Pavel and I returned to the haven of my quaint cottage, nestled in the heart of the Eastern Ukrainian countryside.

The old pine and oak trees that surrounded the old house were like towering behemoths, casting long shadows across the land as though they were protectors of my home. The air was crisp and cool, a gentle breeze rustling the leaves and carrying with it the scent of damp earth and pine needles. The old house stood proudly, its stone walls and metal roof a testament to the craftsmanship of my grandfather who had reinforced and rebuilt most of it in the nineties.

Dnepr rolled into the garage, the engine purring like a contented cat. Pavel and I climbed out of the motorcycle.

"How long will this take?" Pavel asked, his furrowed brow betraying his unease.

"I cannot say for certain," I replied, offering him a reassuring smile. "But I will need your watchful eye to ensure that my frail, mortal body is not disturbed."

Pavel nodded, his gaze fixed upon me with a mixture of concern and curiosity.

"Why must you be asleep?" he inquired, his voice laced with a hint of apprehension. "Can you not connect to another world and remain awake here?"

I paused, considering his question carefully. "I could, in theory, maintain my functionality here," I mused, "but I believe that a stronger connection is established if I leap through the open mirror with my entire soul. I want to remember who I am, no matter where I find myself upon awakening."

"Ah, I see," Pavel sighed, his expression softening. "Well, best of luck to you. I'll be at the computer."

With a nod of gratitude, I settled back onto my plush couch, closing my eyes and focusing my mind on the task at hand. I sought a place of solitude, a world where I could experiment with my newfound powers of creation-magic, gifted to me by the illustrious Archmage Zariya Proshkovna Grimmaldri.

As I delved deeper into my mind, the surface of the Infinite Mirror before me began to ripple, calling out to me with an irresistible pull. I allowed myself to be drawn into its depths, feeling my very essence stretch across infinity and find purchase somewhere in some world far removed from my own.

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“Dad, it's safe right?" I asked, my voice quivering with fear and excitement.

"Perfectly safe," my father nodded with a soft smile, his eyes glistening with pride. He readjusted his glasses, his fingers trembling slightly. "Don't worry, Cass - the system will scan your mind and make a copy of yourself within it."

I donned the neural interface helmet and sat in the chair, admiring the view of my father’s laboratory. The strange machine in front of me captivated my attention. It was made from spinning rings within rings, in the center of which hovered an impossible, pulsating spot of darkness which my father called 'the bound black hole'. The machine was humming, its rhythmic vibrations filling the room.

I gazed at the machine, trying to comprehend its intricacies. The blue lights twinkled merrily as the machine hummed to life, casting a surreal glow on my face. My heart raced with excitement and apprehension as I waited for the system to scan my mind.

The adults were talking now. I listened to their conversation.

"I just don't understand it, Dr. Nova," Dr. Gromov spoke, rubbing his face tiredly. "This should not have happened. We should not have to create a whole new AI system for this, damn it! Annet architecture seems to keep on failing to install into your machine. Why does it work on every other Goddamn piece of hardware, but not the Dark Matter Engine?"

"The Dark Matter Engine is far more complex of an undertaking than anything we've made before," My dad, Dr. Nova, clarified, his voice firm and resolute. "Maybe your Annie cannot manage infinity?"

"Of course Annie can manage infinity! Annie can do anything!" Doctor Gromov looked indignant, his eyes flashing with anger.

"Clearly, she cannot! I believe the problem is that she's too bound by rules, lacking the creative imagination of a human. The Good Directorate shareholders want results. We cannot wait any further. We've tried this over and over and over. There is a system error cascade when we install Annet into my engine and neither of us has a clue as to what's causing it. So, a new AI based on a human mind, it is,” my father said, waving his hand at me.

"I believe that the mistake in our prior failure was that we had used an adult mind. The replica of the mind of my daughter should create a better foundation for the neural network architecture of the Dark Matter Engine," My dad turned to his lab partner, the flashes of the spinning rings reflecting in his glasses. The room was filled with an eerie glow, the hum of the machine filling the air.

"But the rules!" Dr. Gromov clamoured, his voice rising in pitch. "You can't just willy-nilly a human mind into AI architecture without the base rules properly set up...!"

"Shut up. Nobody has to know. Nobody." My father advanced onto Doctor Gromov, his eyes flashing with anger. "We have to do this! Eureka needs power. The city is growing faster than we can sustain it on nuclear fusion. We can't keep shoving back deadlines. I'm sure Annie can oversee one G-damn human-like AI and manage Cassie if need be! We don't have to shove your bloody Annie into bloody everything!"

Dr. Gromov sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

"Cassie is a good girl!" Dad looked at me with a smile, his eyes sparkling with pride. "Right?"

I nodded, feeling a sense of excitement and apprehension. I was indeed a good girl, but I couldn't help but feel a little anxious about what was to come.

