Ash's heart slammed against his ribs as the Founder's words echoed through the clearing.
Merging.
Absorbing.
Becoming the core.
It didn't even feel real—but the fear in Palo's eyes, the shock on Silva's face, and the copy's trembling silence made it impossible to deny.
Palo's voice cracked.
"Ash… is he lying? Tell me he's lying."
Ash opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
The truth was simple and terrifying:
He didn't know.
Silva took a shaky step forward, trying to stay calm even as her voice trembled.
"The merging protocol is theoretical. We heard rumors about it in the facility. The idea was… the Template could unify the code of the other prototypes."
The copy whispered,
"Unify… or overwrite."
Ash felt sick.
Palo shook his head firmly and grabbed Ash's shoulders.
"No. No way. You're not going to become some kind of—kind of empty shell that eats the rest of us."
Ash swallowed hard.
"I don't want that," he said, voice raw.
"I don't want any of you to disappear."
Silva's eyes softened.
"We know."
The Founder remained silent for a long moment, watching Ash with a strange mixture of fascination and alarm. Then he spoke.
"You cannot stop the protocol now that it has begun. The activation is irreversible."
Ash felt the world tilt.
"No. You're wrong. There has to be a way to stop it."
The Founder clasped his hands behind his back.
"The only one who could have prevented this was your mother. And she chose to hide that knowledge inside you. If the message had been complete—"
Silva stiffened.
"Wait."
She turned to Ash.
"The message cut off, didn't it? You didn't hear all of it."
Ash nodded slowly.
"It ended after she said I wasn't a weapon."
Silva's voice trembled with urgency.
"Then the rest is still inside you."
Palo frowned.
"But how do we get to it?"
The copy stepped closer—carefully, cautiously—as though afraid of setting off another surge.
His voice was low.
"Ash. When you touched me earlier… our memories connected."
Ash remembered.
The flash.
The voice.
The message.
"You're saying we need to connect again?"
The copy nodded.
"But willingly. Without fear. Without pain."
Palo tensed immediately.
"No. Absolutely not. Last time he connected with you, he almost collapsed."
The copy looked at Palo with an expression that was neither hostile nor cold—just tired.
"I don't want to hurt him. I never did."
Palo froze at that.
Silva stepped between all three of them.
"If the rest of the message tells us how to stop the merging protocol… we have to try."
Ash looked at the glowing symbol on his arm—pulsing like a living heartbeat.
The idea of connecting to the copy again terrified him.
He didn't know what memories might surface, what parts of him might break.
But the thought of absorbing Palo…
Of erasing Silva…
Of consuming the copy…
Made his blood run cold.
He stepped forward.
"I'll do it."
Palo grabbed his sleeve, fear raw in his voice.
"Ash—you don't have to prove anything. We'll find another way."
Ash gave him a small, sad smile.
"This is the other way."
The copy extended his hand.
Not aggressively.
Not demanding.
But like someone asking to share a burden.
Ash took a slow, shaky breath.
Then put his hand in the copy's.
A shockwave rippled through the clearing—
not painful, not violent—
but deep, resonant, like a bell ringing inside the bones of the world.
Silva staggered back.
Palo shielded his eyes.
The Founder watched with barely concealed terror.
Light wrapped around Ash and the copy—blue, silver, and white—twisting in slow spirals.
Then—
Ash was no longer in the forest.
He was somewhere dark.
Somewhere cold.
Somewhere echoing.
A room made of glass and shadows.
A heartbeat pulsing through the walls.
A holographic form flickering in front of him.
A woman's silhouette.
His mother.
Her voice was softer than he remembered.
"Ash… if you're hearing this, the last protocol has awakened. I knew this day might come."
Ash's breath caught.
"Mom…"
The silhouette leaned forward, her voice trembling.
"You were created to decide. Not to obey. Not to merge. To choose."
The room shook.
The message began to distort, glitching around the edges.
"Ash… the merging protocol can only be stopped by one person."
The light dimmed.
The figure flickered.
The voice whispered—
"You."
Ash felt a jolt.
The world shattered.
And he fell—
Back into the clearing.
He hit the ground, gasping.
Palo rushed to him, nearly frantic.
"Ash! Ash, talk to me!"
Ash grabbed Palo's wrist, breathing hard.
"I know… how to stop it."
Silva knelt beside him, eyes wide.
"How?"
Ash looked at all of them.
Palo.
Silva.
Even the copy.
Then up at the Founder.
His voice shook, but his words were clear.
"I have to rewrite my own core."
The Founder went pale.
"That will destroy you."
Ash shook his head.
"No. It will define me."
The copy stared at him, stunned.
"You'd change yourself… for us?"
Ash nodded slowly.
"I'm done being what they made me.
I'm choosing what I become."
And the symbol on his arm glowed—
not with chaos this time,
but with purpose.