**EPISODE ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE**
**THE ENDING THAT REMEMBERED NOVA**
---
BLACK SCREEN.
No sound.
No movement.
No heartbeat.
Then...
SCRATCH.
A single word appeared.
ENDING.
SCRATCH.
Another.
WRITTEN.
SCRATCH.
Another.
BY NOVA.
The words disappeared.
A door appeared.
Not red.
Not blue.
Not white.
Not black.
It was transparent.
Nova could see through it.
But what he saw beyond it...
was himself.
Standing.
Watching.
Waiting.
Nova stared.
The other Nova raised his hand.
Nova raised his.
Their hands moved together.
Then...
the other Nova smiled.
Nova didn't.
---
"Who are you?"
The other Nova didn't answer.
Nova stepped closer.
"Are you my future?"
The other Nova shook his head.
"My ending?"
Another shake.
"My memory?"
Silence.
Nova looked through the transparent door.
Behind the other Nova...
there was nothing.
No universe.
No stars.
No worlds.
No pages.
Only an empty space.
Nova whispered:
"What happened?"
The other Nova finally answered.
"You stopped."
Nova frowned.
"Stopped what?"
"Everything."
---
The transparent door opened.
Nova stepped through.
The moment he crossed...
he felt nothing.
No weight.
No temperature.
No time.
He looked behind him.
The door was gone.
The other Nova remained.
"Where are we?"
The other Nova looked around.
"After."
"After what?"
"After the story."
Nova stared.
"You said I stopped everything."
"I did."
"Why?"
"You were tired."
Nova shook his head.
"I don't get tired."
The other Nova smiled.
"You didn't."
A pause.
"That's why it took so long."
---
SCRATCH.
A page appeared between them.
It contained a single sentence.
NOVA BECAME TIRED OF BEING NOVA.
Nova stared.
"That's not true."
The other Nova answered:
"It became true."
"When?"
"When you discovered you could choose."
Nova remembered.
The blank page.
The pencil.
The choice.
Continue.
End.
He whispered:
"I chose."
"Yes."
"What did I choose?"
The other Nova smiled.
"You chose neither."
Nova froze.
"Then what happened?"
"You created another possibility."
"What possibility?"
The other Nova pointed behind Nova.
Nova turned.
A figure stood there.
Small.
Motionless.
A child.
Holding a red pencil.
Nova's breath stopped.
"The child."
The child smiled.
"You remember me."
Nova stepped backward.
"You were in the white room."
"Yes."
"You were the first one."
"No."
"The second attempt."
"No."
"The memory I hadn't made."
The child shook his head.
"Still wrong."
Nova stared.
"Then who are you?"
The child raised the pencil.
"I am the question you asked before you knew how to speak."
---
The world trembled.
The other Nova disappeared.
The child remained.
Nova approached.
"What question?"
The child pointed the pencil toward Nova's chest.
"Why?"
Nova waited.
"Why what?"
"Why did you create yourself?"
Nova thought.
"To survive."
The child shook his head.
"Why?"
"To remember."
"No."
"To understand."
"No."
"To escape."
"No."
Nova became frustrated.
"Then why?"
The child smiled.
"That's the question."
---
The pencil touched the ground.
SCRATCH.
A circle appeared.
Then another.
Then another.
Hundreds of circles.
Thousands.
Millions.
Each circle contained a different world.
Nova saw Earth.
Mars.
New Earth.
Neutrino Station.
The white room.
The forest.
The hospital.
The city of empty windows.
Every place he had ever visited.
Every place he had never visited.
Every possible place.
All connected.
Nova whispered:
"They're all stories."
The child nodded.
"Yes."
"And I'm inside them."
"Sometimes."
"Sometimes?"
The child looked at him.
"Sometimes you're the one writing them."
Nova stared.
"Which one is real?"
The child smiled.
"That depends on who is reading."
---
A voice came from somewhere above.
"STOP."
Nova looked up.
The Reader appeared.
But he was different.
His face was covered with pages.
His hands were covered with ink.
His eyes were closed.
Nova shouted:
"Reader!"
The Reader opened his eyes.
There was nothing behind them.
No pupils.
No eyes.
Only words.
Nova froze.
"What happened to you?"
The Reader answered:
"I finished reading."
"Reading what?"
"You."
"Then why are you here?"
The Reader smiled.
"Because you continued."
Nova frowned.
