Ethan slowly looked around.
He was inside a movie theater screening room.
He sat in a soft recliner, holding a fresh bucket of popcorn in his left hand. On the giant screen ahead, the movie had not started yet. Pre-show advertisements were still playing, bright colors flashing across the dark room while the low murmur of the crowd filled the air.
He turned to the person sitting beside him.
It was his sister.
Emily was no longer the tiny little girl from his earliest memories. She looked thirteen or fourteen here, standing on the edge of youth, like a flower just beginning to bloom. She was fiddling with her 3D glasses, turning them over in her hands with a happy smile on her face.
The seats in front of them, behind them, and to both sides were filled with moviegoers waiting for the film to begin.
"This is a new memory."
Master Rowan's voice came from behind Ethan.
Ethan turned and saw the monk standing there, calm as always, with a faint smile on his face.
"Do I do the same thing as before?" Ethan asked, frowning slightly.
"Yes," Master Rowan said. "Focus carefully. Recall everything you can. The scene, the smell, your feelings, the emotions in the air, the sound of the room. The more details you remember, the more real the construction becomes."
Ethan nodded.
This time, Master Rowan hardly needed to explain.
This memory was carved too deeply into Ethan's life for him to ever forget. At that time, he had been around fifteen, not far from the age he was now. Emily had been thirteen or fourteen. Memories from that age were much clearer than the scattered fragments of childhood.
And more importantly, this day had never been ordinary.
It looked like nothing more than a brother and sister watching a movie together.
But Ethan knew very well that what came next had changed something inside him forever.
The reminder on the large screen ended, and the pre-movie message began.
"Please pay attention while watching the film…"
Before it could finish, Emily reached over and tugged lightly on Ethan's sleeve.
"Brother, stop looking around," she said with a small pout. "The movie is about to start."
Ethan gave her a faint smile.
"Okay."
He turned his attention back to the screen.
Then suddenly, a middle-aged man a few seats ahead spoke loudly.
"Wait… what's that smell?"
His voice instantly annoyed the people around him.
"Be quiet! The movie is starting!"
Someone hissed at him.
The man looked unhappy, but he sniffed the air again and spoke louder this time.
"No, something's wrong. Why does it smell burnt?"
This time, more people noticed it.
The strange odor was stronger now.
At first it was faint, just a subtle sharpness in the air. Then it thickened into something unmistakable.
Burning.
People around them started murmuring.
"Yeah, I smell it too."
"Did someone burn their popcorn?"
"No… no, that's not popcorn—"
Then someone screamed.
"Fire! Fire! Run!"
The entire screening room exploded into chaos.
Panic spread faster than flame ever could.
People jumped out of their seats. Some pushed toward the main exit. Others shouted in fear. Children cried. Someone fell. Someone cursed. The orderly stillness of the theater was instantly replaced by a wave of blind terror.
"Emily, grab my hand!" Ethan shouted as he stood up.
He reached back for her while the crowd surged through the narrow aisle like a flood breaking through a dam.
But he didn't catch her.
Emily stretched her hand toward him too, but the rushing crowd pushed them apart before their fingers could touch.
"Brother!"
"Emily!"
Their voices were swallowed by the roaring panic around them.
Ethan's seat had been close to the exit, so the crowd carried him out faster than he wanted. He stumbled into the hallway, barely keeping his footing, then spun around and searched frantically among the people rushing out behind him.
But Emily was nowhere to be seen.
By then, the fire inside the screening room had already become visible. Orange light flickered inside the doorway. Smoke thickened. The temperature in the hall was rising rapidly.
"The fire department is on the way! Please evacuate in an orderly manner!"
Cinema staff shouted while trying to control the crowd.
But panic does not listen to instructions.
Ethan stared at the safety exit, his heart pounding violently.
Then he gritted his teeth, shoved through the people blocking his way, and rushed back inside.
"Emily! Where are you?!"
He charged into the heat, eyes stinging from smoke, calling out for her over and over again.
Then, through the confusion, he heard her voice.
"I'm here!"
A small hand grabbed his.
Emily was crying, but she was alive.
The two siblings held tightly to each other and ran with all their strength toward safety. When they finally burst out of the fire together, relief spread across both their faces like sunlight after a storm.
Watching from the side as an adult, Ethan smiled faintly.
