CHAPTER 18: MIRRORWALKER
The cloaked figure stepped from the rupture in space like it was home.
Her face—hidden behind a veil of shifting reflections—showed a thousand versions of herself, each one whispering something different.
But her voice?
Perfect clarity.
"Kaien. It's time you remembered the rest."
The Reclamation Protocol reeled back. "You—"
"I wasn't talking to you."
She flicked a single shard of light.
The Protocol froze.
Completely. Mid-motion. Mid-breath. Mid-time.
Kaien turned, still engulfed in flame, his body moments from collapse.
"Who the hell are you?"
She tilted her head. "The real question is… who were you?"
The world around them was suspended—cars mid-air, birds frozen mid-flap, code dripping from buildings like digital blood.
She stepped forward, touching Kaien's forehead.
And then—
> [FORBIDDEN FILE ACCESSED: MIRRORWALKER ARCHIVE]
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The floodgates opened.
Memories he never had surged in. Not one life. Hundreds.
In one world, he was a warlord.
In another, a code-weaver who built gods.
In another… a boy who destroyed Earth with a whisper.
All of them ended the same way:
Someone betrayed him.
The woman stepped back.
"You've died more times than this world has turned."
Kaien gasped, staggering. "Why don't I remember?"
"Because you're not supposed to."
She waved her hand, and in the sky—an image appeared:
> A dark room.
A glass pod.
Him.
Wires in his spine.
Monitors all around.
And a label:
EXPERIMENT 001: ECHO-LOOP
"Your current life?" she whispered. "Just another simulation. One more test."
Kaien's heart nearly stopped.
None of this was real?
"No. It's real enough. Real pain. Real loss. But the people running this world? They've used your mind like a boot drive."
He clenched his fists.
"Then who are you?"
The cloaked woman smiled—for the first time.
She pulled back her veil.
And Kaien saw himself.
Her face was his.
Older. Crueler. With tears made of glass and eyes burning like broken suns.
"I'm what happens if you fail one more time."
Suddenly—The Protocol moved again, roaring with distorted fury.
> [TIMELOCK BROKEN]
[EXECUTING ERA PURGE]
The Mirrorwalker shoved Kaien back.
"You're not ready to fight it yet."
"I don't care!"
"You should."
She snapped her fingers.
And Kaien was gone.
—
He landed in a dark alley. Breathing hard. Flames extinguished. Body intact.
Above him, digital lightning cracked across the skyline.
He turned—and standing there?
A teenage girl.
Wide-eyed. Holding a gun too big for her hands. Wearing an old academy badge.
She blinked. "Are you Kaien Vale?"
He nodded, confused. "Who are you?"
She swallowed.
"…I think I'm your daughter."
—