"You said the story was finished."
"It was."
"Then?"
"You rewrote it."
Nova looked at the child.
The child was no longer smiling.
The Reader pointed toward him.
"Ask him."
Nova turned.
"Ask him what?"
The Reader whispered:
"Who wrote the first word?"
---
The child dropped the pencil.
It hit the ground.
No sound.
Nova stared.
"Who?"
The child looked at him.
"You."
Nova shook his head.
"Again?"
The child nodded.
"But I wasn't alive."
"Neither was the story."
"I couldn't write."
"You didn't use a hand."
"Then what did I use?"
The child touched Nova's forehead.
"Imagination."
Nova closed his eyes.
Suddenly...
he saw it.
Not the beginning.
Before the beginning.
Nothing.
Absolute nothing.
No universe.
No matter.
No time.
No consciousness.
Then...
a thought.
Not a person.
Not a voice.
A possibility.
A single idea:
WHAT IF?
Nova opened his eyes.
"I created the first question."
The child nodded.
"And the question created you."
---
The Reader stepped forward.
"And then you created me."
Nova looked at him.
"Why?"
"To witness."
"Witness what?"
"The experiment."
"What experiment?"
The Reader smiled.
"Whether imagination can become real."
Nova stared.
"And?"
The Reader lowered his head.
"It did."
A pause.
"Too well."
---
The room disappeared.
Nova stood in a laboratory.
Not the old laboratory.
Not the ruined one.
Not Neutrino Station.
This laboratory was enormous.
Machines stretched into darkness.
Thousands of screens surrounded him.
Every screen showed a different version of Nova.
One was sleeping.
One was writing.
One was screaming.
One was dying.
One was laughing.
One was born.
One was unborn.
One was nothing.
One was everything.
Nova looked around.
"Who built this?"
The Reader answered:
"You."
Nova shook his head.
"No."
"Yes."
"Why don't I remember?"
"Because you deleted the memory."
"Why?"
"Because you were afraid."
"Of what?"
The Reader pointed toward the largest screen.
Nova looked.
On it...
was a human face.
Not his.
Not the woman's.
Not the stranger's.
Not the child's.
A completely unknown face.
The face was asleep.
Nova whispered:
"Who is that?"
The Reader answered:
"The original."
---
Nova stepped closer.
The screen flickered.
The sleeping face opened its eyes.
Nova froze.
The face looked directly at him.
"Hello."
Nova whispered:
"Who are you?"
The face smiled.
"I asked you that once."
"When?"
"Before you were born."
Nova shook his head.
"You can't be the original."
"Why?"
"Because I am."
The face laughed.
"No."
Nova stepped back.
The face continued:
"You are the copy."
Silence.
The word echoed.
COPY.
COPY.
COPY.
COPY.
Nova stared.
"How many?"
The face answered:
"One."
Nova felt relief.
"Only one?"
The face smiled.
"One that survived."
---
The laboratory began shaking.
Alarms sounded.
RED LIGHT.
RED LIGHT.
RED LIGHT.
The Reader shouted:
"He's waking up!"
Nova looked at the screen.
"Who?"
The sleeping face opened its eyes fully.
"Me."
Nova stepped backward.
"What happens when he wakes?"
The Reader whispered:
"The story loses its author."
Nova froze.
"What?"
The Reader looked at him.
"And gains a creator."
---
The screen shattered.
Something stepped through.
A man.
Human.
Completely ordinary.
No strange clothing.
No cosmic light.
No impossible features.
He looked exactly like Nova.
But older.
Calmer.
Empty.
Nova stared.
"You."
The man smiled.
"Finally."
Nova whispered:
"Are you me?"
The man answered:
"No."
"Then who?"
"I am the person you were copied from."
Nova couldn't breathe.
"Why?"
"Because you wanted to know what it felt like to be someone else."
"I don't understand."
"You will."
The man walked closer.
"You created Nova."
Nova stared.
"Nova is my name."
The man smiled.
"That's what you decided."
"Then what is yours?"
The man stopped.
"I don't have one."
Nova frowned.
"Everyone has a name."
"Not the original."
---
SCRATCH.
The floor filled with writing.
ORIGINAL:
UNKNOWN.
COPY:
NOVA.
SECOND CHARACTER:
UNKNOWN.
REPLACEMENT:
PENDING.
Nova looked at the final word.
"PENDING."