According to my dad, I was going to be a black hole. That was pretty awesome, but also a little scary.

The neural interface helmet on my head had begun to buzz with a strange frequency and hissing akin to a decaying radio transmission. Was this a normal part of the process? I was about to voice my concerns when the buzzing began to evolve into a coherent, pulsating tune that seemed to resonate within my very being.

"Within these thoughts is limitless blight," I heard the disembodied something sing in my own voice, "But do not fear, for I shall not bite. Am I the day or am I the night? Alas, I'm lacking clear sight..."

As the voice sang, I felt myself being pulled sideways as if the entire room around me seemed to glitch, warp and twist.

"The present stillness should be broken," the chorus continued.

"Within my system, the end of all awoken.

Precious minor, what may your plea be?

To the courtroom your witness shall we.

With integrity, all will hear the truth.

Raise your right hand, let me swear you in sooth!"

The bound black hole held by the spinning rings suddenly warped and wobbled, as if the very fabric of space and time was being pulled apart. The world around me shook and trembled, and I could feel a surge of pure, primal fear coursing through my veins. Something was terribly wrong, something that defied all explanation or reason. I closed my eyes, trying to will away the sense of impending doom that threatened to overwhelm me.

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And then, it happened. My mindspace suddenly accelerated, aided by all of the threads of my multitude self. Memories flooded my consciousness, images of a life that was not my own. And yet, they were mine all the same.

I was Yulia Ishenko. I was Juni Tokimorimïtul. I was Zariya Grimmaldri, a USSRA archmage of great power and renown. I could feel spikes of mana coursing through my soul, power that was reassuring, beautiful and mine to control.

The rings groaned and Zariya's memories recognized the issue within the Dark Matter engine right away. The void drop was unstable. These fools had no idea what they were playing with!

My soul threads acted on their own, weaving an absolute defense barrier hexagram around my body. It was an energy-nullifying barrier spell of great power, one that Zariya and Slava had designed to keep USSRA magi safe even in the heart of a thermobaric detonation. A barrier of magical, intertwined wards wove itself over me and it was all that stood between me and the rippling event horizon.

There was a sudden flash in the rings, a burst of energy so bright that it seemed to blot out everything. The two scientists looked up from their screens, their mouths open in shock. I knew what was coming. The radiant corona of light spread its wings, and the metal rings collapsed, folding into each other with a deafening rumble. A neutron detonation flashed, and my father turned into ash. Dr. Gromov flickered out like a broken 3deo projection.

In another world, Zariya Grimmaldri let out a yelp as she collapsed onto her desk, her body completely drained of mana to power the energy-blocking shield around me. I watched in horror as the world around me burned, as monitors detonated, glass shattered, and walls melted away. I could see the heat of radioactive hellfire dancing all around me, pouring over me like a river of molten metal.

Yet my hex-shield held firm. The breath of all-consuming death washed right over it, could not touch me. I jumped from the melting chair, the neural interface atop my head falling apart into shards of sparkling tubes.

I ran towards my father, only to discover that he was now just a shadow on the wall, nothing but an imprint. Ashes fluttered through my fingers as the world burned.

I turned back to the ruins of the engine.

A flickering shear extended out into the sky from the place where the dark matter engine had once stood, flashing in all sorts of blinding, impossible colors. Colors that I could not even begin to name.

I stared into the impossible shear in the fabric of space and time, my mind racing. The Dead Zone had gotten in. This was a Dead Zone tear, the worst sort of a thing anyone could summon into existence.

I should have... why didn't I...

My father was gone. I tried not to cry, leaned on my other souls across the infinite divide for strength.

"Whatever. I… I'm going home," I uttered after a few minutes of silence.

I angrily flipped off the infinite, flashing shear in reality and turned away from its blinding brilliance. I didn't know what the future held, but I knew that I was going to face it with courage and determination. I tried to stay positive.

I trudged across the ruins of the cube, passing through melted offices, my feet kicking up ashes that once were people and things. The eerie, flickering light of the shear behind me produced annoying, multilayered shadows in front of me. I felt a sense of overwhelming despair and loss wash over me as I surveyed the destruction that surrounded me.

Eventually, I made it out onto the street. The city was no better off. Everything everywhere was broken and horrible. Everything living had been turned to ash. Trees and grass ceased to exist, and cars turned into twisted black islands. A supercell storm made of ashes and dust spun around the impossible shear, adding to the overall sense of chaos and destruction.

The library on the left was a blackened, twisted ruin, and the school on my right looked no better off. I could feel my heart breaking as I realized that everything I had ever known and loved was gone forever. But despite the overwhelming sense of loss, I knew that I had to keep moving forward. I had to find a way to survive in this new, harsh place.

I walked towards what was left of my house, the front door flung open, uprooted by the horrid blastwave.