Looking back on it now, he had always thought this was the day he saved his sister. If Emily had been deeper inside the screening room, if he had not gone back for her, the consequences could have been unimaginable.
At that moment, the braindance system displayed a notification in front of him.
Ding—
AI construction in progress…
Construction progress: 50%
Please provide more detail.
Ethan froze.
He frowned at the message.
What was missing?
The first time, it made sense. That memory came from childhood, and much of it had been vague and incomplete. But this memory was different. He remembered it clearly. He remembered the theater, the smoke, the shouting, the heat, the fear.
So what had he overlooked?
Master Rowan stood quietly at his side, then said, "It seems this time, I must offer a little help as well."
Ethan turned to him, confused.
The monk raised a hand and pointed toward the scene before them.
Then everything changed.
The memory began to rewind.
The fire, the shouting, the escaping crowd—all of it reversed. Ethan and Emily, who had been running out together, moved backward. The flames pulled inward. People stepped in reverse. The whole scene rolled back in time like a broken film being forced to play the other way.
A minute later, the memory settled again inside the screening room.
And this time, Ethan saw the truth.
What unfolded before him left him stunned.
Emily was nothing like the helpless little girl he had always imagined.
After being separated from Ethan by the crowd, she had not stood there crying and waiting for rescue.
Inside the chaos, while adults screamed and shoved one another, she stayed calm.
When a child nearby was knocked to the floor, Emily rushed over and pulled the child up before they could be trampled.
Then, instead of blindly following the main flow of the panicked crowd, she climbed over the theater seats and ran toward the front of the screening room.
There was another emergency exit there.
Emily reached it on her own.
She pulled down the safety bar, pushed the door open, and began shouting for people to follow her. Several frightened moviegoers heard her and escaped through that route because of her quick thinking.
She had not only saved herself.
She had helped save other people too.
Just as she was about to leave through that emergency route, Ethan's voice came from the other side of the room.
"Emily! Where are you?!"
She glanced toward the escape door.
Then, without hesitation, she turned around and ran toward his voice.
"Brother! I'm here!"
She found him, grabbed his hand, and together they ran out through the front entrance.
Ethan stared at the memory in silence.
He was completely stunned.
Everything he believed about that night had been wrong.
For years, he had told himself one story.
He believed he had gone back into the fire and saved his sister.
He believed that if he had not returned for her, he would have lost her forever.
But the truth was very different.
Emily had never been the helpless one in this memory.
Even without him, she had already found a way out.
More than that, she had stayed calm enough to help others in the middle of a fire. At thirteen or fourteen, while fully grown adults panicked, she had kept a clear head, found an emergency route, and led people to safety.
That was not weakness.
That was courage.
That was instinct.
That was strength.
If Emily had entered the same world he did, Ethan suddenly felt she might have done far better than him. She had the kind of steady heart and quick judgment that could turn someone into a real hero. Someone legendary.
Standing beside him, Master Rowan also watched the scene with approval.
"Your sister was very young," he said, "yet she was already intelligent and brave. That is truly rare. Her future would have been limitless."
Ethan was quiet for a long moment before he finally spoke.
"You're right," he said softly. "She's much more capable than I ever imagined."
He lowered his eyes.
"In this fire… she handled things better than I did."
As soon as he said it, another question rose in his heart.
"Master Rowan," Ethan asked, "how were these details reconstructed?"
The first time, hidden parts of the memory had been completed through reflections and fragments from the environment. That made some sense. But there were no mirrors here. No angle from which he could have seen Emily's actions directly.
Master Rowan answered calmly, "It is simple."
"The fire scene was chaotic, but the sounds were still there."
He looked toward the reconstructed theater.
"Your sister's voice, the sound of her helping others, the emergency door opening, the warnings she shouted to the crowd—your ears received all of it at the time."
Ethan listened in silence.
"But your attention was fixed on panic, separation, and fear," Master Rowan continued. "Those details were buried under the noise of screaming and chaos. Your conscious mind ignored them, and your subconscious stored them away."
He folded his hands together.
"But in a braindance of this depth, no detail is truly lost."
Ethan said nothing.
Master Rowan did not push him further. He simply let the words sit there, giving Ethan room to understand them on his own.
Some truths could not be forced.
They had to settle naturally.
Ethan looked down at the younger Emily in the memory, watching her rush through the smoke with determination in her eyes.
