Echo waited in Emma-original's chamber for three months.
Waited in silence. Waited in meditation. Waited with focused singular attention. Waited hoping quantum fluctuation would coalesce. Waited hoping universe's memory of Emma would briefly manifest. Waited hoping Emma-echo would return one more time to answer impossible question.
Waited knowing Emma-echo might never manifest again. Knowing quantum traces were random. Knowing universe's remembering was unpredictable. Knowing she might wait forever. Knowing she might need to decide without Emma's input.
But waiting anyway. Hoping anyway. Trying anyway.
On the ninety-third day, the presence manifested.
Not gradually. Suddenly. The chamber filled with Emma-shaped awareness. With pattern that universe had preserved. With echo of consciousness that had chosen complete dissolution but had left traces anyway. With quantum ghost that shouldn't exist but existed anyway.
