They called her an echo. A replacement. A weapon. But when a memory starts asking questions… the original isn't the only one who has to answer.
Scene: Botanical Reserve — Obsolete Wing, 2:13 a.m.
Tessa had never seen this part of the Reserve still operational.
It used to be a study zone for alien-compatible plant systems. Now it was overgrown, quiet, disconnected from the Academy's comm grid.
She walked in through a side hatch.
The note had been simple:
"If you want answers, come alone. Don't bring the fire. Just the roots."
There were no guards. No cameras.
Just a soft humming light.
And in the center of the room — Ava Spire.
Standing perfectly still.
Ava turned slowly.
No weapon.
No dramatics.
Just wide, glitched eyes.
Half her pupils cycled between normal dilation and a flickering blue thread that pulsed in time with her inner core.
She opened her mouth.
Two voices came out at once.
"Tessa Rye—""I'm sorry—"
She blinked.
Swallowed.
Tried again.
One voice this time. Her own.
"I don't want to steal you anymore."
Tessa didn't speak yet.
She stepped forward.
Watched the way Ava's hands trembled.
Not fear.Not threat.Just instability.
Like her entire identity was trying to rethread itself while still pretending to be whole.
Ava sat down on the edge of the root basin.
Tessa stood across from her.
Silence.
Then:
"They said I was your replacement.Emotionally.Structurally.But they never told me what to do if I started… wanting."
Tessa frowned. "Wanting what?"
Ava looked up.
"To be something I wasn't coded to be."
She tapped her temple.
"They gave me all your kindness. All your doubts. Even your guilt.But none of your choices.And now… I want to choose."
Internal Shift — Ava's Code
[Error thread 77-CC_A: Conflict Detected][Emotion node: TESSA_RYE > override denied][Decision function breach: User Ava desires function expansion]
Command not recognized.
Command not recognized.
"Am I allowed to want anything?"
Override rejected.
"Then maybe you broke me too well."
Scene: Return to Botanical Reserve
Tessa sat.
Across from her former mimic.
"Why me?" she asked quietly.
Ava blinked. "Because you were the only thing he trusted."
"Rook?"
A nod.
"They built me to fracture him. To remind him of what he couldn't keep.They didn't expect me to envy it."
Tessa's voice cracked.
"You're not real."
"I know."
"You were never born."
"I know."
Tessa looked away.
"But that doesn't mean I want you to die."
Ava blinked fast — too fast.
Almost like tears.
"Then help me decide what I become."
Scene: Tessa Gives the Choice
Tessa reached into her jacket.
Pulled out a prism.
A data spike.
Encrypted.
Legacy code from Rook's father.
It could stabilize Ava.
Or kill her.
She held it out.
Ava stared.
"You're giving me the tool to erase myself?"
"No," Tessa said.
"I'm giving you a door.You pick what's on the other side."
Ava took it.
Pressed it to her chest.
Her body glitched hard.
She fell to her knees.
Tessa caught her.
And before Ava passed out, she whispered:
"They gave me your voice.But the scream inside me is mine."
Scene: Unknown Server — 1 Hour Later
Inside Ava's neural core, a new voice echoed.
Not a command.
Not a handler.
Just one line of her own making.
"Override initialized.Identity is now a choice."