ARIA'S POV
"Stop the car," I say suddenly.
Damien glances at me. "What? We need to keep moving—"
"STOP. THE. CAR."
He pulls over to the side of the dark highway. All three of them turn to stare at me—Damien, Ethan, Vivian.
One of them is working for the organization.
One of them betrayed me.
"Aria, what's wrong?" Vivian asks.
I look at each of them, using my new singularity vision to see their possible futures, their branching timelines, their choices spreading out like tree roots.
And that's when I see it.
In Vivian's future—just one timeline branch—she's standing in Dr. Chen Wei's office, accepting a briefcase full of money.
In Ethan's future—another branch—he's reporting to someone on the phone: "The girl is secure. Project Encore is proceeding as planned."
In Damien's future—the darkest branch—he's standing over my hospital bed, his hand on the plug of my life support machine, whispering: "I'm sorry. But my mother's death can't be for nothing."
All three of them have betrayal timelines.
Which means all three of them COULD be the traitor.
Or none of them are yet, but one WILL be.
"Aria?" Damien's voice is worried. "Talk to us."
"The judge said one of you is working for the organization." My voice shakes. "I can see possible futures now. And in some timelines, ALL of you betray me."
Silence crashes through the car.
"That's not possible," Ethan says. "I would never—"
"In one future, you're on the phone reporting to someone. 'Project Encore is proceeding as planned.' Your exact words."
Ethan's face goes white. "Aria, I can explain—"
"Then EXPLAIN!" I shout.
"I was undercover!" He runs his hands through his hair, stressed. "Six months ago, I infiltrated the organization to find out what happened to Damien's mother. I've been feeding them fake information to keep my cover. But I swear, I'm not REALLY working for them—"
"How do I know you're telling the truth?"
"Because if I wanted to betray you, I'd have done it already!" His voice cracks. "I had a dozen chances tonight. I could have left you in that cage. I could have shot you instead of the guards. But I DIDN'T."
He's right. But that doesn't mean he won't betray me tomorrow.
I turn to Vivian. "And you? Why do I see you taking money from Dr. Chen Wei?"
Vivian looks away, guilty. "Because he offered me a deal. Before tonight. Before I knew what was really happening."
"What kind of deal?"
"He said if I helped deliver you to the organization, he'd make me famous. Give me everything I ever wanted—record deals, endorsements, the life I always dreamed of." Tears stream down her face. "I was going to say yes. I was SO CLOSE to saying yes. But then Kyle—or the demon wearing Kyle—hurt me. And I realized I'd become the villain of someone else's story. I couldn't do it."
"But you almost did."
"Yes." She meets my eyes. "I almost betrayed you because I was jealous and desperate. I'm not going to lie about that. But I CHOSE not to. Doesn't that count for something?"
Maybe. But choice can change.
Finally, I look at Damien. "And you? Why do I see you pulling the plug on my life support?"
His face goes completely blank. "When do you see that happening?"
"I don't know. The timeline is fuzzy. But you're standing there, crying, saying your mother's death can't be for nothing."
Damien closes his eyes. When he opens them, they're filled with pain. "There's a timeline where you're brain-dead but your singularity power keeps your body alive. Where the organization keeps you in a coma, using your power to reshape history. In that timeline, the only mercy I can give you is death."
"So you'd kill me?"
"I'd END YOUR SUFFERING." His voice breaks. "Just like I couldn't do for my mother. If you're trapped, conscious but unable to escape, being used as a weapon—yes, Aria. I'd unplug you. Because I'd rather you be dead than enslaved."
The car fills with heavy silence.
They're all telling the truth. I can feel it.
But the judge's note said one of them IS a traitor. Present tense. Not "will be" or "might be." IS.
Which means someone is lying right now.
Or—
"Wait," I say slowly. "What if the traitor isn't one of you?"
"What do you mean?" Ethan frowns.
"What if there's someone else? Someone who's been with us this whole time but we didn't notice?" I close my eyes and reach into my timeline vision, looking at EVERY person who's been near me tonight.
And I see it.
A shadow. A presence. Someone who's been following us through multiple timelines, staying just out of sight.
"There's someone in the trunk," I whisper.
Everyone freezes.
"That's impossible," Damien says. "This is my car. I'd know if—"
A muffled sound comes from the back of the car. Like someone shifting position.
Damien grabs his gun. Ethan pulls out a knife. Vivian clutches her phone, finger hovering over 911.
I get out of the car and walk to the trunk.
My singularity power lets me see through it—I can perceive the person inside across all timelines.
I pop the trunk.
Inside, bound and gagged, is a girl who looks EXACTLY like me.
Another Aria.
But her eyes are different—older, harder, completely aware.
I tear off her gag.
She coughs, then smiles. "Took you long enough to notice me."
"Who are you?"
"I'm the REAL Aria Chen." Her voice is calm. Too calm. "The one who died ten years ago and got sent back. You? You're the COPY. The backup. The organization created you as insurance in case I failed."
