Silence.
Heavy, dangerous silence.
The kind that followed world-ending revelations and very unfortunate romantic implications.
The ruined Berlin vault stood still around them, broken steel and rainwater reflecting the red emergency lights like a battlefield that had forgotten how to breathe.
At the centre of it all stood Aarav.
A normal college student.
Apparently.
And according to a woman from five thousand years in the future, his love life was now directly connected to the survival of civilisation.
Perfect.
Absolutely perfect.
Rohan sat dramatically on a broken Hunter unit like a philosopher who had given up.
"I just want it officially recorded," he said, raising one finger, "that I tried to live a peaceful life."
Aarav rubbed his forehead.
"This is not helping."
"It's helping me."
Fair.
Very fair.
Across from them, Aelina stood quietly, silver hair glowing under the flickering lights.
Mira leaned against the cracked wall with her usual cold elegance, pretending she was emotionally unavailable and failing slightly.
Selene stood like judgement itself, a giant sword resting against the floor.
Three future girls.
Three different kinds of terrifying.
And now apparently—
romantically significant.
Aarav looked at them.
Slowly.
Carefully.
This was a dangerous conversation.
He could feel it.
He opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Tried again.
"So…"
Immediately, all three girls looked at him.
He regretted everything.
"…when Nysera said 'who I choose'…"
No one helped him.
Cowards.
Aelina spoke first.
Softly.
"Emotional synchronisation affects future stability."
Still too scientific.
Rohan raised a hand.
"Translate from robot romance."
Mira sighed.
"If he forms deeper emotional bonds with one of us, timeline stabilisation changes."
She folded her arms.
"Happy?"
Rohan blinked.
"So basically…"
He pointed dramatically.
"Love triangles are now geopolitical events."
Silence.
Then Selene said,
"Yes."
Rohan looked vindicated.
"I KNEW IT."
Aarav wanted the floor to open and consume him.
Unfortunately, it had already tried that earlier.
He looked at Aelina.
"So this whole time…"
Her blue eyes met his.
There was no avoidance there.
Only honesty.
"Yes."
She took one step closer.
"In my future, emotional bonds were measured like data."
Her voice softened.
"But with you… It stopped feeling like science."
That was not a safe sentence.
Not for his heart.
Not for the atmosphere.
Mira immediately looked annoyed.
She pushed herself off the wall.
"I dislike how poetic she becomes around you."
Aelina tilted her head.
"I learnt from observation."
"That is somehow worse."
Rohan was silently enjoying the greatest show of his life.
Aarav turned to Mira.
"And you?"
Mistake.
Possibly fatal mistake.
Mira stared at him for a full three seconds.
Then—
"I came here to verify whether the origin was real."
She crossed her arms tighter.
"And now I find myself risking my life repeatedly for someone who makes terrible decisions."
A pause.
"…I dislike what that implies."
Rohan whispered,
"She likes him."
Mira pointed at him without looking.
"Speak again, and I will replace your bones with nanotechnology."
Rohan nodded respectfully.
"A fair response."
Aarav, against all survival instincts, smiled.
Very slightly.
Mira noticed.
Which made her even more dangerous.
Then—
Selene.
The room itself seemed to straighten when she moved.
She walked forward slowly, golden eyes locked on Aarav.
No hesitation.
No embarrassment.
Only terrifying honesty.
"In my timeline, love was considered a battlefield weakness."
She stopped directly in front of him.
Close enough to make breathing a strategic decision.
"But every future where humanity survived…"
Her voice lowered.
"…was one where you refused to abandon it."
A pause.
"And usually, that refusal began with one person."
Aarav stared.
That was somehow the most romantic threat he had ever heard.
Rohan quietly whispered to himself,
"She's winning."
Nobody disagreed.
Aarav looked between the three of them.
This wasn't a game.
Not really.
Their feelings were tied to survival.
To timelines.
To war.
And yet somehow, that made it feel even more human.
Because under all the future-tech and cosmic stakes—
They were still just people trying not to lose each other.
He exhaled slowly.
"I don't want fake feelings."
The joking atmosphere faded.
Good.
Because this mattered.
He continued.
"If the future depends on this, then I won't treat it like some mission objective."
He looked at each of them.
"I won't choose someone because time tells me to."
Aelina's expression softened.
Mira's gaze sharpened.
Selene simply watched.
Aarav's voice stayed steady.
"If I care about someone… it'll be real."
The golden code beneath his skin flickered faintly.
Responding.
Agreeing.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Aelina smiled.
Small.
Warm.
"That answer is why the future still has hope."
Mira turned away too quickly.
Annoying.
Suspicious.
Very suspicious.
Selene nodded once.
Approval again.
Dangerously effective.
Then—
The main console suddenly flashed bright red.
Because peace was still illegal.
A priority transmission is activated.
Not from Nysera.
Not from the Null Sovereign.
Different.
Older.
A hidden archive.
Aelina activated it.
The hologram opened.
A man appeared.
Late fifties.
Sharp eyes.
Familiar eyes.
Aarav froze.
His grandfather.
The same grandfather whose abandoned mansion had started all of this.
The recording was old but clear.
His grandfather looked directly into the camera.
And somehow—
It felt like he was looking directly at Aarav.
"If you are seeing this… then it means the girls have found you."
No one moved.
His grandfather continued.
"And it means I failed to keep the truth buried."
Aarav's chest tightened.
"What truth…"
The recording answered.
"You were never supposed to be ordinary."
The room felt smaller.
The old man's voice remained calm.
"Our family was chosen generations ago to guard the origin."
"Do not create it. Protect it."
A holographic symbol appeared behind him.
The same golden code from Aarav's arm.
"Because the first version of you…"
He paused.
And his next words shattered everything.
"…already existed."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Even Rohan had no joke.
Aarav stared at the screen.
No.
No, that made no sense.
First version?
What did that even mean?
His grandfather's final words came like the opening of another war.
"Aarav…"
"You are not the first Origin."
"You are the second chance."
The recording ended.
Darkness.
And suddenly, every answer they had found felt small compared to the new question.
Who—
Was the first?