The Vault was gone.
What remained was ash, static, and a heat in the air that never cooled.
Elior sat in the ruins, eyes fixed on the distant skyline.
Somewhere out there, he was coming.
The Glyph Copy.
The version of him that was made to be perfect.
And worse?
Mira hadn't returned his messages.
Not one.
A Visitor in the Glass
It was past midnight when the glass of his dorm window pulsed.
He knew it wasn't a glitch.
He opened it.
Mira stood on the ledge. Hood up. Expression unreadable.
She stepped inside like she didn't want to be seen.
"I saw the logs. The vault. Kade. The... other you."
Elior didn't answer.
"They're calling it a system malfunction. Said you faked the footage.
Juno wants to debrief you in isolation."
She paused.
"I told them I lost track of you.
If they find out I lied…"
"Why did you?" Elior asked quietly.
"Because I still don't know if I believe them.
But I know I believe you."
The Truth Beneath
They sat in silence.
Then Mira slid a shard across the floor.
"I pulled this from the archive before they could wipe it.
Project Aeon Mirror. That's the name of your copy.
You're the prototype. He's the deployment."
Elior's breath hitched.
"So I'm the beta?"
"No. You're the origin. They used your instability to build control into him.
Emotion stripped. Memory curated.
They made him clean."
He swallowed.
"Then why do I still feel like he's the real one?"
"Because they built him with one purpose: to replace you.
And now he's following code."
The Ultimatum
Elior stood.
His body still ached from the encounter.
But his glyph pulsed stronger than ever.
He wasn't losing control.
He was adapting.
"I'm going to confront him."
Mira stood too.
"Then I'm going with you."
"You shouldn't."
"I have to. Not for you. For me.
If I'm wrong about you—I want to know it to your face."
Elior nodded.
"Then we'll go to the Spire."
Mira's eyes widened.
"That's where they kept the Mirror Core."
"And where he'll be heading."
"What if he's already there?"
Elior looked at her.
His voice calm. Focused.
"Then we finish what they started."
Final Signal
As they left, Veiled's skyline blinked once—then went dark.
Citywide blackout.
Then, in the sky: a single glyph, burning bright over the Spire.
A message.
"COME."
Not a threat.
An invitation.