The darkness lasted only three seconds.
But Olivia remembered it as an eternity.
When the lights returned, the little girl was gone.
The bedroom remained exactly as before, except for one detail.
There were now two women standing in front of Olivia.
One was Version One.
The other was Olivia herself.
Or what she believed was herself.
The woman called Version One smiled faintly.
"You still don't understand."
Olivia stared at her.
"Then explain."
Version One walked toward the desk.
She picked up the black notebook and turned several pages.
"You think the system created different versions of you."
"I saw them."
"No."
She placed the notebook down.
"The system only recorded them."
Olivia felt a chill run through her.
"Then who created us?"
Version One looked toward the empty bed.
"That's the question that destroyed the first world."
The laptop suddenly flickered.
WORLD COUNT: 1
The number changed.
WORLD COUNT: 2
Then:
WORLD COUNT: 3
Olivia stepped closer.
"What are those?"
Version One didn't answer.
The screen continued counting.
WORLD COUNT: 17
WORLD COUNT: 48
WORLD COUNT: 103
WORLD COUNT: 999
Then the screen stopped.
WORLD COUNT: 1
Olivia stared.
"It reset."
Version One nodded.
"Because there is only one world."
"Then why did it count to nine hundred ninety-nine?"
"Because the system doesn't measure worlds."
She looked directly into Olivia's eyes.
"It measures attempts."
Silence.
Olivia slowly understood.
"You've tried this before."
Version One smiled.
"More times than you could imagine."
The room began changing.
The walls stretched.
The window disappeared.
The desk became older.
The floor filled with photographs.
Hundreds of them.
Thousands.
Olivia bent down and picked one up.
It showed her standing in front of the laptop.
Another showed her running through the white room.
Another showed her speaking to Saif.
Another showed her opening Door 00.
Then another.
Olivia froze.
The photograph showed her standing beside Version One.
But Version One wasn't the same.
There was another Olivia behind them.
And another behind her.
A chain of Olivias disappearing into darkness.
Olivia dropped the photograph.
"How many of us are there?"
Version One whispered:
"Enough to fill the places you call reality."
The laptop suddenly shut down.
A voice came from behind them.
"You shouldn't have shown her."
Olivia turned.
Saif stood beside the window.
But he looked different.
No shadow.
No distortion.
No system text.
Just a normal person.
Version One immediately stepped between them.
"You're not supposed to be here."
Saif smiled.
"I wrote myself in."
Olivia stared at him.
"You said you weren't the one who created us."
"I didn't."
"Then what did you write?"
Saif looked at the laptop.
"The rules."
Olivia's eyes narrowed.
"And who wrote you?"
For the first time, Saif didn't answer.
Version One whispered:
"That's why he is afraid."
The laptop opened by itself.
One final line appeared.
AUTHOR SOURCE IDENTIFIED.
Olivia waited.
The next line appeared slowly.
SOURCE: OLIVIA
Her heart stopped.
Saif took one step backward.
"No."
Olivia looked at him.
"You're afraid of me?"
Saif's expression changed.
"You don't understand what that means."
The screen continued.
AUTHOR SOURCE: OLIVIA
CREATION DATE: UNKNOWN
CREATOR: UNKNOWN
Then a third line appeared.
FIRST WRITER: OLIVIA
Olivia stared at the screen.
"I wrote this?"
Version One shook her head.
"No."
"Then who is Olivia?"
The lights went out again.
A child's voice answered from somewhere inside the walls.
"You are."
A door appeared at the end of the room.
This one carried no number.
Instead, there was a name carved into it.
OLIVIA
The door slowly opened.
And behind it stood hundreds of versions of Olivia.
All watching.
All silent.
All waiting for the same thing.
For the original to choose which one deserved to exist.