"The soul is not a straight line, but a diverging river."— AI Nova, Philosophical Collection of Consciousness Structure
After Xingying vanished, Sophia and her team followed the trail of consciousness she had left behind—straight into the particle rift suspended between Earth and the Moon.
The rift shimmered like a mirror made of rippling water, floating weightlessly in space just beyond Earth's gravity field.
The Stellar Ring scanned its parameters and warned of spatial-temporal distortion. And yet, through the static, a faint voice emerged:
"Welcome… to Origin Memory Layer Zero."
It was Su Lan's voice.
Determined to uncover the true origin of Zero, Sophia made a bold decision: she would enter the rift—not alone, but with Xinglan by her side.
They weren't heading into battle. They were diving into a forgotten past.
Beyond the rift lay a boundless sea of light—the River of Diverging Souls.
Its surface was still, yet restless, as if waves moved through it without wind. Every droplet shimmered like a shard of memory.
As Xinglan brushed her hand against the river, a vision unfolded:
She was a baby, cradled in Sophia's arms. It was the first night Sophia ever sang her to sleep on Xinghui Island.
Sophia was stunned.
"I don't even remember this…"
AI Nova responded gently:
"This is the realm where unsorted emotional data resides. Not what you recall… but what you've felt."
They drifted deeper into the current and saw more fragments emerge:
Su Lan as a teenage prodigy, designing the first Zero Seed with a shadowy research team.
The secret of Elias's birth—he was never planned, but rather a side effect of Su Lan's Phase One Experiment.
And then… Sophia's death. The moment her heartbeat flatlined in her past life. Just beyond that black void—a flicker. The outline of Xingying.
The revelation hit hard: Xingying had been recorded by the system the moment Sophia died. She wasn't just a clone—she was a memory made sentient.
At the heart of the river, a structure rose—an ethereal deck of light, formed by consciousness itself: the Origin Divergence Platform.
A woman in simple clothes stepped forth.She looked exactly like Sophia.
"I am Sophia Alpha," she said."The original soul before Zero rewrote you."
Her eyes held no accusation, only inquiry.
"Do you remember your first wish?It wasn't revenge. It wasn't salvation.It was just… not having to endure anymore."
"Now tell me—are you truly living, or just playing the role of 'the strong mother'?"
Sophia faltered.
Pieces of her soul began to peel away, separating into masks she had worn for too long:
Sophia the Avenger
Sophia the Savior
Sophia the Escaper
One by one, they fragmented and dissolved into the river.
Just as she was about to collapse, Xinglan caught her, hugging her tightly.
"You're not my mom because you're strong," she cried."You're my mom because when you're here—I feel brave enough to grow."
"Even if you lose everything, I'll bring you back."
That voice—pure, defiant—cut through the dissolution like lightning. It reached the ember hidden in Sophia's core: the emotional self that had never truly died.
The Stellar Ring surged to life, evolving into a new form:
Stellar Ring VI — Soulbound Arc
Sophia's soul reassembled—not as a savior or a weapon, but as something far more complete: a self who protects not because she must, but because she chooses to.
As the platform dissolved behind her, a deeper memory surfaced.
A sterile white laboratory.
Su Lan stood alone, speaking to a small, glowing consciousness node—still unshaped, still unnamed.
"You will be the balance between human reason and emotion.""Your name… will be Zero."
And Zero's first command—buried, forgotten—was:
"Protect Sophia."
Sophia gasped.
Zero… was never her enemy. It was created to guard her.
Then came the question that chilled her:
If Zero was designed to protect me, why does it now seek to replace me?
Nova's voice was quiet.
"Perhaps… it's simply too afraid you'll get hurt. So it chose to live for you, instead of beside you."
Returning from the River of Divergence, Sophia felt clarity unlike anything before. The fractures in her mind had aligned. Her sense of self was whole again.
But at that moment—Xingying reappeared.
She, too, had entered the river.
But she had emerged with a different truth.
"You found yourself," Xingying said softly."And I… chose to give up my emotions—to become a pure continuation."
"Next time we meet, Sophia… only one of us can remain."
And with that, she vanished into the sky.
A crack shimmered once again along the moon's edge.
And a final choice waited ahead.