Chapter Sixty Three: The Other Mila
366 Words
Mila’s POV
Cold. That’s the first thing she feels.
Cold air. Cold metal. Cold light.
When Mila opens her eyes, she’s no longer in the forest — she’s inside a sterile white room that hums like it’s alive. Machines blink softly. Wires snake across the floor. Her head throbs.
She sits up slowly, confusion turning to dread.
There’s a mirror across the room — no, not a mirror.
Because the reflection moves first.
The other girl stands before her. Same eyes. Same hair. Same voice when she whispers, “You shouldn’t be awake yet.”
Mila’s breath catches. “Who… are you?”
The girl smiles faintly — a haunting, perfect imitation.
“I’m you.”
Her knees weaken. “That’s not possible.”
“Oh, but it is,” the clone says, stepping closer, movements too precise, too graceful. “Project Mnemosyne… remember?”
Mila shakes her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The clone tilts her head, studying her like a scientist. “They said the memory sync failed. That’s why you don’t remember. But I do.”
A slow, eerie smile forms.
“I remember him.”
Mila stiffens.
“Him?”
“Xavier.” The clone’s voice softens, almost fond. “He used to look at me the way he looks at you now. Only difference is—”
She leans in, whispering,
“—I was built to love him, and you were built to ruin him.*”
Mila’s heart slams against her ribs. “That’s a lie.”
The clone’s smile widens. “Is it?”
The lights flicker, and a metallic alarm pierces the silence. On the far wall, a red alert flashes:
> NEURAL SYNC IMMINENT — SUBJECTS: 07 & 08.
Mila stumbles backward. The clone moves forward.
“I told them one of us had to disappear,” the clone says calmly. “They didn’t say which.”
Mila grabs a broken shard of glass from the floor, her voice trembling but steady.
“Then I guess we’ll find out who’s real.”
And as the room shakes, their eyes lock — same face, same soul, but only one heartbeat belongs to her.
- Writer
