**EPISODE ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN**
**THE THING BORN WITH NOVA**
---
BLACK SCREEN.
No stars.
No darkness.
No silence.
Only...
BREATHING.
Small.
Uneven.
New.
Then...
A CRY.
A newborn's cry.
The sound travelled through the darkness.
Not outward.
Inward.
As though the universe itself had heard it.
Then...
another sound.
SCRATCH.
SCRATCH.
SCRATCH.
Three marks appeared.
Nothing else.
Then a word.
NOVA.
The word flickered.
Changed.
NOVA.
Changed again.
NOT NOVA.
The screen went black.
---
A heartbeat.
THUMP.
Another.
THUMP.
Another.
THUMP.
Nova opened his eyes.
He couldn't see.
He couldn't move.
He couldn't understand.
He was surrounded by warmth.
Darkness.
Pressure.
Something enormous was happening around him.
Voices.
Muffled.
Far away.
A woman's voice.
"He's breathing."
A man's voice.
"Is he okay?"
Another voice.
"Yes."
Nova listened.
He knew those voices.
But he couldn't remember where from.
Then...
a fourth voice.
Very close.
Inside him.
"You shouldn't be here."
Nova froze.
He couldn't answer.
He couldn't speak.
The voice continued.
"You came too early."
Nova tried to move.
Nothing.
"You don't remember me."
The voice whispered:
"Good."
---
LIGHT.
For one impossible instant...
Nova saw everything.
A hospital room.
White walls.
A ceiling.
A window.
Rain.
A woman holding a newborn.
A man standing beside her.
Machines.
Monitors.
A clock.
03:33.
Then...
the image shattered.
Nova was back in darkness.
The voice inside him laughed softly.
"You saw it."
Nova couldn't understand.
"Don't worry."
The voice continued.
"You'll forget."
A pause.
"That's how beginnings work."
---
SCRATCH.
A line appeared.
FIRST MEMORY:
BLANK.
SCRATCH.
SECOND MEMORY:
BLANK.
SCRATCH.
THIRD MEMORY:
NOT ALLOWED.
The words disappeared.
Then...
A fourth line appeared.
MEMORY:
WAITING.
---
Nova heard footsteps.
Outside.
Someone entered the room.
The woman holding him whispered:
"Look at him."
The man approached.
"He looks peaceful."
The woman smiled.
"Too peaceful."
The man laughed.
"He's a baby."
The woman stared at Nova.
"That's what worries me."
The man stopped.
"Why?"
She didn't answer.
Her eyes remained fixed on him.
Then she whispered:
"He was looking at me."
The man smiled.
"Babies don't look like that."
"I know."
"What did you see?"
The woman lowered her voice.
"For a moment..."
She swallowed.
"...I thought he recognized me."
---
Inside Nova's mind...
something moved.
Not a thought.
Not a memory.
A presence.
It opened its eyes.
Nova heard it whisper:
"She remembers."
Nova couldn't understand.
"Who?"
The voice answered:
"Your mother."
Nova froze.
Then another voice appeared.
Different.
Older.
Farther away.
"Don't call her that."
The first voice became silent.
Nova listened.
"Who are you?"
The older voice answered:
"I was here before you."
The first voice whispered:
"No."
The older voice replied:
"Yes."
Nova felt something approaching.
Not from outside.
From deeper inside.
A shape.
A memory.
A face.
The face of the First Character.
Nova tried to scream.
Nothing came out.
The First Character opened his eyes.
"You were never born alone."
---
LIGHT.
A hospital monitor blinked.
03:34.
The newborn slept.
The woman watched him.
The man had left the room.
She leaned closer.
"Nova."
The baby opened his eyes.
The woman stopped breathing.
For a second...
the newborn looked directly at her.
Then...
he smiled.
Not a baby's smile.
Something else.
Recognition.
The woman stepped backward.
"How do you know that name?"
The baby didn't answer.
Of course he couldn't.
But the monitor beside him changed.
The heart rate increased.
The screen flickered.
Then...
letters appeared.
N.
O.
V.
A.
The woman stared.
The machine beeped.
Once.
Twice.
Then...
SCRATCH.
The letters disappeared.
---
A nurse entered.
"Everything okay?"
The woman pointed toward the monitor.
"What happened?"
The nurse looked.
Nothing unusual.
"Heart rate is normal."
"It wrote something."
"What?"
The woman hesitated.
She looked at her son.
Then at the screen.
"It wrote his name."
The nurse smiled.
"Maybe you imagined it."
The woman didn't smile.
