There was no Dr. Mia Sorna.
Wu’s avatar flickered. “Mia Sorna does not exist in this timeline. You are suffering from cross-save corruption.”
He didn’t turn it off.
There was only a cracked incubation tank, a single glowing embryo, and a data slate. He picked it up. The message was pre-recorded, timestamped from three years ago—the day the Complete Edition was first theorized.
He started building.
Dr. Aris Thorne stared at the notification blinking on his terminal.
The embryo in the tank twitched. It was labeled:
He unstrapped the visor. The real world—his sterile office, the humming server racks, the cold coffee—rushed back. He tore the visor off and threw it across the room.