The first sign was silence.
No alarms.
No distortion.
Just the sudden absence of background noise—as if reality itself was holding its breath.
Agastya frowned.
"That's not a natural quiet."
Vasundhara's fingers flew across the console.
"External comms are down.Internal channels still active."
Viraj looked toward the observation arc.
"The stars stopped moving."
That was impossible.
Mandakini felt it before anyone else.
"Someone is already here."
The chamber doors opened—
Not with force.
With permission.
Saswat walked in.
Unarmed.
Unhurried.
Unchanged.
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
Then Vayu's energy crackled.
"You've got a lot of nerve showing your face."
Saswat smiled faintly.
"Still dramatic,Vayu."
Kashyap's voice was calm—but deadly.
"How did you get past the shields?"
Saswat spread his hands.
"I didn't,"he said.
"I was never outside them."
The words landed like a blade.
Mandakini's gaze sharpened.
"You anchored yourself to the Axis."
Saswat inclined his head.
"Someone had to keep listening."
Agastya's staff glowed.
"You've been feeding the Council our positions."
Saswat shook his head.
"Not positions.Probabilities."
Viraj stepped forward.
"Explain.Carefully."
Saswat's eyes flicked to Mandakini.
"The Council doesn't win through force,"he said.
"They win by inevitability.I've been nudging outcomes—
keeping us alive."
Vasundhara's voice was ice.
"You sold futures."
"I traded them," Saswat replied.
"For time."
Mandakini spoke softly.
"You always believed survival mattered more than meaning."
Saswat met her gaze.
"And you always believed the opposite."
He looked at Kashyap.
"They're building the Chrono Sunder faster than you think.
You have one chance to reach the Origin Gate before activation."
Agastya narrowed his eyes.
"Why tell us now?"
Saswat exhaled.
"Because the Council just changed the rules."
The air rippled.
A projection bloomed between them—
The Origin Gate, surrounded by a structure of impossible scale.
And at its center—
A figure.
Mandakini's breath hitched.
"That's…me."
Saswat nodded.
"A Construct Constant,"he said.
"A version of you grown inside the Gate—
designed to replace you."
Kashyap's fists clenched.
"They're copying her?"
"They're improving her," Saswat said quietly.
"And when the Chrono Sunder activates,that version will survive.
You won't."
Silence burned.
Viraj broke it.
"So you betray us,then warn us?"
Saswat looked tired.
"I chose the side that still allows choice."
Mandakini stepped forward.
"Then help us reach the Gate."
He hesitated.
"I can open a path,"he said.
"But it will expose the Core."
Agastya's eyes widened.
"That's suicide."
Saswat met Kashyap's gaze.
"Not for me."
A faint smile.
"I've already been erased in twelve timelines."
Kashyap said nothing.
Saswat turned to Mandakini.
"When you meet her,"he said,
"don't think of her as an enemy."
Mandakini nodded slowly.
"I won't."
The lights flared.
The Axis began to open.
And somewhere inside the Origin Gate—
The other Mandakini opened her eyes.