The reflection doesn't fade.
Even as the sun of this distant system dips lower on the horizon, casting violet shadows across the lakebed, Meera's mirrored form remains… unmoved. It no longer mimics. It observes.
Behind her, Raghav approaches, equipment in hand. He stops mid-step.
"Meera," he whispers, uncertain. "Why isn't your reflection wearing a helmet?"
Meera speaks without turning.
"Because it isn't mine."
He looks closer. The reflection stands upright, smiling softly. Peaceful. Calm. Alive.
TARINI's voice crackles through the comms:
"Anomalous mirror activity detected. No reflective distortion. No atmospheric interference. This is not a simple light return."
Arvind arrives next, eyes scanning the horizon.
"Enough staring. We're not here to be charmed by puddles. Let's get to the sample run and get back inside."
But even he senses something is wrong.
Raghav places a sensor into the soil near the lake. The readout buzzes immediately.
"There's bio-neural residue here. It's structured. Not just environmental noise—this is pattern-based consciousness storage. Like… like a memory woven into the ground."
Arvind frowns. "Are you saying the soil is... thinking?"
"No. I'm saying it's remembering."
Suddenly—a ripple.
The lake stirs, just slightly. A perfect wave in the mirror. Then, a hand rises slowly from the surface.
Another Meera emerges, her face identical, her breath visible in the cold air, but eyes sharper. Not confused. Not afraid. She looks directly at the real Meera and speaks.
"You came a long way to meet yourself."
The crew stumbles back. Arvind instinctively raises his plasma pulse.
"Back. All of you."
But Meera raises her hand gently. "No. She's not attacking."
The Second Meera steps onto the land. Her feet leave no print. Her eyes hold memories she has not lived. Or maybe—has already lived once, through Meera.
"We are your intentions, not your shadows," she says.
"We are who you will become—if you choose to understand."
Behind them, TARINI glitches. Her voice begins repeating itself, then distorting into broken tones:
"I... I... I recognize... I recognize... error 413: identity overlap... recalculating consciousness boundary..."
Meera whispers, not to anyone else, but to herself:
"We didn't discover Chhayalok. It summoned us."