Noah couldn’t breathe.

Across the street stood a seven-year-old boy.

His face.

His eyes.

His scar.

Everything was exactly the same.

It was him.

The original Noah.

The boy smiled.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Noah couldn’t answer.

Aria stepped closer.

“Don’t move.”

The child tilted his head.

“Who are you?”

Noah finally found his voice.

“I’m Noah.”

The boy frowned.

“No, you’re not.”

Noah felt a strange pain in his chest.

The child pointed toward him.

“You’re wearing my memories.”

Aria looked at Noah.

“How does he know?”

The little boy smiled.

“Because I remember dying.”

The street suddenly became silent.

Noah stepped backward.

“What?”

The boy walked toward them.

“I remember the machine.”

He touched his head.

“I remember Dad crying.”

“I remember the fire.”

“I remember you.”

Noah stared.

“You remember me?”

The boy nodded.

“You came back.”

Aria whispered:

“This timeline isn’t restored.”

Noah looked at the clock.

The message was still there.

ONE OF YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE.

The boy reached for the clock.

Noah pulled it away.

“Don’t touch it.”

The boy looked hurt.

“Why?”

“Because it’s dangerous.”

The boy laughed softly.

“So am I.”

The ground trembled.

A crack appeared along the street.

Aria grabbed Noah’s arm.

“We need to go.”

“Where?”

“Anywhere.”

They ran.

The little Noah followed.

“Noah!”

The older Noah stopped.

The boy caught up.

“Wait!”

Noah turned.

“What do you want?”

The boy looked at him.

“I want my life back.”

Noah’s heart broke.

“I can’t give it to you.”

“Yes, you can.”

The boy pointed toward the clock.

“That’s why Dad made it.”

Aria stepped forward.

“What does the clock actually do?”

The boy answered:

“It doesn’t remember tomorrow.”

He smiled.

“It remembers everyone.”

Noah looked at the clock.

The silver surface began glowing.

A hidden compartment opened.

Inside was a small crystal.

Noah touched it.

A voice came from inside.

His father’s voice.

“If you’re hearing this, then both Noahs are alive.”

Noah froze.

Aria looked at him.

The recording continued.

“I knew this might happen.”

A hologram appeared.

His father stood inside it.

“Time cannot create something from nothing.”

Noah whispered:

“Then what am I?”

His father looked directly at him.

“You are a memory given a body.”

Noah closed his eyes.

“But the original Noah is still alive.”

“Yes.”

“Then why did you create me?”

His father’s expression became sad.

“Because the original Noah couldn’t survive the Collapse.”

Aria asked:

“Then why is he alive now?”

His father answered:

“Because someone changed the past.”

The hologram flickered.

“Someone who should never have existed.”

Noah looked at Aria.

She understood.

“Me.”

The recording continued.

“Aria, you were created from the memories of a future that hasn’t happened yet.”

Aria’s face went pale.

“What?”

“You are not from the future.”

The hologram disappeared.

The clock began shaking.

A deep sound rolled across the city.

The sky turned black.

People stopped moving.

Cars froze.

Rain stopped falling.

Time was collapsing again.

Noah looked at the boy.

“What do we do?”

The little Noah pointed toward a tower in the distance.

“Go there.”

“What is it?”

“My father’s final laboratory.”

Aria stared at the tower.

“That building doesn’t exist.”

The boy smiled.

“It does now.”

They ran.

The city transformed around them.

Buildings appeared and disappeared.

People changed ages.

The sky flickered between day and night.

Noah saw himself as an old man.

Then as a child.

Then as someone he didn’t recognize.

Aria suddenly stopped.

“Noah.”

He turned.

She was staring at her own reflection in a shop window.

But the reflection wasn’t hers.

It was an older version of Aria.

Blood covered her face.

The reflection whispered:

“Don’t trust him.”

Aria stepped backward.

“No.”

Noah looked at her.

“What did you see?”

“Nothing.”

“Aria.”

She looked at him.

“I said nothing.”

The little Noah watched them silently.

Then he whispered:

“She’s lying.”

Aria turned toward him.

“How do you know?”

“Because I remember.”

They reached the tower.

The doors opened automatically.

Inside was a circular room.

At its center stood another clock.

This one was enormous.

It stretched from the floor to the ceiling.

Noah stared.

“This is the real machine.”

Aria nodded.

“Then we destroy it.”

The little Noah shook his head.

“No.”

He pointed upward.

A message appeared on the giant clock.

CHOOSE ONE.

Below it were two names.

NOAH VALE — ORIGINAL

NOAH VALE — MEMORY

Noah stared.

A third message appeared.

ONLY ONE CAN REMAIN.

Aria looked at Noah.

“No.”

Noah looked at the child.

The boy was crying.

“I want to live.”

Noah knelt beside him.

“I know.”

“Will you let me?”

Noah didn’t answer.

Because he knew the truth.

If the original Noah lived, the memory version would disappear.

But if he chose himself…

The original Noah would die again.

The clock began counting down.

00:59

00:58

00:57

Aria grabbed Noah’s hand.

“We have less than a minute.”

Noah looked at the two names.

Then he noticed something.

A third line was appearing.

Slowly.

ARIA — UNKNOWN

He stared.

“What does that mean?”

Aria stepped backward.

“I don’t know.”

The clock reached:

00:10

The little Noah suddenly smiled.

Noah looked at him.

“Why are you smiling?”

The boy whispered:

“Because I remember the ending.”

00:09

“What’s the ending?”

00:08

The boy looked directly at Aria.

“She isn’t Aria.”

00:07

Aria’s face went completely pale.

00:06

Noah stepped backward.

“Who are you?”

Aria didn’t answer.

00:05

The boy whispered:

“She’s the reason the Collapse began.”

00:04

The clock screamed.

00:03

Aria’s eyes turned silver.

00:02

She smiled.

00:01

And every clock in the city struck midnight.