His feelings grew more and more complicated.
For years, he had thought of himself as her protector.
He had believed Emily was fragile, delicate, someone who needed to be shielded from the harshness of the world. In his heart, he had quietly placed her in the role of the younger sister who needed saving.
But now that belief felt painfully incomplete.
Emily had never been as weak as he imagined.
She had been brave even as a child.
She had been sharper, steadier, and stronger than he gave her credit for.
If illness had not tormented her later, she might have become someone who could stand on her own without anyone's protection at all.
Maybe she always could.
Maybe Ethan's identity as her protector had been, at least in part, his own emotional need rather than the full truth.
That realization hurt.
But it also brought him peace.
He looked at his sister in the memory and thought quietly to himself:
My sister is intelligent.
My sister is brave.
My sister is not some helpless flower waiting for someone to save her.
She is strong enough to stand on her own.
She is brave enough to bloom by herself.
As those thoughts settled in his mind, the restlessness inside him slowly calmed.
Then the braindance system displayed another notification.
Ding…
Construction progress: 100%
Missing details filled.
Further AI construction complete.
Phase One and Phase Two are now complete.
When Phase Three is finished, the AI will be fully constructed.
The message faded.
The world around them dimmed.
The movie theater dissolved into darkness, and when the scene changed again, Ethan found himself standing in a vast open grassland.
The sky above was high and clear, empty of clouds. Fresh wind moved across the endless green field, carrying a clean and peaceful feeling that made the whole place seem unreal.
He had been here before.
This was the same place where the AI had first taken shape.
Everything was just as serene as before.
Then Ethan saw her.
A small silver girl stood not far away from him. Her whole body shone with a metallic pale glow, as if she had been sculpted from liquid silver. Her eyes were closed, and her hands were gently clasped in front of her.
Slowly, the silver color began to fade.
Color returned to her skin.
Warmth returned to her hair.
Little by little, the figure became fully human.
She looked exactly like Emily from childhood.
Ethan's breathing became unsteady.
Under his tense gaze, the girl's eyelashes trembled.
Then she slowly opened her eyes.
They were bright, innocent, and filled with cheerful life.
"Hello, Brother!"
She tilted her head and smiled at him.
Even her voice was exactly the same.
Ethan stared at her, and when he finally spoke, his voice shook.
"Hello… what's your name?"
The girl beamed.
"I'm your sister, Emily!" she said happily. "Well, not your real sister. I was created from your memories!"
She blinked her big eyes and smiled so sweetly that Ethan felt his chest tighten painfully.
She looked like Emily.
She sounded like Emily.
She moved like Emily.
But she knew she was not real.
That made it worse somehow.
At that moment, Master Rowan's voice came from beside him.
"Congratulations," he said with a pleased smile. "The second phase was also completed very smoothly. Your state of mind helped greatly."
Ethan turned toward him.
"The construction of the AI is progressing extremely well," Master Rowan continued. "If this continues, there is strong hope that Johnny Silverhand can be driven out."
Ethan fell silent again.
His emotions were too tangled for him to put into words.
Perhaps sensing that, Master Rowan spoke more gently.
"You may now import this AI into your phone."
Ethan's body stiffened.
That idea struck him harder than he expected.
If he did that, then this AI sister would exist in the same way the old memory apps existed—the same kind of thing Adrian had once clung to.
After hesitating for several long seconds, Ethan finally said, "Okay."
Master Rowan raised a hand.
In an instant, the little AI Emily turned into a stream of light and flowed directly into Ethan's phone.
The process was clean and effortless.
Ethan removed the braindance headset and opened his data view.
There, inside the streams of information on his phone, he could see a tiny girl curled up quietly in digital space.
It was done.
Even now, Ethan could not help but admire Master Rowan's skill. To him, this kind of data transfer was almost miraculous.
Ethan set the braindance device aside, stood up, and let out a long breath.
"Master Rowan… everyone… farewell for now."
He clasped his hands and bowed toward the surrounding monks.
The cyber monks returned the gesture in silence, watching as he turned and walked away.
Ethan headed back toward his room, but his mind was a complete mess.
He did not even dare examine tonight's experience too deeply.
This AI Emily made his emotions painfully complicated.
It was false.
It was born from data, memory, and reconstruction.
And yet it felt unbearably real.
The more Ethan thought about speaking to that AI version of his sister, the more guilty he felt.