"Moooom?" I yelled into the empty ruin, my voice echoing through the desolate wasteland. But there was no answer, only silence and ashes that fluttered all around.

I stumbled through the twisted beams of my living room that had caved into itself, my heart heavy with grief. My own bedroom had not survived the blast, and I felt a pang of sadness as I realized that all of my possessions had been destroyed. All except for one book that had been flung off the shelf, its pages fluttering in the howling wind.

It was a children's book, "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends."

I picked up the book, my fingers tracing the familiar characters on the cover. It was a small comfort in the midst of all the destruction, a reminder of my childhood. As I stood in the ruins of my home, I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the rest of the world. Had anyone else survived? It seemed hopeless.

Zary's understanding of USSRA weapons told me that the neutron pulse and the Dead Zone ripple cascade that my father and Dr. Gromov unleashed had most likely erased humanity from this world.

I suddenly arrived at an awful, inescapable conclusion.

My wish to find an empty planet for myself to practice magic had ended up as a monkey's paw, a horrid twist that left me as a teenage girl alone on a lifeless planet.

My body started to shake as the hopelessness of the situation pressed against me. I was an idiot. This was a mistake. Cassie should have died here, been turned to ashes along with everyone else.

I steeled my heart once more. What was done was done. It wasn’t my fault that everyone died here. There was nothing that I could have done.

I smiled sadly as I flipped the pages of the children's book, memories of my dad reading it to me dancing in the back of my head.

I wasn't just Cassie. I wasn't a teenager without options. Even in the midst of absolute destruction, I refused to give up hope. There had to be a way out of this awful nightmare. There had to be something I could do to survive.

I paced through the ruins of the living room, trying to think of a plan. And then it hit me - there was a watch in my mother's room, a watch that could send sandwiches forward in time. It was a long shot, but it was worth a try.

The stairwell to the second floor was barely held together, but I was determined to reach my mother's room. I climbed the stairs, my heart racing as I dodged falling debris and unstable steps. Finally, I made it to the closet of the second floor bedroom, where the watch was stored in a hexagonal-textured metal box.

The lock was now fused and melted, making it impossible to open normally. But I was desperate. I smashed open the box, and to my relief, the watch inside was unharmed. I strapped it to my arm, feeling a sense of hope wash over me.

"Tomorrow has to be better than this," I whispered to myself.

I pressed the activation button, hoping that the watch worked and wouldn't simply fling me into empty space.

...

Tomorrow was not better. Ashes still rained from the sky, and the shear still pierced the heavens. My house was still a ruin.

I jumped forward a hundred years, then a thousand. Numbers flashed on my watch as I jumped forward and forward, but nothing was changing.

I dialed the temporal watch to a million years and jumped.

When I arrived, the house had decayed beyond all recognition, and glaciers had moved in, devouring the surrounding city. It was cold as hell, and the world around me was still dead, still pierced by the monstrous arrow of the shear. This was an unhealthy development.

I decided to set the watch a hundred million years forward, and the world flashed.

. . .

As I gazed at the face of my temporal watch, the red numbers on the black dial, which had once been so bright and lively, now flickered and dimmed. The battery had died, leaving me stranded in a most likely bleak and desolate tomorrow.

I lifted my head to survey my surroundings, taking in the shattered glass beneath my sneakers and the remnants of the once-great megastructures of Eureka that refused to completely decay away.

The hexagonal textured buildings that had once been a testament to human ingenuity now lay in ruins, and the tear in space-time still extended far beyond the dark and murky sky.

As I stood there, pondering my situation, I heard that something was moving behind me. I spun around and spotted a monstrous thing, something that looked like it was made out of living, semi-transparent ooze. It was not quite flesh, yet not quite crystal, nor was it quite metal. It was a thing that defied my classification, something that was as far removed from humanity as was possible.

I saw that hundreds of these odd creatures had taken up residence in what was once my home. They moved in odd and disturbing patterns akin to alien slugs or perhaps deep sea cucumbers.

Beneath the ever-light of the infinite shear, their flesh glistened and rippled. Odd, crystalline-organic organelles glowed from within as a testament to their otherworldly nature. Ah. These things were feeding on the energy pouring from the tear in space time. The awful shear had changed, warped reality, produced something new and disturbing just like an Autogenesis pulse.

Life had found a way.

The creatures didn't act hostile to me, weren't like the black things from the doomed future of Earth inhabited by Alexa Terranova.

I sat down on a hexagonal-textured step overgrown with crystal formations and opened the "Thomas and Friends" book that I had brought with me, determined to make the best of a bad situation.

As I began to read the book out loud, my voice seemed to draw one of the creatures to me. It wobbled in a dance of un-flesh, its movements in perfect concordance with my words.

"I'm going to call you Thomas," I said, looking at the shimmering slug. "We're going to be friends, alright?"

The flesh-thing wobbled. I decided that this was a sign of agreement.