I froze.
She stepped forward slowly—same eyes, same height, same voice.
But her expression?
Stone-cold.
"Who… who are you?" I whispered.
Her smile was sharp. Dangerous. "I told you. I'm the one they made after you. When you disappeared, they thought you were a failed experiment."
She tilted her head.
"So they made me better."
My brain buzzed with static.
This wasn't a hallucination. She was real. Breathing. Wearing the same camp hoodie I'd worn years ago. But hers had a red symbol stitched over the heart:
ΔX-14
"You're lying," I breathed. "They said I was the only one."
She laughed—hard and bitter. "Of course they did. You were their golden girl. The Echo. But while you were out playing high school romance and chasing butterflies, I was being trained. For war."
Her voice dipped low. "And now, they've sent me to take you back."
Before I could move, she lunged.
I barely dodged.
She was fast. Too fast.
"Stop!" I cried. "You don't have to do this!"
"Oh, I do," she hissed, sweeping my legs out from under me. I hit the ground hard, breath knocked from my lungs. "You don't get it, do you? You were never meant to escape. You broke the timeline. Now everything's unraveling."
She raised her hand—and a shockwave of energy pulsed from her palm.
I flew backward, slamming into a steel beam. Pain exploded in my shoulder.
"You have powers too?" I groaned.
She snorted. "Please. I am the power."
Suddenly, the air crackled behind her—then split open.
A voice shouted:
"Step away from her!"
Elias.
He burst through the shadows, gun drawn.
She didn't even blink.
"Oh, you again," she sneered. "You must really love dying for her."
Elias fired.
She blurred—moving faster than bullets.
In a flash, she was behind him, gripping his wrist. "You don't belong in this part of the story."
Then she slammed him into the wall.
"Elias!" I screamed, dragging myself up.
Something inside me snapped.
A heat surged through my veins—deeper than memory, louder than fear.
The air shimmered.
Time bent.
And just like that—
She froze.
Literally.
Her body locked mid-motion, eyes wide in mid-blink.
I gasped.
Did I do that?
Elias groaned and staggered to his feet.
"She's… stuck," he whispered. "How?"
I looked down at my hands. They were glowing faintly—blue threads spinning between my fingertips.
"I think I just upgraded."
****
But we didn't have time to celebrate.
Because a voice echoed through the chamber speakers.
Cold. Robotic.
"SUBJECT E-13 HAS AWAKENED. INITIATE TERMINATION SEQUENCE."
Red lights flared.
A countdown appeared on the walls.
T-Minus 04:59… 04:58…
Elias grabbed my arm. "We have to go!"
"But her—" I looked at the frozen clone.
"She's not your problem anymore," he said, dragging me toward the exit.
But just as we reached the threshold—
A burst of static—
And her voice whispered:
"Too slow… Echo."
I turned in horror.
She was gone.
Vanished.
And the red countdown?
Still ticking.