The entire chamber fell into stunned silence.
Only the sound of the Core continued echoing softly through the underground archive.
Rotating.
Awakening.
Watching.
Selina stared at the holographic projection of herself suspended above the silver light.
Her older self.
Or perhaps—
another version.
The woman's silver eyes held the same exhaustion Lucian carried.
Only deeper.
Older.
Like someone who had lived through far too many endings.
And then the words repeated again inside Selina's mind.
"You were created to reset them."
Her breathing slowed unevenly.
"No…"
The projection looked at her quietly.
Almost gently.
"I know this is difficult to understand."
Lucian stepped forward immediately.
"What exactly is she?"
The future Selina shifted her gaze toward him.
And for the first time—
emotion flickered visibly across her face.
Pain.
A terrible amount of it.
"You already know the answer, Lucian."
His jaw tightened sharply.
"No."
The denial came instantly.
Too instantly.
Selina turned toward him slowly.
"You knew."
Not fully.
But enough.
Lucian avoided her eyes for one brief second.
That was enough confirmation.
The projection continued quietly.
"The Blackthorn and Blackwood bloodlines were never natural pairings."
The Core pulsed brighter beneath her.
Silver light spread across the floor like living veins.
"They were genetically synchronized through temporal resonance experiments."
Adrian's expression sharpened immediately.
Even Damian looked disturbed hearing it spoken aloud.
Selina's chest tightened painfully.
Experiments.
Not destiny.
Not fate.
Designed.
Manufactured.
The projection looked directly at Selina.
"Your existence stabilized the Temporal Core."
A pause.
"That is why every timeline centered around you."
The room suddenly felt suffocating.
Selina stepped backward slowly.
"You're saying my entire life was planned?"
The projection's expression softened faintly.
"Not planned."
A long silence followed.
Then quietly—
"Engineered."
The word shattered something inside her.
Lucian immediately moved toward her again.
"Selina."
But she pulled away this time.
Her thoughts spiraled violently.
The Blackthorn family.
The Hollow Circle.
The timelines.
The silver eyes.
The repeated deaths.
Was any of it truly hers?
Or was she only the result of someone else's design?
The projection continued calmly despite the growing instability of the Core.
"The original purpose of the Temporal Core was not immortality."
Adrian frowned slightly.
"Then what was it?"
The future Selina's gaze lowered briefly.
"Correction."
The underground archive dimmed slightly.
And suddenly—
every screen in the room displayed the same image.
A burning city.
Collapsed buildings.
Bodies everywhere.
Selina's stomach twisted immediately.
The projection spoke softly.
"The original timeline ended in global collapse."
Silence crashed through the chamber.
Even the Hollow Circle members looked unsettled now.
Lucian's expression became unreadable.
Selina stared at the burning city across the screens.
"What caused it?"
The answer came quietly.
"Us."
The room went still.
The future Selina looked toward the Core slowly.
"Temporal experimentation destabilized reality itself."
Adrian's voice lowered.
"That's impossible."
"No," the projection replied calmly. "It already happened."
The silver gears rotated faster.
The chamber vibrated beneath them.
The future Selina continued.
"The first collapse erased millions."
A pause.
"The second erased entire nations."
Selina's pulse slowed painfully.
And suddenly—
she understood why Lucian looked so tired all the time.
Because he carried knowledge no human being was ever meant to hold.
The projection's eyes shifted toward Selina again.
"The reset cycles were created to prevent total extinction."
Damian finally spoke sharply.
"And every cycle failed."
The future Selina looked toward him.
Something cold entered her expression.
"Because the Hollow Circle continued interfering."
The armed men behind Damian shifted uneasily.
Adrian folded his arms slowly.
"So your solution was endless resets?"
"Temporary survival," the projection corrected quietly.
Selina's breathing became uneven again.
"Why me?"
The question escaped almost like a plea.
The projection looked at her silently for several long seconds.
Then—
"Because only one consciousness remained stable across fractured timelines."
The answer made the room colder somehow.
Lucian closed his eyes briefly.
As if hearing it spoken aloud hurt him too.
The projection continued softly.
"You became the anchor."
Selina stared blankly ahead.
Anchor.
Not daughter.
Not person.
Anchor.
Her chest hurt violently now.
Because suddenly—
she understood why everyone kept trying to protect her, control her, or use her.
Not because of who she was emotionally.
Because of what she represented.
The Core pulsed harder.
SYNCHRONIZATION LEVEL: 91%
Warning alarms suddenly echoed throughout the archive.
The Hollow Circle members immediately became alert.
Damian's expression darkened sharply.
Lucian looked toward the Core instantly.
"We're out of time."
Selina frowned weakly.
"What happens at one hundred percent?"
The future projection answered immediately.
And this time—
fear entered her voice clearly.
"The timelines merge."
Silence.
Then softly—
"And only one version of reality survives."
The room became deathly still.
Selina's heartbeat slowed painfully.
One reality.
Meaning every other timeline—
every other version of them—
would disappear permanently.
Lucian stepped closer toward the Core.
"There has to be another way."
The future Selina looked at him sadly.
"You already tried every other way."
The words landed like knives.
Lucian froze.
And suddenly Selina realized something terrifying.
This version of the future—
had already lived through outcomes even Lucian didn't remember.
The projection's silver eyes shifted toward Selina one final time.
"The eighth timeline was never supposed to exist."
A pause.
"You created it when you chose differently on the rooftop."
Selina's chest tightened violently.
The rooftop.
Her death.
Her rebirth.
The projection continued quietly.
"For the first time… you wanted to live."
Tears burned unexpectedly behind Selina's eyes.
Because somehow—
that sounded unbearably sad.
The Core suddenly emitted a violent pulse of silver light.
The archive shook hard enough to crack parts of the stone ceiling.
Several Hollow Circle members stumbled backward instantly.
Then—
the warning alarms changed.
A new message appeared across every screen.
FOREIGN ACCESS DETECTED
Lucian's expression changed immediately.
Adrian frowned sharply.
Damian looked genuinely alarmed for the first time tonight.
And then—
the lights throughout the archive abruptly shut off.