Echoes That Follow
They didn't stop until Aria's legs gave out.
The tunnel spat them out into an abandoned transit station buried beneath Lower Novus, its platforms coated in dust and silence.
Flickering emergency lights cast long shadows across rusted rails and broken benches. The air smelled stale, untouched for years.
Aria collapsed against a pillar, sliding to the ground as her breath came in ragged gasps.
Luna's face haunted her.
The blood. The smile. The word live.
Kieran paced a short distance away, scanning the darkness, every muscle taut. Only when the distant sounds of pursuit faded did he finally lower his weapon.
"She's not dead," Aria said hoarsely.
Kieran didn't turn. "Not yet."
Hope flared painfully in her chest. "Then we go back."
He faced her slowly. "If we go back, you die. And she still doesn't make it."
"You don't know that."
"I do," he said. "I've watched that branch."
Aria pressed her palms into her eyes, trying to shut out the images stacking endlessly in her mind. "I never wanted this."
"I know."
"Then why does it feel like I caused it?"
"Because you did," Kieran replied gently. "And because you're the only one who can stop it."
She laughed weakly. "By running?"
"By learning," he said. "By understanding what you actually built."
He moved toward her and crouched, bringing himself to her level. "Your device didn't just predict the future. It synchronized you with it."
Her heart stuttered. "What does that mean?"
"It means time doesn't just show you echoes anymore," he said. "It leaves them in you."
As if summoned by his words, a sharp pain sliced through her head.
Aria gasped, clutching her temples as the world warped.
The station dissolved.
She stood in the same place—but whole.
Clean.
Alive.
People rushed past her, their faces blurred, voices overlapping. Holo-screens flashed emergency broadcasts.
"—temporal lockdown—"
"—Council evacuation—"
She turned.
Kieran stood across the platform, older, his face harder, eyes shadowed by exhaustion.
"You waited too long," he said.
Her chest tightened. "What?"
The image shattered violently.
Aria screamed as she snapped back into the present, collapsing forward. Kieran caught her before she hit the ground.
"Future echo," he muttered. "Stronger than before."
She clung to him, shaking. "I saw you."
"I know," he said quietly.
"You were angry."
"Yes."
"Did I fail?"
His arms tightened around her for just a second longer than necessary. "Not yet."
She pulled back slightly, searching his face. "How many echoes like that will I see?"
"More," he admitted. "They'll get closer. Clearer."
"And if I lose control?"
"Then time starts choosing for you."
Fear curled in her stomach. "So what's the plan?"
Kieran stood, pulling her up with him. "There's someone who can stabilize you."
"Another Council agent?" she asked bitterly.
"No," he said. "Someone who disappeared before the Collapse."
"Why would they help me?"
His expression darkened. "Because your research finished what theirs started."
A distant rumble echoed through the tunnels.
Kieran stiffened. "They're sweeping the lower levels."
Aria wiped her eyes and straightened. "Then we move."
As they disappeared into the shadows once more, Aria felt it clearly now—the future wasn't ahead of her anymore.
It was chasing her.