Nobody spoke.
The transmission had ended.
Yet its final words lingered in the room like a living thing.
I FINALLY FOUND YOU.
Elena stood frozen.
Not because of the threat.
Because of the certainty.
Whoever had sent that message wasn't searching anymore.
The search was over.
They knew exactly where she was.
The silence stretched.
Then shattered.
"Okay."
Adrian stood up abruptly.
"No."
Nobody responded.
"I'm serious."
He pointed at the dark screen.
"This has officially crossed into creepy territory."
"Officially?" Valentina asked.
"I was trying to remain optimistic."
"That was your first mistake."
For once, nobody laughed.
Because every person in the room was staring at the same terrifying reality.
Thirty-one hours.
That was all they had.
Thirty-one hours before contact.
Thirty-one hours before whatever existed beyond the stars reached Earth.
Alessandro finally broke the silence.
"Valentina."
"Yes."
"Everything."
The AI immediately understood.
Every screen activated simultaneously.
Star charts.
Signal records.
Historical files.
Recovered transmissions.
Thousands of pieces of information flooded the room.
"Compiling all available data."
The mansion's systems hummed under the strain.
For several seconds nobody spoke.
Then Iris froze.
"Wait."
Everyone turned toward her.
"What?"
Elena asked.
The woman stepped closer to one screen.
A recovered file from centuries ago.
One of the catalyst records.
Something had changed.
A hidden section was appearing.
As if recent events had unlocked it.
Valentina immediately isolated the file.
The screen zoomed inward.
A heavily encrypted document slowly revealed itself.
"Decrypting."
Lines of text appeared.
Old text.
Ancient text.
Not written in any modern language.
Yet somehow—
Valentina translated it instantly.
The room read the first line.
And immediately went silent.
IF YOU ARE READING THIS, THE SEEKER HAS AWAKENED.
A chill spread through Elena.
The document continued.
DO NOT ATTEMPT COMMUNICATION.
DO NOT REVEAL THE ANOMALY.
DO NOT TRUST THE MEMORIES IT SHOWS YOU.
The room became colder.
Because every warning matched what they had already experienced.
Iris whispered softly.
"Oh my God."
The text continued scrolling.
THE SEEKER DOES NOT DESTROY CIVILIZATIONS.
Adrian frowned.
"Well that's new."
Nobody answered.
Because the next line appeared.
And it was much worse.
IT HARVESTS POSSIBILITIES.
Silence.
Complete silence.
Elena felt something uncomfortable settle in her stomach.
"Possibilities?"
Valentina continued translating.
WHEN A TIMELINE DEVIATES, THE SEEKER ARRIVES.
WHEN AN IMPOSSIBILITY SURVIVES, THE SEEKER ARRIVES.
WHEN DESTINY BREAKS, THE SEEKER ARRIVES.
Every word felt heavier than the last.
Then came the sentence nobody wanted to read.
THE ANOMALY MUST NEVER BE FOUND.
Everyone slowly looked toward Elena.
No one said a word.
No one needed to.
The document was talking about her.
It always had been.
Her survival.
Her existence.
Her impossible presence in a timeline where she should have died.
Alessandro's expression darkened instantly.
"Keep reading."
Valentina obeyed.
The final section appeared.
Damaged.
Incomplete.
But readable.
WE FAILED.
THE SEEKER FOUND HER.
EARTH WAS LOST THREE DAYS LATER.
Nobody breathed.
Nobody moved.
The room seemed to stop existing.
Because those words weren't talking about the future.
They were talking about another timeline.
Another Earth.
Another version of reality.
One that had already failed.
The final surviving line appeared.
The last message left behind by whoever wrote the document.
IF YOU STILL HAVE TIME…
The text flickered.
Corrupted.
Breaking apart.
Then stabilized one final time.
DON'T LET ELENA REMEMBER.
The room went completely silent.
Elena stared.
Her pulse thundered in her ears.
Because suddenly—
things began making sense.
The familiarity.
The voice.
The feeling that something was missing.
The feeling that someone already knew her.
The lights throughout the mansion flickered violently.
Every screen flashed white.
Valentina reacted instantly.
"New transmission detected."
Nobody wanted another transmission.
Yet everyone turned.
The screen activated.
Not text.
Not a warning.
A video.
The silhouette from before stood among distant stars.
Closer now.
Much closer.
Still impossible to identify.
Still hidden by darkness.
Then the figure spoke for the first time.
A calm voice echoed through the room.
A voice that made Elena's blood freeze.
Because she recognized it.
Not from memory.
From somewhere deeper.
Somewhere impossible.
"Hello, Elena."
The figure took a single step forward.
For the briefest moment, starlight illuminated part of its face.
And Elena stopped breathing.
Because the man standing beyond the stars…
looked exactly like her dead brother.