Three days passed before Aarika received the invitation.
A matte-black envelope was slid under her office door. No name, no logo. Just a single line typed on thick parchment paper: "Auralyn is not the only legacy you're building."
At the bottom, coordinates and a time.
Her instinct screamed caution, but curiosity—and something deeper—overrode it. She arrived at a high-rise in the business district, where a personal elevator took her to the top floor. There were no assistants. No guards. Just floor-to-ceiling windows and a man sitting at the far end of a long glass table.
Lucas Vale.
He didn't smile. He simply gestured to the seat across from him.
"I'm not here to pitch," he said. "I'm here to protect what you've started."
Aarika sat cautiously. "You already bought in. What more do you want?"
"I want you to survive this," he said.
He slid a file across the table. Inside: a full breakdown of her last twelve weeks. Her movements. Her meetings. Her child's hospital visits. All logged. All tracked.
A chill ran through her.
"Zayden?"
"No," Lucas said. "Someone else. Someone with access to systemic time markers. Someone who knows you're on your second life."
He reached into his coat and pulled out a small watch.
"Recognize this?"
The holographic interface blinked to life—mirroring the exact design the baby's system displayed inside her mind.
Her voice dropped. "Where did you get that?"
Lucas locked eyes with her. "I've been through this... before."
Twist: Lucas removes his cufflink and drops it onto the table. It splits open, revealing a blood sample capsule. "This isn't your first loop. It's ours."