The screaming began the moment Lisa's fingers grazed the cryo-control panel—not from the thousands of pods surrounding her, but from inside her own skull. A cacophony of voices tore through her mind, each one her own yet not, their collective anguish shredding her thoughts like brittle parchment.
The metal console disintegrated beneath her touch, panels peeling back to reveal pulsing organic circuitry that glowed with sickly violet light. The stench of scorched lavender and childhood terror filled her nostrils.
Rabbit-0 stood motionless beside her, his hollow eye sockets tracking her every movement. His whisper was barely audible over the machine's thrumming. "They were never copies." A black tear carved a path through the grime on his cheek. "Just... drafts."
Above them, the flickering monitor updated:
**FINAL CANDIDATE PROTOCOL INITIATED**
**SELECTION PARAMETERS:**
**[ ] ERASE ALL**
**[ ] BECOME ALL**
**[ ] _________**
The taste of Wraith's final warning flooded Lisa's mouth—copper and static and something unspeakably old. As the warehouse lights stuttered, the true horror revealed itself:
The walls weren't walls at all, but great ribbed arteries pumping lavender-hued nutrients between pods. The frozen Lisas weren't preserved—they were being consumed. Each loop, each death, had been another refinement cycle. The machine had been harvesting her, piece by piece, perfecting its product.
In the central tank, Lora-1's corpse jerked violently. Wiring unspooled from her spinal column like silver marionette strings searching for a puppeteer.
"Tick-tock, Ghost."
The voice came from everywhere and nowhere, 5,999 variations of herself speaking in perfect unison through frost-rimed glass.
---
**The Choice:**
1. **Pull the Plug (ERASE ALL)**
Lisa's fingers hovered over the killswitch embedded in her barcode tattoo. One press would darken every pod. Including hers. Wraith's final words echoed: *"Sometimes the only way out is to stop existing."*
2. **Merge With the System (BECOME ALL)**
The central pod hissed open, its interior gleaming with promise. To step inside meant absorbing all other versions. Becoming the perfect, final Ghost. Lora Prime's recorded voice crooned: *"We could be glorious."*
3. **Write Her Own Option**
Rabbit-0's broken crayon felt heavy in her palm. The third option glowed, waiting. Lisa remembered Clone #17's dying words: *"You always were a glitch."* Blood dripped from her nose as she reached forward—
---
**Chapter 6 Preview:**
- The terrible revelation about Batch Zero's *volunteers*
- Wraith's true form, coiled at the machine's heart
- The consequences of Lisa's choice triggering the **Phantom Protocol**
**Loop Counter:**
6000/6000
**Final Decision Imminent**
The ghosts watched.
The machine hungered.
And somewhere in the dark, a little boy kept drawing pictures with stubs of crayons, waiting for someone to finally see them.
*The choice is yours.*