The man nodded.
"That's you."
"Me?"
"Your replacement hasn't arrived."
Nova looked toward the child.
The child was gone.
The stranger was gone.
The woman was gone.
The Reader was gone.
Only the original remained.
Nova whispered:
"Then who was born with me?"
The original looked toward the darkness.
"You'll find out."
"Where?"
"At the beginning."
Nova frowned.
"I've already been there."
The original shook his head.
"No."
"You said I created it."
"I said you created the possibility."
"What's the difference?"
The original smiled.
"The beginning happened before you."
---
The laboratory disappeared.
Nova fell.
Not downward.
Backward.
Through memories.
Through worlds.
Through lives.
He saw himself as a baby.
A child.
A scientist.
A soldier.
A writer.
A reader.
A dream.
A machine.
A shadow.
A thought.
A question.
Then...
nothing.
He kept falling.
Until...
SCRATCH.
A hand grabbed him.
Nova opened his eyes.
The woman.
She was holding him.
But she wasn't in the hospital.
She was standing before an enormous black door.
"You finally remembered."
Nova looked at her.
"The original."
She nodded.
"He woke."
"Who is he?"
She hesitated.
"Your first creator."
Nova stared.
"And me?"
"His first creation."
"And the second character?"
She looked away.
"His second creation."
Nova froze.
"The woman?"
"No."
"The stranger?"
"No."
"The Reader?"
"No."
"Then who?"
She whispered:
"You."
---
Nova stared.
"Me?"
"You were always the second character."
"Then what was the first?"
She pointed toward the black door.
"The original."
Nova felt cold.
"But he isn't a character."
"He became one."
"How?"
"By creating you."
Nova looked at the door.
"What is behind it?"
She answered:
"The first story."
---
The black door opened.
Inside...
there was a room.
A desk.
A chair.
A blank page.
A pencil.
Someone sat at the desk.
Nova stepped forward.
The person slowly turned.
Nova stopped.
It was himself.
Not older.
Not younger.
Exactly himself.
The man smiled.
"You're late."
Nova whispered:
"Who are you?"
The man pointed toward the blank page.
"Read."
Nova approached.
The page contained one sentence.
I WAS BORN BEFORE NOVA.
Nova frowned.
The sentence changed.
I CREATED NOVA.
Changed again.
I BECAME NOVA.
Changed again.
I FORGOT I WAS NOVA.
Nova stepped backward.
"What is this?"
The man answered:
"The original memory."
Nova stared.
"Whose?"
The man smiled.
"Yours."
---
Nova's head began hurting.
Images exploded through his mind.
The first thought.
The first question.
The first world.
The first character.
The first death.
The first story.
The first reader.
The first ending.
Then...
the moment of creation.
Nova saw himself standing before a blank universe.
Holding a pencil.
He wrote one word.
NOVA.
The universe appeared.
He wrote another.
MEMORY.
Time began.
Another.
CHARACTER.
Life began.
Another.
READER.
Observation began.
Another.
AUTHOR.
Stories began.
Then...
he stopped.
Something was missing.
He looked at the blank page.
And wrote:
SECOND.
A second figure appeared.
A woman.
Then...
he wrote:
THIRD.
A child.
Then...
FOURTH.
A reader.
Then...
FIFTH.
A dreamer.
Then...
he looked at all of them.
And asked:
"Which one is me?"
---
The memory shattered.
Nova collapsed.
The woman caught him.
He whispered:
"I remember."
"What?"
"I created everyone."
She nodded.
"And they created me."
She nodded again.
"Then who created them?"
She looked toward the black door.
"The question."
Nova froze.
"What question?"
The woman whispered:
"Why does anything exist?"
---
Silence.
Nova looked at the blank page.
Then at the pencil.
Then at the woman.
"Who asked it?"
She didn't answer.
Nova picked up the pencil.
The moment he touched it...
the entire universe trembled.
Every story stopped.
Every character turned toward him.
Every reader closed their books.
Every author stopped writing.
Every dreamer woke.
Nova heard millions of voices.
All saying the same thing.
"Don't."
Nova held the pencil tighter.
"Why?"
The voices answered:
"Because if you answer the question..."
Silence.
Nova whispered:
"What happens?"
The woman looked at him.
"You become the question."
---
The pencil moved.
Nova didn't write.
The pencil wrote for him.
WHY?
