The Black File is cleared and scattered. Elias tries to return to routine — but it isn't routine anymore. People greet him like they've spoken recently. He gets replacement gear for wounds he never took. Fira talks about a conversation he doesn't remember.
And then he finds someone else writing in his journal. Again.
-----
The base was normal.
Too normal.
Elias walked past two Munitorum clerks — both nodded at him.
"Thanks again for helping with the breach last week," one said.
Elias blinked.
He'd never seen them before.
Later that day, a medicae servitor caught him in the hall.
Scanned his ID.
"Replacement limb component ready," it chirped.
"What replacement?"
"Report logged: detachment of left forearm musculature — Hive Delphi."
"I've never been to Hive Delphi."
Servitor blinked.
"Logged under Elias Mercer. Confirm or deny?"
Elias stared at it.
"...deny."
Servitor paused.
"Flagged as memory inconsistency. Local correction in progress."
It rolled away.
He opened his journal that night.
A new entry, two pages back.
He didn't write it.
"You're trying too hard to be right.
Just start remembering the way they do."
He turned the page.
Another line in small handwriting:
"Fira misses you. She thinks you stopped visiting."
That same evening, Fira found him in the hallway between sectors.
Her eyes lit up — confused, a little hurt.
"You ghosted me."
"I didn't."
"You said you'd come back after Silph. After we talked."
Elias stopped.
"We haven't talked since Silph."
Fira blinked.
"You… came to my quarters three days ago. You brought a box of memory chips. You told me to hide them."
"I didn't."
She stared at him.
"You're joking."
"No."
"Elias, I still have the box. You carved a flame sigil into it."
System alert — fast and urgent:
> Memory Conflict Detected
> Data Trail: Partial
> User Involvement: Confirmed
> Conscious Memory: Absent
> Possibility: Echo Engagement or Identity Fork
Elias left her without answering.
That night he wrote in the journal again:
"I think there's another version of me.
Or someone pretending to be me.
Or worse—someone I was supposed to become."
Underneath it, in different handwriting:
"Or someone you still might."
[END OF PART 2]