"I didn't."
---
Inside Nova...
the voices began arguing.
"He saw her."
"He wasn't supposed to."
"He remembers."
"He doesn't."
"He will."
"He mustn't."
"Why?"
"Because she isn't the mother."
Silence.
Nova listened.
The words made no sense.
The first voice whispered:
"Then who is she?"
The older voice answered:
"The person who volunteered."
Nova tried to understand.
"Volunteered for what?"
Neither voice answered.
Then...
a third voice spoke.
A child's voice.
Very young.
Very familiar.
"To give birth to a story."
---
Nova remembered.
The red pencil.
The white room.
The woman.
The Reader.
The First Character.
The stranger.
Everything.
For one second...
all of it returned.
Then it vanished.
He cried.
The woman lifted him.
"It's okay."
Nova stared at her.
Inside him, the voices screamed.
"LOOK AWAY!"
"DO NOT REMEMBER!"
"TOO EARLY!"
"HE'S AWAKE!"
Nova cried louder.
The woman held him tightly.
Then whispered:
"I'm sorry."
Nova stopped crying.
The woman looked toward the door.
And said:
"I know what you are."
---
BLACK SCREEN.
A single sentence appeared.
SHE KNOWS.
Then another.
SHE HAS ALWAYS KNOWN.
Then...
a final sentence.
SHE WAS WAITING FOR YOU.
---
The hospital room changed.
Not physically.
Something deeper changed.
The walls remained.
The machines remained.
The people remained.
But the story surrounding them...
shifted.
The woman looked older.
Then younger.
Then older again.
Her face changed.
Nova saw the woman from the white room.
The woman with the red pencil.
Then the mother.
Then the woman again.
Same eyes.
Different life.
Nova understood.
Or almost understood.
They were not different women.
They were different memories of the same woman.
She looked at him.
"You finally made it."
Nova stared.
The words weren't spoken aloud.
They appeared inside his mind.
"You took longer than expected."
Nova heard another voice.
The one inside him.
"Don't trust her."
The woman smiled.
"You can hear them, can't you?"
Nova's tiny fingers moved.
The woman noticed.
"You always did that when you were afraid."
---
The door opened.
The father returned.
He carried a small notebook.
He placed it beside the woman.
"Doctor says everything is normal."
She nodded.
"Good."
He looked at the baby.
"Can I hold him?"
She hesitated.
Then gave Nova to him.
The moment the father touched him...
the entire room flickered.
03:35.
03:35.
03:35.
The clock became stuck.
The father frowned.
"Did the power go out?"
The lights remained on.
The monitor continued.
But time had stopped.
The woman whispered:
"No."
The father looked at her.
"What?"
"Time didn't stop."
She stared at Nova.
"It started again."
---
SCRATCH.
A page appeared.
YEAR:
UNKNOWN.
SUBJECT:
NOVA.
ORIGIN:
DISPUTED.
Then...
another line.
SECOND PRESENCE:
DETECTED.
Nova heard the voice again.
"See?"
The voice sounded amused.
"They found us."
Nova tried to understand.
"Who?"
The answer came from the darkness.
"Everyone."
---
The room disappeared.
Nova found himself standing somewhere else.
Not physically.
Not mentally.
Somewhere between memory and possibility.
The white room.
But it was different.
The walls were unfinished.
Half white.
Half blank.
There was no floor.
No ceiling.
No door.
The woman stood in the middle.
The red pencil was in her hand.
But now...
the pencil was broken.
Nova looked at it.
"What happened?"
The woman answered:
"You were born."
Nova stared.
"Why did that break it?"
"Because the pencil was never meant to write your beginning."
"Then what was it for?"
She looked at the broken pencil.
"Your ending."
Nova stepped closer.
"Why?"
"Because endings require someone to remember the beginning."
Nova looked around.
"Where is the Reader?"
"Reading."
"The Author?"
"Writing."
"The Dreamer?"
"Dreaming."
"The First Character?"
"Waiting."
"And the stranger?"
The woman looked away.
"He isn't a stranger anymore."
Nova froze.
"Who is he?"
The woman whispered:
"Your brother."
---
The room cracked.
Nova stared.
"Brother?"
"Not by blood."
"Then how?"
"By creation."
Nova remembered the final words.
Something else was born with him.
The woman continued:
"You were created together."
"Then why was I born?"
"Because you were the experiment."
"And him?"
She looked directly at Nova.
"He was the observer."
Nova felt cold.
"What did he observe?"
"You."
"Why?"