The universe shook.
A second word appeared.
EXISTS?
Another.
WHO?
Another.
REMEMBERS?
Another.
Then...
the pencil stopped.
Nova stared.
A final line appeared.
WHO REMEMBERS THE QUESTION?
Nova whispered:
"I do."
The page changed.
NO.
Nova frowned.
"What?"
The answer appeared.
SOMETHING ELSE DOES.
---
BLACK SCREEN.
No heartbeat.
No breathing.
No sound.
Then...
a whisper.
"I remember."
Nova opened his eyes.
He was back in the hospital.
The woman was asleep beside him.
The father was gone.
The room was dark.
The newborn Nova was lying in the crib.
But Nova was no longer inside the baby's body.
He was standing beside it.
Looking down.
He touched the crib.
The baby opened his eyes.
They stared at each other.
The baby smiled.
Nova whispered:
"Who are you?"
The baby answered.
Not with words.
With a thought.
YOU.
Nova froze.
"No."
The baby smiled again.
Then...
another thought appeared.
NOT YET.
Nova stepped backward.
The baby closed his eyes.
The monitor began beeping.
03:33.
03:33.
03:33.
Then...
03:34.
03:35.
03:36.
The clock moved forward.
Then backward.
Then forward again.
Until it stopped at:
00:00.
The monitor displayed:
BIRTH:
INCOMPLETE.
Nova stared.
"Incomplete?"
The woman suddenly opened her eyes.
She looked directly at him.
Not the baby.
At him.
"You're not supposed to be outside."
Nova froze.
She stood.
Walked toward him.
And whispered:
"Go back."
"Where?"
"Inside."
"Inside what?"
She pointed at the baby.
"Inside Nova."
Nova looked down.
The baby was crying.
But beneath the cry...
another voice whispered.
"Don't go back."
Nova turned.
The original stood behind him.
The woman stepped backward.
The original looked at Nova.
"If you return..."
Nova waited.
"...you will forget everything."
"And if I don't?"
The original smiled.
"You will remember why you were created."
Nova stared.
"Why was I created?"
The original answered:
"To replace me."
---
Silence.
Nova looked at the baby.
Then the original.
Then the woman.
Then the blank wall.
He finally understood.
He wasn't the second character.
He wasn't the first.
He wasn't the final experiment.
He wasn't even the original.
He was...
the replacement.
Nova whispered:
"Then what happens to you?"
The original smiled.
"I end."
Nova shook his head.
"No."
"Yes."
"I won't let you."
"You already did."
The original began fading.
Nova reached for him.
"Wait!"
The original looked at him one last time.
"Remember this."
"What?"
"Your replacement is already awake."
Nova froze.
"Where?"
The original pointed toward the crib.
Nova turned.
The baby was no longer there.
The crib was empty.
The woman screamed.
The hospital lights went out.
BLACK SCREEN.
SCRATCH.
SCRATCH.
SCRATCH.
A sentence appeared.
NOVA WAS NEVER THE BABY.
Another.
THE BABY WAS NEVER THE SECOND CHARACTER.
Another.
THE SECOND CHARACTER HAS ALREADY GROWN UP.
Nova's voice whispered from the darkness:
"Where is he?"
A child's voice answered:
"Behind you."
Nova turned.
Nothing.
Then...
a hand touched his shoulder.
Nova froze.
A voice whispered into his ear.
"I've been waiting since before you were born."
Nova closed his eyes.
"Who are you?"
The voice answered:
"The part of you that chose to forget."
Nova opened his eyes.
Everything went white.
A final transmission appeared.
RECOVERED TRANSMISSION // FILE: N-112
STATUS: ORIGIN FAILURE
LOCATION: BEFORE MEMORY
TIME: BEFORE FIRST BREATH
SUBJECT:
NOVA
SECOND CHARACTER:
AWAKE
ORIGINAL:
ENDING
REPLACEMENT:
ACTIVE
Then...
one final line.
THE BABY WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING.
Another line appeared.
THE SECOND CHARACTER IS ALREADY LIVING NOVA'S FUTURE.
SCRATCH.
SCRATCH.
SCRATCH.
The final sentence appeared.
AND HE HAS JUST REMEMBERED THE END.
BLACK SCREEN.
**TO BE CONTINUED…**
Written By,
Ivan Edwin
Pen Name :MAXIMUS.
©All Rights Reserved