My Infinite System.

Finn stood in the doorway, hand still on the frame, and stared at the woman who wasn’t who she claimed to be.

Not because she looked wrong. She looked exactly as Lucian had described. Silver hair. Violet eyes. The same steady posture, the same quiet intensity. But something was off. Something he couldn’t name.

”You’re not Evelyn,” he said.

The woman smiled. It wasn’t a warm smile. It was the smile of someone who’d been waiting a long time for this conversation.

”Perceptive. That’s good. You’ll need it.”

”Who are you?”

”I’m a copy. A clone. A fragment.” She walked toward him, her movements fluid, unhurried. ”The original Evelyn is elsewhere. I’m what she left behind when she was taken. A piece of her consciousness, given form. Given purpose.”

Finn didn’t move. ”What purpose?”

”To get Lucian here. To warn him.” Her smile faded. ”But he sent you instead. Which means either he doesn’t trust me, or he’s afraid of what he’ll find.”

”He’s afraid of you not remembering him.”

Something flickered in her eyes. Recognition. Pain. ”I remember him. Not the way I should. The original Evelyn remembers him. I only have echoes. Fragments. Enough to know he matters. Enough to know he’s in danger.”

Mira stepped into the room behind Finn. Dorian followed, his hand still crackling with residual fire. They spread out, flanking Finn, watching the woman with wary eyes.

”What kind of danger?” Mira asked.

”Everything.” The clone walked to the window, looked out at the grey nothing beyond. ”The Outer Gods. The Erasors. The forces that erased me, erased Caleb, erased everyone who threatened their design.” She turned back to face them. ”They’re coming for Lucian. He’s the greatest anomaly in existence. An Infinal God in a universe that wasn’t built for gods.”

Finn’s chest tightened. ”He knows.”

”He suspects. He doesn’t understand the full scope.” The clone’s voice hardened. ”The Outer Gods are just the beginning. They’re the hunters. The Erasors are the ones who erase the evidence. Together, they maintain the balance. They keep the universe from collapsing under the weight of anomalies.”

”Anomalies?”

”People who shouldn’t exist. People who broke the rules. Who awakened talents they weren’t supposed to have.” She looked at Finn. ”Like Evelyn. Like Lucy. Like Althea.”

Mira’s staff hummed. ”Lucy. Althea. Lucian’s sister. His niece.”

”The same. Lucy was supposed to die. A fluke. An accident. But Lucian intervened. He saved her. And because she survived, she had a child. An anomaly born from an anomaly.” The clone’s eyes were cold. ”The Erasors don’t like loose threads. They’ve been trying to cut them for centuries.”

Finn stepped forward. ”What does this have to do with us?”

”You’re his students. His protégés. His legacy.” The clone tilted her head. ”You’re also anomalies. Every one of you. Finn, you awakened seven affinities in a world where three is the limit. Mira, you were supposed to be null, but you have spirit affinity—the rarest, the most dangerous. Dorian, you’re a noble’s son who chose to follow a street rat and a null into the unknown. None of you fit the pattern.”

Dorian’s fire sputtered. ”So we’re targets too.”

”You’re already targets. You just haven’t realized it yet.” The clone walked toward them, her silver hair catching the grey light. ”The Erasors have been watching you. Waiting. They don’t attack directly—they erase. They make you forget you ever existed. But you’ve been protected. By Lucian. By his influence. By the fact that he’s too powerful for them to confront directly.”

Mira’s voice was quiet. ”So what do we do?”

”You find the original Evelyn. She’s the key. She has a talent—Infinite Replication. She can create copies of herself, copies of abilities, copies of anything she understands. That’s why they took her. That’s why they erased her. She’s too dangerous to leave free.”

Finn frowned. ”Talent? That’s not a word we use here.”

The clone’s eyes flickered. ”Of course. I forgot. This world doesn’t have talents. It has affinities. Magic. A different system entirely.” She paused. ”In my world—the world I came from, the world that’s already destroyed—we had talents. Abilities. Powers that awakened at birth or during moments of extreme stress. Some were weak. Some were strong. Evelyn’s was SSS-rank. Infinite Replication. She could copy anything. Any ability. Any power. Any talent. She was the most dangerous being in existence.”

Finn’s mind raced. ”Lucian’s world. The old universe. He brought it back?”

”I don’t know. I don’t remember. The original Evelyn would know. I only have echoes.” The clone’s voice cracked. ”But I know this: they’re coming. The Outer Gods and the Erasors. They’re mobilizing. And they’re targeting Lucian, Lucy, Althea, and everyone connected to them.”

Dorian stepped forward. ”Then we warn him.”

”He won’t listen. Not to me. Not to you.” The clone looked at Finn. ”But he might listen to Evelyn. The original Evelyn. If you find her, if you bring her back, she can convince him. She can stop this.”

”How do we find her?”

The clone pointed to the ceiling. ”At the top of this tower. Through the trials. Through the forgetting. She’s there. Held in stasis. Waiting.”

Finn looked at the door. At the stairs beyond. At the path that led upward.

”Then we go,” he said.

The clone smiled. It was a sad smile. ”You’re brave. That’s good. You’ll need it.”

She began to fade. Her form flickered, became translucent, became nothing.

”Wait,” Mira said. ”How do we know you’re telling the truth?”

The clone’s voice was barely a whisper. ”You don’t. That’s the point.”

She vanished.

Finn stood in the empty room, the grey light pressing in from all sides. Mira and Dorian were silent.

”Let’s go,” he said.

They climbed the stairs.

A/N

Thanks for reading this far, I know it’s mid, but this is the best I can do with the little time I have.

I Will try in the future to do more better when I have free time.

Thanks for reading.