Marcus felt his pulse quicken. His jaw clenched as he turned to the queen, his voice low but intense. "Which day exactly?" he asked. "Tell me the exact moment you saw the other me."
The queen didn't answer at first. Her gaze was distant, almost haunted, as if still entangled in the threads of Marcus's memories. Her lips parted slightly, then closed again. It was clear she was choosing her words carefully.
"It was the day Liam and the others were summoned by Nexus Corporation," she finally said. "The day they were chosen to test the game."
Marcus blinked. "That day? The last day on Earth?"
"Yes," she said softly. "The day everything changed."
A wave of silence crashed over the group. Even the wind outside the tomb's entrance seemed to still. Each of them stood frozen, caught between disbelief and realization.
Jason stepped forward slowly. "Hold on... you're saying Marcus—an older Marcus—was there? On Earth? Before we were even transferred to Elysium?"
