The moment Adrian touched the corpse, the world broke.
Not shattered.
Not exploded.
It collapsed.
Sound vanished.
The air folded inward, pressing against his body from every direction. His lungs locked. His chest burned. It felt as if something invisible was squeezing the life out of him.
He tried to scream.
No sound came out.
The building disappeared.
The city disappeared.
The world disappeared.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Not empty darkness.
Something was inside it.
Watching.
Breathing.
Waiting.
Adrian felt it before he saw it.
Countless presences.
They surrounded him.
Close.
Too close.
Their attention crawled across his skin like insects.
His heart pounded violently.
I'm going to die.
The thought was clear.
Certain.
And then—
The darkness cracked.
Visions tore through his mind.
Cities burning.
The sky ripped open like rotten fabric.
Buildings twisting into impossible shapes.
People running in endless loops, screaming the same words over and over.
Time restarting.
Again.
Again.
Again.
And at the center of the destruction—Him.
Older.
Colder.
Standing alone in a broken world.
Unmoving.
Unfeeling.
Watching everything collapse.
Adrian gasped.
The visions stopped.
He was back.
Kneeling in the abandoned building.
But something had changed.
The air was heavier.
Thicker.
The distortion around the corpse had grown violent.
The threads of reality were no longer calm.
They writhed.
Like living things.
Like veins around a heart.
Adrian tried to pull his hand away.
He couldn't.
It felt stuck in place.
Not by force.
But by connection.
Something deep inside him refused to let go.
The corpse's fingers moved.
Slow.
Unnatural.
Adrian's breath stopped.
"That's not possible..."
The body's head tilted slightly.
The movement was wrong.
Jerky.
Delayed.
Like a puppet learning to move again.
Then the eyes opened.
They were not human.
They were empty.
But not lifeless.
Something looked through them.
Something ancient.
Something tired.
Adrian's stomach twisted.
For a moment, he couldn't breathe.
The corpse smiled.
Too wide.
Too slow.
"You finally found me."
The voice was dry.
Broken.
As if spoken through cracked glass.
Adrian's voice trembled.
"...What are you?"
The corpse tilted its head.
"Not what."
A pause.
"Who."
The temperature dropped.
Frost formed along the walls.
Adrian's heart pounded.
"This… isn't real."
"It is."
"You just never saw it before."
Adrian forced the words out.
"Why do you look like me?"
The corpse stared.
The gaze felt heavy.
Judging.
Measuring.
Waiting.
"Because I am you."
The words echoed.
But something else echoed with them.
Whispers.
From the darkness.
Repeating the same sentence.
I am you.
I am you.
I am you.
Adrian clutched his head.
"Stop..."
The corpse continued calmly.
"I am Adrian Vale."
"From a future that must never happen."
The building trembled.
The threads of reality snapped and reformed around them.
Adrian shook.
"No. That's impossible."
The corpse's smile disappeared.
"You've already died three times."
Adrian froze.
"The first was the car."
Fragments tore through his mind.
Impact.
Pain.
Darkness.
Then—
Reset.
He staggered.
"That... didn't happen..."
"You simply forgot."
The corpse leaned closer.
Its face was inches from his.
Its eyes were deep.
Endless.
"You will die again."
"And again."
"And again."
"If you remain weak."
Adrian clenched his fists.
"Why are you telling me this?"
The corpse's voice lowered.
"Because this world is ending."
"And you are the reason."
The air screamed.
Reality bent.
Adrian's voice broke.
"No... I wouldn't..."
"You already did."
Silence.
The whispers stopped.
The darkness pressed closer.
Adrian's body trembled.
"Then why... are you here?"
For the first time, the corpse's expression softened.
"Because there was one future I could not reach."
"A path where both the world... and the one you love... survive."
Something inside Adrian reacted violently.
Pain.
Loss.
A memory that didn't exist.
Tears filled his eyes.
"...Who...?"
"You will meet her."
The corpse's gaze grew distant.
"And when you do... you will understand why everything must break."
The distortion grew uncontrollable.
The building flickered between states.
Destroyed.
Burning.
Normal.
Destroyed again.
"Wait!" Adrian shouted. "Tell me how to stop it!"
The corpse spoke one final time.
"Trust no timeline."
"They are not your enemy."
A pause.
"But they are not your allies either."
The eyes closed.
The smile vanished.
The connection broke.
Adrian fell backward.
The world snapped back into place.
Silence returned.
The threads faded.
The corpse was dead again.
Cold.
Still.
Empty.
Adrian lay on the floor, gasping.
His heart raced.
His mind was shattered.
But something was different now.
The room felt wrong.
As if something had followed him back.
He turned his head slowly.
Beside the corpse lay a small black device.
It pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Like a heartbeat.
And for a moment—
Adrian felt something behind him.
Breathing.
Watching.
He spun around.
Nothing.
But the feeling remained.
Adrian stared at the device.
And deep inside, he understood.
He was no longer alone.
Something had noticed him.
And whatever came next—
Would decide the fate of reality.