The words hang in the air like a blade suspended by a single cracking thread.
One choice.All worlds.Infinite fallout.
Aarav's heartbeat thunders in his ears. The Council's chamber, usually so sterile and clinical, now feels like the inside of a god's ribcage—ancient, alive, waiting for a decision it already knows will hurt.
Meher grabs the barrier again. It crackles with energy but she doesn't care."Aarav, don't do anything stupid."
"Meher," he says, voice steadying, "my entire existence is stupid decisions. This is on-brand."
Avni folds her arms—her version of panic."Explain the damn options."
The Councilor steps forward, their form glitching in seven directions at once.
"There are three paths," they say. "All irreversible. All catastrophic."
Aarav squares his shoulders. "Hit me."
OPTION ONE — Rewrite ONE World. Destroy the Others.
The chamber projects a swirling model of the three fractured universes—Kiyan's war-torn reality, Avni's flawless system-state, Nivaan's logical domain—and Meher's unstable original world.
Aarav frowns. "You're saying if I fix one…"
"All other worlds collapse," the Council finishes."A single stable timeline. The rest—deleted."
Kiyan's jaw locks."So my world survives, or theirs dies?"
Avni steps forward."Or mine survives, and the rest vanish."
Meher whispers, "Or mine…"
The weight is enough to crush planets.
OPTION TWO — Merge All Worlds Into One.
The projection shifts—four worlds slamming into each other like orbiting moons losing control.
Chaos.Overpopulation.Conflicting physics.Mutated logic.Contradicting memories.One reality formed from incompatible laws.
"A multiverse fusion," the Council says."No one remains who they were. No world survives in its original form."
Nivaan exhales sharply. "That's not a choice. That's a cosmic trainwreck."
Aarav bites his lip.This one hurts the most.Because it feels… tempting.
OPTION THREE — Aarav Alone Takes the Load.
The final projection is just him—Aarav—standing alone in white void.
"All worlds remain," the Council explains. "All people remain. All timelines stabilize."
"But?"
"You become the anchor," they say."You hold the universes together. Every glitch, every error, every fracture routes into you."
Meher's voice cracks. "That's not autonomy. That's slavery."
Avni shakes her head. "That's suicide."
Kiyan squares up like he's ready to fight the cosmos. "He is NOT doing that."
But Aarav…Aarav says nothing.
Because Option Three is the only one where nobody else loses anything.
Except him.
"Okay," Aarav murmurs.
"I get it. Each choice breaks something."
The Council inclines their head."Exactly. Autonomy always has casualties."
Aarav looks at the projections again—worlds spinning, merging, breaking, his own silhouette cracking under infinite weight.
He closes his eyes.
"I need time."
"You have three minutes," the Council replies."Real minutes. Across all realities."
Meher screams, "THREE MINUTES? That's your idea of fairness?!"
"Yes," the Council says."Because if he cannot choose under pressure, he is not worthy of choosing at all."
Aarav takes a breath so deep it feels like swallowing lightning.
"Okay," he says."Lock the timer."
The chamber lights up.
A cosmic countdown appears overhead.
3:002:592:58
Meher slams her fists on the barrier, eyes burning."Aarav, look at me. Look at me!"
He does.
Her voice is a whisper trembling at the edge of breaking:
"Whatever you choose… don't choose alone."
The timer ticks down.
2:512:502:49
Aarav opens his mouth—
—and the ground shatters beneath him.
The worlds begin collapsing early.The universe refuses to wait.
And the real decision starts now.