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Chapter 16 - CHAPTER 16: WHEN THE NAME SLIPPED O

Keira shouldn't have turned back.

But she did.

Because Kelvin called her name the way he always did.

Not like a label.

Like a feeling.

"Keira!"

Her steps stopped.

For a second… everything went silent.

Then—

Pain.

Not physical.

Mental.

Like something inside her mind snapped a thin thread that had been holding two worlds apart.

Keira's vision blurred

The corridor disappeared.

She wasn't in school anymore.

She was somewhere white.

Too white.

A hospital room.

Machines beeping.

A hand holding hers.

A voice whispering:

"Don't forget who you are… Aisha."

Her breath stopped.

"Aisha…" she whispered without thinking.

BACK TO REALITY

Kelvin froze.

Laura froze.

Keira froze even more.

Because she had just said a name she wasn't supposed to say.

She touched her lips slightly.

"I… didn't say that," she whispered.

But Kelvin heard it.

Laura heard it too.

Silence hit the corridor like a shockwave.

Laura (low voice)

"That's what I meant," she said quietly.

Kelvin turned sharply. "What do you mean?"

Laura didn't look away from Keira.

"She's destabilizing."

Keira stepped back, breathing unevenly.

"My head…" she whispered. "It's happening again."

Kelvin stepped toward her. "What's happening?"

Keira looked at him—

And for a second, her eyes changed.

Not fear.

Not confusion.

Recognition.

Stronger than before.

"K-Kelvin…" she said softly.

But her voice wasn't fully hers.

It was deeper.

Older.

More certain.

"I know you."

AISHA (first breakthrough)

The air around them felt different.

Keira straightened slightly.

Her expression softened in a way it never had before.

And she smiled faintly.

But it wasn't Keira smiling.

It was someone else using her face.

"I remember you," she said.

Kelvin's chest tightened. "What?"

Laura took a step back. "Kelvin… something is wrong."

But Keira—no, Aisha—didn't look at her.

Only Kelvin.

"You used to call my name," she said softly.

Kelvin's voice lowered. "Aisha…"

The name hit her like electricity.

Her eyes flickered.

"Yes…" she whispered.

Then suddenly—

She grabbed her head.

Pain returned.

"No—no, stop—" she gasped.

Her voice broke.

And just like that…

Keira came back.

Keira returns

She stumbled slightly.

"What… what just happened?" she whispered.

Kelvin stared at her, shaken.

Laura grabbed Kelvin's arm. "We need to leave. Now."

But Kelvin didn't move.

Because he had seen it.

Aisha.

For a moment… she had been real.

Final scene

Keira looked at Kelvin, confused and scared.

"I think…" she whispered.

"…something inside me knows you."

Then she looked down at her hands.

And added softly:

"But I don't know which name is mine anymore."

And far away in the system—

A monitor flickered.

A file reopened itself.

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