The scalpel trembled in Dr. Eli Mercer’s hand.

Not from fear. From knowing this man on the tabl

e was already dead in ten other worlds.

“Clear,” he said, and the defibrillator pads spa

rked.

Nothing.

He stared at the heart monitor. Flatline.

Behind him, the hospital hummed with the usual c

haos. But in his head, the silence was louder th

an sirens.

He’d seen this moment before. In another life. A

nother hospital. Another him.

The lights flickered.

Just once. Just enough.

“Wait,” Eli said. “Turn off the defibrillator.”

The nurse frowned. “Doctor—”

“I said wait.”

He pulled off his gloves. His hands were shaking

.

He’d been here before. Done this before. And in

that world, the man on the table lived.

Only because Eli had crossed over.

He stepped into the hallway, heart pounding.

No one saw him duck into the supply closet.

No one saw the air shimmer, or the soft hum that

built like a tuning fork struck just right.

And then he was gone.

He landed hard, knees slamming into linoleum.

Same hospital. Different smell. Cleaner. Older.

The kind of sterile that came from fear, not sci

ence.

He staggered up.

A man in a lab coat stared at him.

“You’re not supposed to be here.”

Eli looked at his reflection in a nearby window.

Same face. Same eyes.

But not the same world.

“Neither are you,” Eli said.

Footsteps echoed down the hall.

Fast. Heavy.

He ducked behind a stack of crates labeled Proje

ct Rift.

The words glowed faintly. Military green. Cold W

arera.

He’d crossed into a world where the program was

real.

And they were watching.

He heard the voice before he saw the man.

Deep. Familiar.

“Find him. Before he breaks the timeline.”

Eli’s stomach twisted.

That was his own voice.

He peeked around the corner.

There he was.

Another Eli Mercer. Wearing a uniform. Holding a

weapon.

He was staring at a screen. Surveillance footage

.

Of Eli.

“I knew you’d come,” the other Eli said. “I did

the same thing. Once.”

Eli backed away.

But it was too late.

An alarm blared.

He ran.

The halls blurred.

Doors. Locks. Dead ends.

Until he found the lab.

And the machine.

It pulsed with energy, like a heartbeat in steel

.

The core of the program. The reason he’d been lo

oking for it in his world.

He touched it.

And the world cracked open again.

This time, he landed in snow.

Blinding white. Bitter cold.

A city skyline rose in the distance.

1940s. Smokestacks. Bombers painted on brick wal

ls.

He was in the middle of a war zone.

A jeep screeched to a halt beside him.

“Doctor Mercer!” a soldier shouted. “We need you

now!”

Eli blinked.

“How do you know my name?”

“You’re the only one who can fix the general,” t

he soldier said. “Come on!”

Eli didn’t move.

In his world, the general had died of a heart at

tack two weeks ago.

Here, he was alive.

Because Eli had changed something.

He climbed into the jeep.

The soldier handed him a field kit.

Eli opened it.

Scalpel. Gauze. Morphine.

And a note.

You can’t keep running.

The rift is closing.

He looked up.

The sky flickered. Like static on a TV screen.

They were pulling the worlds back together.

He stepped into the command tent.

The general was on the table. Pale. Dying.

Eli didn’t hesitate.

He cut open the uniform, found the wound.

Gunshot. Not fatal. Not here.

But he knew this injury.

In his world, the general had been poisoned.

By the same man standing beside him now.

“Colonel Vance,” Eli said.

The man smiled.

“You don’t belong here.”

Eli didn’t answer.

He worked fast. Clean. Precise.

The general gasped.

Then breathed.

Eli stepped back.

“Now what?” Vance asked.

Eli looked at the sky.

The rift was closing. Fast.

“I’m not running anymore,” Eli said. “I’m going

home.”

Vance pulled a gun.

“You’re not taking the machine with you.”

Eli stared at him.

“You’re not me.”

He lunged.

The gun fired.

Eli felt the pain.

But he didn’t stop.

He reached the machine.

Hit the sequence.

The world burned white.

He landed in his hospital again.

Same smell. Same chaos.

But this time, the man on the table was alive.

Eli looked at the heart monitor.

Strong. Steady.

The nurse stared at him. “Doctor…

what just happened?”

Eli took a breath.

“Let’s say I found a better way.”

He turned and walked out.

The machine was gone.

The rift was closed.

But he knew the truth.

There were still other worlds.

And other Elisholding secrets.

But he was done running.

Now, he was ready to face them.