The ruined Berlin vault fell into complete silence.
Even the rain above seemed to stop.
Only the red holographic signal floated in the air, glowing like a warning from fate itself.
FOURTH UNIT ACTIVATED
NYSERA-3000
LOCATION: ARCTIC CIRCLE
The name alone changed the atmosphere.
Aelina stood frozen.
Mira's usual cold confidence had vanished.
Even Selene—the woman who treated giant death machines like mild inconveniences—looked genuinely serious.
That was enough to make Aarav deeply uncomfortable.
Rohan looked between them.
"…I'm going to ask the obvious question."
No one answered.
So he continued.
"Who the hell is Nysera?"
A long silence followed.
Then Mira spoke.
And for once, there was no sarcasm.
Only respect.
"Someone we were never supposed to meet."
Aelina nodded slowly.
"She comes from the year 5026."
Rohan blinked.
"…I need everyone to stop saying numbers like they're normal."
Aarav stared at the glowing signal.
Five thousand years.
Not centuries.
An entire civilisation beyond the others.
"What makes her different?"
This time, Selene answered.
"Everything."
Her golden eyes remained fixed on the hologram.
"My era was built through war."
She glanced at Mira.
"Hers through evolution"
Then Aelina.
"Hers through integration."
Finally—
"Nysera comes from after humanity stopped surviving… and started ascending."
That sentence somehow made things worse.
Rohan whispered,
"I hate poetic warnings."
Aelina activated another archive file.
The hologram shifted.
The image that appeared looked less like a city and more like a dream.
Massive floating structures above oceans of clouds.
Silver towers stretching into the stars.
Energy rivers flow through the sky.
No pollution.
No war.
No visible suffering.
A civilisation so advanced it looked divine.
Humanity… perfected.
Aarav stared.
"That's Earth?"
Aelina answered softly.
"Yes."
Mira added,
"Or what Earth becomes… if everything goes right."
And if everything went wrong?
He didn't ask.
Because he already knew.
That was probably where the villain version of him came in.
The archive image shifted again.
This time—
a woman.
Long silver-white hair flowing like moonlight.
Eyes like stars frozen in winter.
She wore white ceremonial armour lined with golden light, elegant enough for royalty and deadly enough for war.
She didn't look like someone born in the future.
She looked like someone the future worshipped.
7
Nysera.
Aarav understood immediately why the others were quiet.
She radiated something beyond beauty.
Authority.
Like she belonged above ordinary people.
Rohan stared.
"…Okay, no, that's not fair."
Aarav sighed.
"What now?"
Selene's answer was immediate.
"We go to her."
Mira shook her head.
"No."
Everyone looked at her.
Her violet eyes were sharp.
"If Nysera awakened naturally, she already knows more than we do."
Aelina agreed.
"She may even know about the Null Sovereign before it was created."
Rohan folded his arms.
"So she's basically the final boss of wisdom."
"Accurate," Mira said.
Aarav frowned.
"Then why not go?"
Selene answered quietly.
"Because if she decides you are the wrong future…"
She paused.
Even she chose her next words carefully.
"She may erase you herself."
Silence.
Rohan slowly turned toward Aarav.
"…I would like to resign from this adventure."
Denied.
Unfortunately.
Before Aarav could answer, every surviving console in the vault activated at once.
Blue light.
Not red.
Different.
A single transmission forced itself onto the main screen.
No static.
No delay.
Just clarity.
And then—
She appeared.
Nysera.
Live.
Standing somewhere vast and white, surrounded by snow and ancient ice.
Behind her, half-buried beneath glaciers, stood a structure older than nations—something between a temple and a machine.
The Arctic prison.
Her silver-white hair moved softly in the freezing wind.
Her eyes met the screen.
Met Aarav.
And for the first time since all this began—
Aarav felt truly seen.
Not scanned.
Not analysed.
Seen.
Nysera spoke.
Her voice was calm enough to stop storms.
"Aarav Sharma."
Of course, she knew his full name.
At this point, privacy was clearly dead.
Rohan whispered,
"Another one with the full name. I'm keeping score."
Nysera continued.
"The Origin has awakened earlier than predicted."
Her gaze shifted briefly to Aelina, Mira, and Selene.
Something almost like affection passed through her expression.
Then it vanished.
She looked only at him.
"You should not come here."
Aarav crossed his arms.
"That keeps happening. I'm starting to take it personally."
For the first time—
The faintest smile touched her lips.
Small.
Almost invisible.
But real.
"Good."
That was somehow more dangerous than if she had threatened him.
Her voice lowered.
"Because if you reach me… the final sequence begins."
The chamber went still.
Aelina whispered,
"No…"
Mira's face darkened.
Selene gripped her sword.
Aarav frowned.
"What final sequence?"
Nysera's answer came like judgement.
"The path where love chooses the fate of time."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Rohan looked at Aarav.
"…Bro, respectfully, your love life is becoming a global security issue."
Honestly?
That sounded correct.
Nysera continued.
"The Null Sovereign is moving because of you."
"The future girls awaken because of you."
"And the world that survives… or dies…"
Her star-like eyes held his.
"Depends on who you choose."
Aarav's heartbeat stopped.
Wait.
What?
He blinked.
"I'm sorry—what?"
Even Mira looked annoyed.
"Yes. Explain that."
Rare.
Very rare.
Nysera looked almost amused.
"Your emotional bonds determine synchronisation stability."
"Love is not a side effect, Aarav."
"It is the mechanism."
Rohan sat down on broken steel.
"I knew it. This is the most dangerous romance novel in history."
Aarav stared at the screen.
Future war.
Time collapses.
Biotech girls.
And now apparently—
His relationships were directly connected to the survival of humanity.
Wonderful.
Absolutely wonderful.
Nysera's expression became serious again.
"Come to the Arctic if you seek truth."
"But understand this…"
The wind behind her howled.
Snow moved like ghosts.
And her final words hit harder than any battle.
"The moment you stand before me…"
"There will be no returning to an ordinary life."
The transmission ended.
Silence remained.
Rohan slowly stood.
He looked at Aarav.
Then, at the three girls.
Then back at Aarav.
"…So."
A beat.
"Who are we dating first to save civilisation?"
Aarav closed his eyes.
This was his life now.
And somewhere beneath the Arctic ice—
The girl from the Divine Era was waiting.