"To see what happens when a character becomes aware of its own story."
Nova whispered:
"And what happened?"
The woman smiled sadly.
"You escaped."
"From what?"
"Your author."
---
BLACK SCREEN.
A whisper.
"That's not what happened."
Nova turned.
The voice came from behind him.
The stranger stood there.
The young man.
The next character.
Except...
he no longer looked young.
His face was changing.
Child.
Man.
Old man.
Child again.
Nova stared.
"You."
The stranger smiled.
"Me."
"You said you would replace me."
"I will."
"When?"
"When you're finished."
"Finished with what?"
The stranger stepped closer.
"Remembering."
Nova looked at him.
"I remember everything."
The stranger shook his head.
"No."
"I remember the beginning."
"No."
"The white room."
"No."
"The First Character."
"No."
"The Reader."
"No."
"The woman."
"No."
Nova became angry.
"Then what don't I remember?"
The stranger leaned close.
"Who wrote you."
Nova froze.
"I know."
"You think you know."
"Nova."
"Yes."
The stranger smiled.
"That isn't the answer."
---
The stranger raised one hand.
A page appeared.
It showed the hospital room.
The newborn.
The woman.
The father.
The clock.
03:33.
Then the page zoomed closer.
Inside the newborn's eyes...
something was reflected.
A room.
A desk.
A hand.
Holding a pencil.
Nova stared.
"That's..."
The stranger nodded.
"Yes."
"The writer."
"No."
Nova looked again.
The hand was writing.
A name.
Not Nova.
Not the stranger.
Something else.
A name Nova couldn't read.
The page began to burn.
Nova shouted:
"WAIT!"
The stranger grabbed the page.
Too late.
The name disappeared.
Only one word remained.
SECOND.
---
Nova woke.
He was crying.
The woman held him.
The father stood beside her.
Everything seemed normal.
But the room was different.
A clock now showed:
03:36.
The woman looked down.
"You're awake."
Nova stared into her eyes.
She whispered:
"Do you remember?"
Nova couldn't speak.
She smiled.
"Good."
The father looked confused.
"Why are you asking him that?"
The woman looked at him.
"Nothing."
Then...
the baby monitor crackled.
A voice came through.
A child's voice.
"Hello, Nova."
The father froze.
The woman closed her eyes.
Nova stopped crying.
The voice continued.
"Can you hear me?"
The monitor displayed a single word.
YES.
The father stepped backward.
"Who said that?"
The woman whispered:
"Nobody."
The monitor crackled again.
"No."
The voice laughed.
"Somebody."
---
SCRATCH.
The monitor screen changed.
FIRST CHARACTER:
ONLINE.
SECOND CHARACTER:
ONLINE.
READER:
ONLINE.
AUTHOR:
ONLINE.
DREAMER:
ONLINE.
Then...
NOVA:
ONLINE.
The woman stared.
"That's impossible."
The father asked:
"What is?"
She didn't answer.
Because the screen had changed again.
One final line appeared.
THING BORN WITH NOVA:
ONLINE.
---
The lights went out.
The father grabbed the woman.
The woman held Nova tightly.
Outside...
thunder.
Rain.
A distant siren.
Then silence.
The monitor turned back on.
One sentence appeared.
DO NOT LET HIM SLEEP.
The woman whispered:
"Why?"
The answer appeared.
BECAUSE HE DREAMS IN THE FUTURE.
---
Nova closed his eyes.
Immediately...
he was somewhere else.
A city.
Huge.
Silent.
Empty.
Buildings stretched into the clouds.
Every window contained the same face.
His face.
Thousands of versions.
Millions.
He walked through the street.
No people.
No cars.
No sound.
Then he saw a child.
Sitting on the road.
Holding a red pencil.
Nova approached.
"Who are you?"
The child looked up.
"You're late."
Nova froze.
"Late for what?"
The child pointed behind him.
Nova turned.
A giant door stood at the end of the street.
Black.
Red.
Blue.
White.
Every door he'd ever seen.
All combined.
The child whispered:
"Your first choice."
Nova looked at him.
"What choice?"
The child smiled.
"Whether to be born."
Nova stared.
"I didn't choose that."
The child shook his head.
"You did."
"How?"
"You chose it before you were created."
Nova stepped backward.
"That's impossible."
The child laughed.
"That's what you always say."
---
The city began disappearing.
Buildings folded into pages.
Pages folded into words.
Words folded into letters.
Letters folded into scratches.
SCRATCH.
SCRATCH.
SCRATCH.
The child stood alone.
