Title: Echoes of Orion
Part 4: The Divergence
Elara stepped into the monolith.
Gravity reasserted itself with a gentle hum. The interior stretched endlessly in all directions — a mirrored chamber of soft white light, folding in on itself like a Möbius strip. Each reflection wasn’t just a copy of her… it was a version of her. Some wore different uniforms. Some bore scars. One had no eyes — just light where they should be.
But only one walked forward.
The older Elara — the version that had spoken to her.
“This place is called the Nexus,” she said. “A fracture point between timelines. One you helped create.”
Elara stared, trying to process the impossible. “I don’t understand. I haven’t done anything.”
“Not yet,” her older self replied. “But you will. And what you open… unravels everything.”
With a wave of her hand, the space around them shifted. A projection bloomed midair — a sprawling web of star systems, tangled in threads of red light.
“This is the Multilinear Continuum. Every decision you make splits the stream. And one of those decisions… awakens something.”
Elara watched the web writhe as one red thread ignited, pulsing outward like a shockwave, collapsing other paths. One by one, the timelines were devoured by something moving backward through them.
“It feeds on collapse,” the older Elara whispered. “We called it The Echo Entity. It only exists because you answered the signal. Because you tried to help.”
Elara felt the chill of that truth settle in her spine.
“Then why call me here?”
Her reflection stepped closer, eyes glowing brighter.
“Because this is the last timeline where you haven’t opened the breach. I diverted the signal. Gave you a choice.”
A portal shimmered into view behind her — it led back to the Halcyon Wing.
“Go back, forget this ever happened… or stay and help me stop the Echo for good.”
The walls of the Nexus began to tremble.
From the mirrors around them, something stirred.
And it was listening.
To be continued…
