**CHAPTER 4: THE OTHER BROTHER**

The static hissed through the radio like a living thing, twisting into a voice Ethan knew—but couldn't possibly be his own.

*"You were always the lucky one."*

The figure in the flickering screen leaned closer, its edges bleeding into the noise. Same eyes. Same face. But the smile was all wrong—sharp where Ethan's was soft, calculated where he was careless.

**"I'm what the System cut out,"** it said. **"The version of you that failed."**

Ethan's breath locked in his chest. The crash. The twisted metal. The *wrongness* of Lena's grave being empty in this world.

**"You died that night,"** the twin murmured. **"She lived. And then they put you back together wrong."**

A child's giggle crackled through the radio—high, bright, *familiar*. Lena's voice, but younger.

*"Big brother,"* it whispered, *"you have to wake up before the truck—"*

The transmission cut off.

Behind him, Jiya gasped. Ethan whirled—just in time to see her **pixels unravel**.

**"Ethan?"** Her voice frayed at the edges as the System rewrote her in real time. **"Who's—"**

Her pupils dilated. Blanked.

**"Sorry,"** she said politely, **"do I know you?"**

And then the screaming started.

*(End of Chapter 4)*

**TEASER FOR CHAPTER 5:**

- **The Crash Loop**: Lena's voice keeps pulling Ethan back to **the moment of impact**.

- **System's Weakness**: The glitching twin whispers: **"Find where it *didn't* erase me."**

- **The Third Brother**: A **third reflection** appears—this one with *Lena's* eyes.