "What does the boy want?"
Gemini didn't answer immediately.
The silence lasted longer than usual.
"I don't know yet."
"You said you had his residual consciousness."
"I do."
"Then?"
Another pause.
"He wants someone to finish what he couldn't."
Lilith's eyes opened fully.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"Find out."
"I'll try."
There was something different in Gemini's voice.
Less teasing.
More careful.
Lilith understood.
He was running out of time.
"How long?"
"Ten seconds."
Lilith breathed in slowly.
Seven people had smiled at him that morning.
He remembered every one of them.
He remembered their voices.
Their habits.
Their names.
He pushed all of it aside.
"The body," he said. "What about the poison?"
"I've already checked."
"And?"
"You'll have access to what you need."
"Where?"
"Kitchen."
Lilith frowned.
"Kitchen?"
"Don't worry about it."
"I am now."
"You'll survive."
"You sound very confident."
"I have to."
Lilith was silent.
Gemini spoke again.
"There's also a letter."
"Where?"
"Desk."
"You knew about it?"
"Yes."
"And you didn't mention it?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I didn't want you reading it."
Lilith's eyes narrowed.
"Why?"
"Because I know you."
"That doesn't answer the question."
"It does."
Lilith almost laughed again.
"Gemini."
"Five seconds."
Lilith closed his eyes.
The room became quieter.
For the first time since the shooting started, Gemini didn't make a joke.
"Boss?"
Lilith opened his eyes.
"I'm here."
"I know."
A pause.
"Ready?"
Lilith looked at the ceiling one last time.
"Do it."
[EMERGENCY TRANSMIGRATION PROTOCOL INITIATED.]
[PREPARING HOST.]
[TRANSFER INITIATED.]
Gemini's voice came through one last time.
"Try not to die again."
Lilith's mouth moved slightly.
"No promises."
"I hate when you say things like that."
The world disappeared.
For one moment, there was nothing.
Then Lilith felt a body.
Young.
Weak.
Exhausted.
His breathing was shallow.
His muscles hurt.
His head felt heavy.
Then he felt the mattress beneath him.
He opened his eyes.
A white ceiling.
Different from the one he had been looking at before.
There was a crack in the plaster near the upper-left corner.
Lilith stared at it for several seconds.
His breathing slowly steadied.
His fingers moved.
Alive.
He was alive.
Again.
[SYSTEM REBOOT COMPLETE.]
[NEW HOST ACQUIRED.]
[HOST CONDITION: CRITICAL.]
[STABILIZATION IN PROGRESS.]
[WELCOME TO WORLD ONE.]