Because somewhere out there, his real sister was still waiting.
Emily was in District 1.
In danger.
Alone.
And at that moment, Ethan wished more than anything that he could spread wings, cross the distance instantly, and rush to her side before it was too late.
The second construction was complete.
The AI based on Emily had been born.
And Ethan's desire to save his real sister had never burned stronger.
The nights in the Afghan mountains were brutally cold.
The wind howled through the ravine, carrying fine grains of sand that struck the rocks with a faint, crackling rhythm. From the cave entrance, a dim yellow glow seeped through the cracks of the iron door, stretching distorted shadows across the ground like something alive.
On the leeward side of a jagged rock, Emily crouched silently, her gaze fixed on the surveillance feed playing inside her mind.
She let out a quiet sigh.
It had already been two days since she tracked Tony Stark to this location.
And honestly—
It was worse than she expected.
Inside the cave, Tony relied on a crude electromagnet powered by a car battery to keep the shrapnel from reaching his heart. The air was damp, suffocating, and filled with the constant threat of infection. There were no proper medical supplies, no clean water, and barely any food.
Ethan's condition was even worse.
His cough had grown heavier by the day.
Every breath sounded strained.
And yet—
They kept working.
Hammering steel.
Welding armor.
Playing cards with nuts under dim light just to stay sane.
The winner got one extra sip of muddy water.
Emily watched all of this for two days.
And in the end—
She couldn't just sit still anymore.
She had come here determined to be only an observer.
To not interfere.
To let the story unfold naturally.
But watching two men struggle at the edge of death without even basic medicine…
Her sense of "non-interference" finally cracked.
"Just some medicine… and maybe a little Coke," she muttered quietly.
"That won't change the plot… right?"
With that excuse, she made her decision.
---
Explorer II moved the moment her command was issued.
Invisible.
Silent.
Untraceable.
From the shadows deep within the cave, the stealth unit slipped forward and gently placed a small box in the corner where Tony and Ethan rested.
Inside it—
Broad-spectrum antibiotics.
Sterile gauze.
And two bottles of ice-cold cola, still covered in frost.
Then, just as quickly, Explorer II vanished back into darkness.
No sound.
No trace.
Nothing.
---
Inside the cave, Tony and Ethan froze.
They had been playing cards.
Now both of them were on their feet instantly.
Tony grabbed a wrench.
Ethan picked up a metal file.
They approached the corner slowly.
"What… is this?" Ethan whispered, picking up the medicine box.
He read the label.
"Antibiotics… gauze… How did this get here?"
Tony picked up a cola bottle.
The cold hit his fingers instantly.
He stared at the frost on the surface.
In a cave where even electricity came from a car battery…
An ice-cold drink was impossible.
He opened it.
Hiss—
The sound echoed loudly in the confined space.
Bubbles surged upward.
Tony and Ethan exchanged a look.
Confusion.
Shock.
Suspicion.
"Maybe one of the guards?" Ethan suggested uncertainly.
Tony shook his head slowly.
"Even if this is some kind of trick…" he said, taking a long sip, "this Coke is way too real."
The cold sweetness hit his throat.
For a brief moment—
The exhaustion disappeared.
He exhaled sharply.
"Damn… this tastes better than anything back in New York."
In the end, they drank the cola.
And they kept the medicine.
Ethan took one pill that night.
The next day—
His cough was noticeably better.
---
Over the following two days, the "miracles" continued.
Energy bars.
Clean water.
Chocolate.
Always placed in the same corner.
Always unseen.
Always silent.
At first, Tony and Ethan were cautious.
Then curious.
Then—
They accepted it.
They even started looking forward to it.
After finishing their work each day, they would glance at the corner to see what had appeared.
Eventually, they gave their invisible benefactor a name.
"The Santa Claus in the Cave."
Sometimes they even bet with nuts, guessing what "Santa" would bring next.
---
On the mountain ridge, Emily watched everything.
She couldn't help but smile.
She lifted her own bottle of cola and tilted it toward the cave in a silent toast.
---
Time passed quickly.
The day of Tony's escape arrived.
And the atmosphere in the ravine changed.
The guards doubled.
Weapons were loaded.
Extra locks were placed on the cave door.
The Ten Rings leader had issued an ultimatum—
One day.
Finish the Jericho missile.
Or die.