My world tilts. "That's not true—"
"Isn't it? Think about it. Why do you have memories from multiple timelines? Because you're compiled from pieces of different Arias. You're not one person—you're a CONSTRUCT. A Frankenstein's monster made of timeline fragments."
"She's lying," Damien says, but he sounds uncertain.
"Am I? Then explain why you can access other timelines so easily. Real people can't do that. Only ARTIFICIAL singularities can—beings CREATED to bridge realities." She struggles against her bonds. "The organization made you three months ago. Implanted false memories. Sent you into this timeline to complete Project Encore. Every choice you think you made? Programmed. Every feeling you think is real? Simulated."
"NO!" I scream. "I remember dying! I remember my first life!"
"You remember what they PROGRAMMED you to remember." Her eyes are pitying. "I'm sorry. But you're not real, Aria. You never were."
I fall to my knees, hyperventilating.
Is she telling the truth? Am I just a construct? A copy of a real person?
I look at my hands—still glowing with that strange light.
"Prove it," I gasp. "Prove you're real and I'm not."
"Easy." She nods at Damien. "Ask him about the scar on my left shoulder. From when I fell off my bike at age seven. The real Aria would have that scar."
Damien steps forward, studies my shoulder.
No scar.
Then he checks the trunk-Aria's shoulder.
There it is. A small white scar, exactly where she said.
"No," I whisper. "No, this can't be—"
"I'm sorry," Damien says softly. "But she has the scar. You don't."
Trunk-Aria smiles sadly. "They made you well. Better than me in some ways. Stronger. More powerful. But you're still just a TOOL. And when tools break, they get replaced."
My vision blurs with tears. Everything I thought I was—gone. Everything I believed—a lie.
"So what do we do?" Ethan asks quietly.
"We let the REAL Aria out," Vivian says. "And we... deal with the copy."
Deal with me. Meaning kill me. Destroy me. Erase the artificial girl.
I should fight. I should argue. But what's the point?
If I'm not real, then nothing matters.
Damien kneels beside me. "Aria—the one I know—look at me."
I can't. I can't look at anyone.
"You might be a construct. You might be made of timeline fragments. But you FEEL real. Your pain is real. Your fear is real. Your courage tonight was REAL." He cups my face. "I don't care if you were created in a lab. You're the person who sang on that stage. Who fought those demons. Who saved my life. That's real enough for me."
"He's being kind," Trunk-Aria says. "But eventually, he'll choose the original over the copy. Everyone will. Because you're just an ECHO. A shadow. You'll always be second-best."
Something inside me cracks.
Then BREAKS.
And from that broken place, rage rises.
"You know what?" I stand up, wiping my tears. "Maybe I AM a construct. Maybe I'm not the original. But I absorbed eleven demons tonight. I became a singularity. I reshaped timelines and saved lives. What did YOU do?"
Trunk-Aria's smile falters.
"You've been hiding in a trunk while I fought for my existence. You let me face the dangers while you stayed safe. And now you want to take MY life? MY achievements? MY relationships?" I laugh bitterly. "No. I don't care if you're the original. I'm the one who EARNED this existence. You're just the girl who gave up and hid."
"I was CAPTURED—"
"Were you? Or did you LET yourself be captured so I'd do all the hard work?" I lean closer. "How long have you been in this timeline? Days? Weeks? Why didn't you show yourself sooner?"
Her eyes shift. Guilty.
"Because you wanted to see if I'd succeed," I realize. "If I failed, you could step in and claim ignorance. If I succeeded, you could steal my victory. You're not the original—you're another COPY. Maybe an earlier version. Maybe a failed prototype."
"That's not—"
"Prove YOU'RE real then. Show me something only the original would know."
Silence.
She can't.
Because we're BOTH constructs. Both copies of a girl who died long ago.
The real Aria Chen is dead and gone. We're just fighting over her corpse.
"So what now?" Vivian asks. "If you're both fake, who do we trust?"
Before anyone can answer, my phone buzzes.
A text from Dr. Chen Wei: "Clever girl. You found the decoy. But there are twelve more Arias scattered across this city. Twelve copies, all competing to be the 'real' one. Only the strongest will survive. Let the games begin."
I look at Trunk-Aria.
She looks at me.
We're not allies.
We're COMPETITORS.
And somewhere in this city, ten other versions of me are hunting for the same prize: the right to exist.
"Drive," I tell Damien. "We need to find the others before they find us."
"And then what?" he asks.
"Then we see which Aria is strong enough to deserve this life."
In the trunk, Trunk-Aria laughs. "You think you can beat eleven other versions of yourself? You barely survived tonight."
"Watch me."
But as Damien starts the car, I catch sight of my reflection in the side mirror.
And for just a second—just ONE second—my eyes flash BLACK.
Like the demons.
Oh god.
What if I absorbed more than just their POWER?
What if some of them are still INSIDE me?