The room was silent.
Not because nobody had anything to say.
Because nobody knew what to say.
The Seeker had spoken.
Not to humanity.
Not to governments.
Not to world leaders.
To Elena.
Directly.
WE NEED TO TALK.
The message remained suspended on every screen.
Unmoving.
Waiting.
As though it genuinely expected an answer.
"No."
Adrian's voice echoed through the darkness.
The simple response somehow broke the tension for a moment.
"No?"
Elena glanced at him.
"No."
He pointed at the screen.
"We absolutely do not need to talk."
The eye blinked.
A new message appeared.
YOUR OPINION HAS BEEN NOTED.
The room froze.
Adrian stared.
"…it answered me."
Nobody could deny it.
The Seeker had answered him.
Which somehow made everything worse.
"Interesting," Valentina murmured.
"What part of this is interesting?" Adrian asked.
"The Seeker appears capable of sarcasm."
"That is not comforting."
"No."
"It really isn't."
The eye remained fixed on the room.
Watching.
Observing.
Elena stepped forward.
Immediately Alessandro grabbed her wrist.
A silent warning.
A silent plea.
Don't.
She understood.
But she also understood something else.
The Seeker already knew where she was.
Already knew who she was.
Already knew she existed.
Running wouldn't change that.
Slowly she looked at Alessandro.
"It's already here."
His jaw tightened.
Because he knew she was right.
He hated it.
But he knew.
Elena turned back toward the screens.
"What do you want?"
The eye remained motionless.
Then the message changed.
CLARIFICATION.
A pause.
I DO NOT WANT ANYTHING.
Nobody liked that answer.
Not even slightly.
"Then why are you here?"
The response came instantly.
TO CORRECT AN ERROR.
Silence.
Elena felt a cold sensation travel down her spine.
"An error?"
YES.
The eye blinked.
YOU.
The room became deathly quiet.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Because the implication was obvious.
The error was Elena.
The anomaly.
The impossible survivor.
Alessandro stepped forward.
"She isn't an error."
The eye shifted slightly.
As though focusing on him.
Then another response appeared.
THAT IS A PERSPECTIVE.
Adrian slowly sat down.
"I hate this thing."
The Seeker ignored him.
Its attention returned to Elena.
YOU DIED.
Simple.
Direct.
Absolute.
The words struck harder than they should have.
Because they weren't phrased as an opinion.
They were phrased as a fact.
Elena swallowed.
"I survived."
For the first time—
the eye remained silent for several seconds.
Then—
INCORRECT.
The room grew colder.
YOU DIED.
YOU CONTINUE TO EXIST.
THESE ARE DIFFERENT CONDITIONS.
Nobody understood.
Not fully.
But the stranger beyond the stars did.
His face had become pale.
Very pale.
"Elena."
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"Don't argue with it."
The Seeker immediately reacted.
The eye turned toward him.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Every screen flickered.
Every light trembled.
The stranger froze.
For the first time—
fear overwhelmed his expression completely.
Because the Seeker had recognized him.
A new message appeared.
ANOMALY TWO.
Silence exploded through the room.
The stranger closed his eyes.
"…I knew it."
The message continued.
YOU CONTINUE TO INTERFERE.
The stranger laughed bitterly.
"Story of my life."
The Seeker ignored the joke.
Its focus returned to Elena.
A CHOICE EXISTS.
Everyone froze.
A choice?
That was new.
Dangerously new.
"What choice?"
Elena asked.
The eye blinked.
Once.
Slowly.
Then the response appeared.
RETURN TO YOUR DESIGNATED STATE.
The room became completely silent.
Because everyone understood exactly what those words meant.
Death.
The Seeker was offering death.
Politely.
As though it were an administrative correction.
Adrian stood so fast his chair fell over.
"Absolutely not."
The eye shifted toward him.
A pause.
Then—
YOUR OPINION HAS AGAIN BEEN NOTED.
"Stop doing that."
The Seeker ignored him.
Elena felt Alessandro move beside her.
Close enough to protect her.
Close enough to stop her.
If necessary.
But she wasn't going anywhere.
Not yet.
"What happens if I refuse?"
The question echoed through the room.
The stranger immediately looked horrified.
"Elena—"
Too late.
The question had already been asked.
The eye remained motionless.
Then a final response appeared.
One sentence.
A sentence that drained the color from the stranger's face.
THE SAME THING THAT HAPPENS IN EVERY TIMELINE.
Silence.
The stranger whispered one word.
"No."
The eye blinked.
And a vision suddenly appeared across every screen.
A future.
A burning Earth.
Cities collapsing.
Oceans boiling.
Skies torn apart by impossible light.
Humanity dying.
Not from war.
Not from invasion.
From reality itself breaking apart.
The vision lasted only three seconds.
Then vanished.
Leaving the room in darkness.
Leaving everyone shaken.
Leaving only one final message glowing softly on every screen.
YOU HAVE TWENTY-FOUR HOURS TO DECIDE.
And then, for the first time since arriving—
the Seeker disconnected.