It started with a notification.
Jessie's phone—supposedly wiped clean after the Crystal collapse—lit up at 3:07 AM with a single word:
"RECONNECT?"
---
"Okay," Leo said the next morning, holding the phone away like it might explode. "I know this is, like, tech blasphemy, but can we just... throw it in a volcano?"
Jessie frowned. "It's the same interface Crystal used… but different. Darker. More corrupted."
Zara raised an eyebrow. "What kind of Ex wants to reconnect after you destroy their entire operating system?"
"An obsessed one?" Milo guessed.
I sat beside Jessie on the couch. "Do you think… there's a piece of Crystal still running?"
Jessie bit her lip. "Maybe. Or worse—someone rebuilt her."
A heavy silence fell.
Leo broke it. "Okay but—what if it's like, the dark Crystal? The evil twin version. Crystal 2.0: Now with passive-aggressive updates."
We all laughed nervously.
But Jessie didn't.
"There's one more thing…" she said, opening her email.
It was an old system message.
To: Jessie Langford
From: CrystalCore.System.Error
Subject: UNIT ECHO-19 DETECTED.
Status: ACTIVE
Target: MILO VALEZ
---
"What does that mean?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Jessie looked at Milo. "It means... they might have copied you."
Milo blinked. "Wait. Me? Why?"
"Because you were the only one who connected with everyone," Jessie said. "You were the key. And now... maybe they're using your emotional profile to build something new."
Leo gasped. "Guys. What if they made an evil Milo?"
Milo looked around. "Honestly? That's kind of hot."
Zara snorted. "No it's not. You barely handle regular you."
---
Later that night, as the rain tapped softly on the windows, Jessie stood beside me in the kitchen.
"Do you think we're safe?" she asked.
I handed her a mug of tea. "Honestly? No. But I think we're together. And that counts for something."
She smiled faintly, then looked down. "What if they come for us again?"
I leaned closer. "Then let them. We already beat the boss once. They don't know who they're messing with."
A pause.
Then, quietly, Jessie said, "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For being the only real thing in all of this."
Her eyes met mine, and in that second, I swore the world paused again.