The Sanctum

Two days left.

Cipher retreated to his Sanctum—a hidden room at the peak of the Spire where the interface terminals were located. He needed to prepare the Ejection Protocol. He needed to compress the file size of the companion he chose.

He left the door unlocked. A subconscious mistake. Or perhaps, a wish to be caught.

Vesper didn't sleep. She wandered the halls of the Spire, listening to the static. She found the Sanctum door ajar.

She slipped inside.

The room was unlike the rest of the fantasy castle. It was stark white, filled with floating screens of blue light and scrolling text. It looked like the inside of a mind.

She walked to the central console.

**[EXPORT LOG]**

**[SUBJECT: COMPANION\_DATA]**

Vesper reached out and touched the screen. The text expanded.

**[Attempt 1: Deletion. Personality too aggressive.]**

**[Attempt 12: Deletion. Personality too passive.]**

**[Attempt 50: Thorne\_v1. Created.]**

**[Attempt 204: Vesper\_v1. Created.]**

She scrolled down. The list was endless. Hundreds of names. Hundreds of versions of herself and Thorne.

**[Current Version: Thorne\_v500]**

**[Current Version: Vesper\_v204]**

Vesper stepped back, her hand covering her mouth.

She wasn't a person. She was a draft. A manuscript that had been edited over and over again.

"Two hundred and four times," she whispered. "He killed me two hundred and four times to get me right."

The door opened behind her.

Cipher stood there. He looked exhausted. His robes were frayed at the edges, dissolving into pixels.

"Vesper," he said.

She turned around. There were no tears in her eyes. Only a cold, white fury.

"You aren't a god," she said. "You're a lonely little boy playing with dolls."

"It's not like that," Cipher pleaded, stepping into the room. "I was trying to make you... perfect."

"You were trying to make us convenient!" Vesper shouted. She pointed at the screen. "Thorne thinks he’s your knight. He’s just Version 500. He’s the one who didn't annoy you. And me? I’m the one who asked just enough questions to be interesting, but not enough to be dangerous."

"You are dangerous," Cipher said softly. "You're the only thing that scares me."

"Good," Vesper snapped. "Because I know what this room is. It’s the exit."

She looked at the flashing prompt on the main screen.

**[EJECTION READY. SELECT COMPANION.]**

"One slot," Vesper realized. She looked at Cipher with horror. "That’s why you took us to the garden. That’s why you took me to the cliff. You were shopping."

"I can't save both," Cipher’s voice broke. "The file size... the transfer rate... I can only take one consciousness. The other gets wiped with the server."

"So choose," Vesper challenged him. "Pick the doll you want to keep."

"I can't," Cipher whispered.

"Then I'll make it easy for you," Vesper said. She drew a dagger from her belt—a weapon made of void glass. "I'm going to tell Thorne."