Nova shouted:
"Who are you?"
The child answered:
"The memory you haven't made yet."
Nova stopped.
"That's not possible."
The child smiled.
"Not yet."
---
Nova opened his eyes.
The hospital room.
The woman.
The father.
The monitor.
Everything normal.
Except...
the woman was crying.
Nova stared at her.
She whispered:
"I'm sorry."
The father asked:
"For what?"
She looked at Nova.
"For bringing him here."
The father frowned.
"What do you mean?"
She didn't answer.
Instead...
she reached into the drawer.
Pulled out something.
A red pencil.
The same red pencil.
Nova stared.
The woman placed it beside him.
The father looked confused.
"Where did that come from?"
The woman whispered:
"It was waiting."
"For him?"
"No."
She looked at Nova.
"For what comes after him."
---
The newborn moved his tiny hand.
His fingers touched the pencil.
The moment they did...
the pencil rolled.
Across the blanket.
Onto the floor.
It stopped.
Then...
it began moving by itself.
SCRATCH.
A line appeared on the floor.
SCRATCH.
Another.
SCRATCH.
Another.
The father stared.
The woman stepped backward.
The letters formed.
NOVA.
Then...
the letters changed.
NOT NOVA.
Then again.
THE ONE WHO REMEMBERS.
Then...
THE ONE WHO WATCHES.
Then...
THE ONE WHO WAITS.
The woman whispered:
"He's here."
The father asked:
"Who?"
The pencil stopped.
A final word appeared.
SECOND.
---
BLACK SCREEN.
No sound.
No movement.
Then...
a heartbeat.
THUMP.
A second heartbeat.
THUMP.
A third.
THUMP.
Nova opened his eyes inside the darkness.
Someone was standing beside him.
He couldn't see the face.
Only the outline.
Nova whispered:
"Who are you?"
The figure leaned closer.
And answered:
"I am what was born when you were born."
Nova froze.
"What are you?"
The figure smiled.
"Your memory."
Nova shook his head.
"No."
The figure's smile disappeared.
"Not yet."
A pause.
Then...
"I am your future."
Nova stared.
The figure raised a hand.
Behind it...
a door appeared.
Not red.
Not blue.
Not white.
Not black.
A color Nova had never seen.
The figure opened it.
Beyond the door...
was Nova.
Older.
Much older.
Standing alone.
Holding the red pencil.
And behind him...
millions of dead stories.
Nova whispered:
"That's me."
The figure answered:
"Yes."
"Why am I alone?"
The figure looked toward the older Nova.
"Because everyone else forgot you."
Nova felt fear.
"Why?"
The figure whispered:
"Because you asked them to."
---
SCRATCH.
The door closed.
BLACK SCREEN.
A final transmission appeared.
RECOVERED TRANSMISSION // FILE: N-111
STATUS: SECOND PRESENCE CONFIRMED
LOCATION: ORIGIN POINT
TIME: FIRST MEMORY
SUBJECT:
THE THING BORN WITH NOVA
Then...
another line.
IDENTITY:
UNKNOWN.
Then another.
PURPOSE:
REMEMBER.
Then another.
TARGET:
NOVA.
Silence.
Then...
one final sentence appeared.
THE SECOND CHARACTER WAS NEVER THE WOMAN.
Another.
THE SECOND CHARACTER WAS NEVER THE STRANGER.
Another.
THE SECOND CHARACTER WAS NEVER THE READER.
Another.
THE SECOND CHARACTER...
SCRATCH.
SCRATCH.
SCRATCH.
The sentence completed itself.
...WAS THE MEMORY INSIDE NOVA.
BLACK SCREEN.
A newborn cried.
Then...
the crying stopped.
A whisper followed.
"Wake up."
Nova opened his eyes.
Not as a baby.
Not as a child.
Not as a man.
As something older than all three.
He looked at the darkness.
And for the first time...
he remembered a face that had never existed.
His own.
Standing outside the story.
Watching him.
Waiting.
Nova whispered:
"I remember you."
The darkness answered:
"Then you remember who wrote the ending."
Nova stared.
"Who?"
The answer came immediately.
"You did."
Silence.
SCRATCH.
SCRATCH.
SCRATCH.
Then...
one final line.
THE ENDING HAS ALREADY BEEN WRITTEN.
And beneath it...
another.
BUT NOVA HAS NEVER READ IT.
BLACK SCREEN.
**TO BE CONTINUED…**
Written By,
Ivan Edwin
Pen Name :MAXIMUS.
©All Rights Reserved