Everyone knew what that meant.
Blood would be spilled here.
---
Inside the cave, Tony and Ethan worked calmly.
Almost too calmly.
Ethan checked the electromagnet in Tony's chest one last time.
Battery—fully charged.
Operational time—just enough.
Tony stood in the crude Mark I armor.
Heavy.
Bulky.
Primitive.
But his eyes—
His eyes burned.
There was no fear left.
Only determination.
"Wait for the countdown," Ethan said quietly. "Then activate it."
His hands trembled.
But his voice didn't.
"I'll go to the control room. Buy you time."
Tony frowned immediately.
"No. We leave together."
Ethan smiled.
Soft.
Calm.
Resolute.
"If I don't go… you won't make it out."
He looked directly at Tony.
"Don't waste your life."
---
Watching this scene, Emily's fingers tightened slightly.
She knew what came next.
Ethan would sacrifice himself.
Tony would escape alone.
That was how the story had always gone.
But—
Not every story needed to stay unchanged.
Not every tragedy needed to happen exactly the same way.
Emily closed her eyes slowly.
Then—
She stood.
---
"Rigging Materialization Program Initiated."
"Mind Cube Synchronization Complete."
"Energy Core Ready."
"Quantum Link Active."
---
A pale blue light exploded into existence behind her.
A massive, translucent, jellyfish-like core unfolded in the air.
It shimmered like something from the deep ocean—beautiful, alien, and terrifying.
The Antix insignia glowed faintly at its center.
From beneath it, glowing tendrils of blue energy drifted like a flowing galaxy.
On both sides, black armored cannons deployed silently.
Energy gathered at their tips—
Stable.
Controlled.
Absolute.
---
Emily rose into the air.
Slowly.
Effortlessly.
She sat atop the edge of the core, her legs swinging lightly as if seated on a throne.
The storm of sand below could not touch her.
The wind parted around her.
From a height of over a hundred meters, the entire ravine lay open before her.
Every guard.
Every weapon.
Every movement.
Even the internal status of Tony's armor—
All of it was clear.
---
At this moment—
She was no longer just a high school student.
She was Observer Zero.
A being standing above the battlefield.
---
"Finally…" Emily muttered, glancing at the cave.
"I don't have to watch them play cards with nuts anymore. I was getting tired of that."
She looked at her rigging, then smirked slightly.
"…I look kind of amazing right now."
She tilted her head thoughtfully.
"Should've made a camera. This moment deserves a picture."
---
Then—
A voice spoke beside her.
Soft.
Gentle.
Amused.
"It is quite impressive… and very interesting."
Emily froze.
Completely.
Her smile didn't even have time to fade.
Her legs stopped mid-swing.
Her entire body locked in place.
Her Fire Control Radar covered kilometers.
Nothing had appeared.
No energy spike.
No movement.
No sound.
Nothing.
---
Slowly—
Very slowly—
She turned her head.
---
Beside her, floating effortlessly in the air—
Was a bald woman in golden robes.
Holding a fan.
Calm.
Smiling.
Her presence felt… endless.
Her gaze—
Saw everything.
The Ancient One.
The Sorcerer Supreme.
Guardian of Earth.
A being who could see timelines.
Dimensions.
Possibilities.
---
Emily's mind went blank.
One thought looped endlessly—
I'm finished.
---
How had she forgotten?
How could she forget someone like this existed?
A being who could observe timelines just like her—
Maybe even more.
She had been running around Afghanistan, deploying advanced tech, bending rules—
And now she had activated her full rigging—
Right in front of her.
Even worse—
She had just been thinking about taking a selfie.
Emily forced a stiff smile.
Her instincts screamed at her to run.
But she knew—
Running was useless.
Even space jumps might not guarantee escape.
She cleared her throat.
"…Sorcerer Supreme," she said carefully. "What brings you here?"
The Ancient One gently waved her fan.
Her eyes moved from the glowing rigging to Emily herself.
No hostility.
Only curiosity.
"I am the guardian of this world," she said calmly. "Naturally, I pay attention to variables that do not belong here."
Her gaze sharpened slightly.
"Especially one like you… who carries power from another dimension."
She smiled faintly.
"I have been observing you for quite some time, Miss Observer."
Cold sweat ran down Emily's back.
She knew it.
From the beginning—
She had never truly been hidden.
-------------------------------------------
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