The explosion was not the end. It was the beginning.
A blinding white light swallowed everything, fusing flesh, metal, and consciousness together.
Reed Chen's final sensation was the agony of his soul being torn apart, as if he were falling into an endless, frigid vortex.
When he opened his eyes again, an unfamiliar face stared back from the mirror: deep brown eyes, a distinctive high forehead, and every fine wrinkle marked by the unique wisdom and exhaustion of Reed Richards.
The acrid smell of the lab still lingered. Alarms continued to shriek, but the world had been turned upside down.
A cold blue display forcibly opened across his retina. Lines of text appeared as if etched into his soul: [Quantum Editing System 1.0 activated... Bound sole Host: Reed Richards... Dimensional-level soul contamination detected... Warning: Probability of collapse point formation: 0.0001%... Energy source locked: unknown cosmic rays... Countdown: 71:59:43...]
“Seventy-two hours?” he murmured, his voice unnaturally dry in the empty ruins.
His fingertips unconsciously brushed the edge of the charred control panel. It felt rough and real.
“Cosmic rays... the Fantastic Four...” Fragments of memory stabbed into his mind like ice picks: that fateful spaceflight that had changed their destiny and warped their lives.
Stop it... I have to stop it!”
He clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white with the effort.
Just then, in the center of the blue System interface, a vortex made of countless tiny cubes rotated silently, its faint light flickering like a cold eye calmly watching this world plunged into chaos
