Falling through a hole in reality feels exactly like dying.
Or at least, what I imagine dying might feel like...
the ripping sensation,
the weightlessness,
the total absence of direction.
Colors I don't have names for bled into each other as my body twisted through the fracture. A low, vibrating hum echoed inside my skull, like someone whispering in a language older than sound.
Then,
Impact.
I hit solid ground hard enough to knock the breath out of me. My vision blurred, spinning between fractured glimpses of the breach as it snapped shut behind me like a collapsing star.
Silence followed.
Heavy. Wrong.
I rolled onto my back, gasping. The air tasted metallic, sharp. My limbs tingled–side effect of dimensional transfer without shielding. Stupid. Reckless. But I was alive.
For now.
When my vision steadied, I sat up and scanned my surroundings.
A dark alley.
Pulsing neon light.
A skyline that wasn't mine.
Billboards written in a dialect similar to my world's, but not quite. Hover-rails curving between buildings that didn't exist on my Earth. And the smell...something synthetic, chemical, unfamiliar.
I wasn't home.
I had jumped to another timeline.
And I had no idea which one.
My head throbbed as the reality of the situation crashed over me: I had just evaded arrest by the multiverse's most feared authority… by blindly leaping into another branch of existence.
Not exactly a well-thought-out plan.
I staggered to my feet, leaning against a wall to steady myself. Panic clawed at my chest, but I shoved it down. I needed clarity. Focus. My training kicking in.
First priority: Survive long enough to think.
Second priority: Figure out where I am.
Third: Understand who?what...I saw inside the breach.
Because I recognized that silhouette.
It wasn't a stranger.
It was me.
A footstep echoed behind me.
I spun.
A man in a long coat stood at the mouth of the alley, illuminated by blue neon. His face was obscured, but the metallic glint on his wrist was unmistakable–an MSD field stabilizer.
My heart stopped.
How...?
I jumped mere seconds ago.
How could they have tracked me this fast?
I backed away instinctively.
"Stay where you are," the man said, voice level. Calm. Too calm.
"I'm not going back," I snapped.
"You're not supposed to," he replied.
That threw me off. "What?"
The man stepped forward just enough for the neon to reveal his face.
My breath caught.
He wasn't an agent.
He was me.
Not the same as the hologram from the massacre. Not the cold eyes. Not the hollow expression.
This version looked tired. Haunted. Older, maybe. A scar cut across his left cheek.
"I'm not here to hurt you," he said.
My pulse hammered in my ears. "Who...?who the hell are you?"
He gave a small, grim smile. "Another Aren. From another branch."
I swallowed hard. "Why are you here?"
"To warn you."
"About what?"
His expression darkened. "About the one who framed you. The one you saw in the breach."
My mouth went dry. "You know him."
"Better than anyone," he said. "Because he's us. Or rather… what we all could become."
My skin prickled.
Fear twisted deep inside me.
"Why frame me?" I whispered.
"Because he's laying a trail," the older Aren said. "A path only we can follow. And he needs you alive long enough to reach the end of it."
"That makes no sense."
"It will," he replied. "But by then, it might be too late."
A low rumble shook the ground. Sirens blared somewhere in the distance–this world's version of emergency response.
Older Aren stiffened.
"They tracked your arrival. MSD is inbound. You need to move."
"I don't have a QDD," I said. "I can't jump without..."
He held up a small, battered device.
A divergence generator.
Portable. Old design, but functional.
"Take it."
I stared at him. "Why help me?"
His jaw tightened. Pain flickered in his eyes.
"Because I didn't believe the warnings when they came for me," he said softly. "And it cost my entire timeline."
My chest twisted. "What happened?"
He stepped back into the shadows. "You don't have time for the story. Just run. And whatever you do…"
He paused.
"…don't trust any version of me. Not even me."
Before I could respond, he vanished into the darkness!
just as search drones screamed through the air overhead, lights slicing through the alley.
My instincts roared.
I grabbed the divergence generator,feeling its cold metal bite into my palm
and ran.