Aarika had never believed in fate, not even when she woke in her old bed three months pregnant with memories of her own death. But something about the moment—the calm of the night, the quiet creak of her apartment's wooden floor, the weight of possibility—made her pause.
She sat curled on her couch, a baby name book open on her lap. The pages fluttered in the breeze of a nearby fan, as if choosing for her. Her hand rested over her stomach, and though the baby wasn't due for months, she could already feel the weight of their presence.
"Is this something I should do alone?" she whispered.
Her fingers flipped through the pages. Ethan. Liam. Caleb. Strong names. But none of them felt right. She paused at a name with old roots—Soren. It struck something. Something sharp and tender all at once.
Before she could say it aloud, a flutter rippled through her belly. A soft, firm kick. Her breath caught.
"You like that one?"
Another kick. Definite.
Aarika couldn't help the small smile that curved her lips. "Soren it is."
But then something strange happened. Her laptop screen, which had been asleep, blinked to life. It wasn't plugged in.
Lines of code scrolled—then stopped.
NAME CONFIRMED: SOREN
Override logged to terminal interface.
Entry acknowledged. Link synchronized.
She stood, stunned. The air around her shifted, charged like the moment before a lightning strike.
"What... was that?"
She stepped closer, only for the screen to shut off completely.
She ran diagnostics. Nothing was open. No external network was detected. She checked the router logs—no access, no anomalies. Except one.
A brief ping. From outside.
Three miles away.
Twist: The network trace came from an abandoned tech startup that burned down two years ago in her first life... and hasn't been founded yet in this one.