POV: Kiyan
I've seen some weird stuff in my life.Once, a pigeon stole my vada pav.Once, my neighbor claimed she saw God in her pressure cooker steam.Once, I accidentally joined a cult WhatsApp group.
But this?
Two Nivaans wrestling in a glowing field of existential grass while a floating server cathedral judges them like some cosmic HR panel?
Yeah.This tops everything.
The air vibrates like a speaker on max volume.Light fractures around them—two silhouettes merging, splitting, colliding.
Prototype Nivaan—my Nivaan—moves like someone fighting for his first breath.Prime Nivaan moves like someone fighting for his final one.
And I swear the grass is screaming.
Meher yells, "DON'T GO NEAR THEM!"Which, obviously, I ignore.
"What if he needs help?" I shout back.
She grabs my collar so hard I squeak."This isn't a fistfight, Kiyan! This is metaphysical annihilation!"
"Yeah but like—emotional support?? Moral encouragement?? Snacks??"
Avni answers without looking at me, voice tight.
"If you touch that field, you'll disintegrate."
Okay then. Snacks are off the table.
The server cathedral above us pulses again.
"SELECT PRIMARY CORE."
The voice hits the ground like a shockwave.Grass bends.Reality flickers.My nose almost starts bleeding.
Meher snarls, "IT NEEDS A CHOICE. WE HAVE TO PICK."Her gun trembles—not from fear.From fury.
Avni steps closer to the field, eyes scanning the chaos with brutal precision.
"It's not asking for a moral choice," she says."It's asking for a functional one."
"What does that even MEAN?!" I shout.
She points at the two figures tearing each other apart.
"One of them maintains system stability.The other destabilizes it."
"And destabilizing is bad??" I ask.
She finally looks at me, and her expression is… empty.
"Destabilizing collapses the system."
Oh.
Oh no.
The field flashes.
Prototype Nivaan screams—a raw, choked sound that rips right through me.
Prime Nivaan grips his shoulders, voice calm, deadly.
"You are an error.Errors must be overwritten."
Proto slams his forehead into Prime's with an impact that echoes across the field.
"I'm not an error," he growls."I'm the part you couldn't control."
Prime shoves him into the dirt.The grass lights up beneath his back like circuitry turning red.
"You don't belong in the world," Prime says.
Proto spits blood."Yes I do.Because THEY chose me."
His eyes flick—to me.To Meher.To Avni.
Prime follows his gaze.
"You think they'll choose you?" he asks softly."You think they want someone emotional?Unpredictable?Broken?"
Proto's chest stutters.His eyes close.
And something in me snaps.
Before Meher can stop me—before Avni can calculate the probabilities—I take a deep breath and yell at the sky:
"I CHOOSE NIVAAAN!"
The world freezes.
Meher screams my name.
Avni swears in a language she definitely made up.
Proto and Prime both stop mid-struggle.Both turn toward me.
The server cathedral glows bright enough to burn shadows into the ground.
"CLARIFY SELECTION."
I swallow.
Raise my chin.
And say the stupidest, bravest, truest thing of my life:
"I choose Nivaan—the one who cares.The one who laughs weird.The one who panics.The one who tries.The one who messes up.The one who fights anyway."
Prime's face stays perfectly still.
Prototype Nivaan's face breaks open like someone handed him a future.
I take a shaky step forward.
"The Nivaan who's HUMAN."
Silence.
Like the world is holding its breath.
Then—the grass around Prototype Nivaan glows gold.Around Prime—it turns black.
Prime stands slowly, expression unreadable.
"So they choose you," he murmurs."Predictable."
Prototype Nivaan struggles to his feet, shaking.
"This isn't your world anymore."
Prime tilts his head.
"No.It's yours.Which means you have to bear the cost."
The ground cracks beneath him—light swallowing him piece by piece.
He looks at Proto one last time.
"Don't waste what I built."
Prototype Nivaan whispers, "What you built almost destroyed me."
Prime smirks faintly.
"Then improve it."
He disintegrates—not violently.More like dissolving back into source code.Returning to where he began.
The server cathedral dims.
The grass softens.
And Nivaan collapses to his knees.
Meher and Avni rush toward him.I follow, heart in my throat.
He looks up at us—eyes unfocused, chest trembling.
"I didn't… want to take his place."
"We didn't choose a place," I say."We chose you."
He shuts his eyes.
And for the first time since he came back to life—
Nivaan lets himself breathe.
Not calm.Not perfect.Not controlled.
Just… alive.