Mara was walking through the vastness of a space that she could not define. Imaginary multivers had been just a fraction of what he had discovered so far. In front of her, a landscape that did not belong to any known reality was carried out with terrifying beauty - overlapping planets, colossal architects made up of lights and shadows, and corridors that seemed to lead to infinity.

In this new universe, neither space nor time had the meanings he had understood until then. The vibrations of the strings not only outlined the structure of reality, but they seemed to be the primordial fabric of everything, a network of unexplored possibilities.

"This is the place where it all starts," a familiar voice said behind her.

Mara turned slowly. In front of her was the Costs, a former colleague who had disappeared during a previous mission, who had thought she had been swallowed up by a crack-time crack. But the Costs seemed now ... different. Seemed more than human. His eyes, of superhuman clarity, reflected not only light, but also deeper, as if they could penetrate the essence of any form of existence.

"How ... are you here? What happened to you?" Mara asked, struggling to keep her calm.

Costs smiled enigmatically. "I was not lost. I was ... transformed. Here, in the new foundation, reality is not what we knew. It is a little bigger, a concept that transcends our limited perception. Everything we thought we know about strings, multivers, space and time - all these are just partial reflections of a much wider truth."

"The new foundation?" Mara repeated. "What is this place?"

"It is the origin of all things," he replied to Costs. "It is the place where all the universes, all the realities and all the possible images of existence draw their power. Here, the collective consciousness and the laws of physics merge. The thoughts not only create reality, but also model it."

Mara now understood that this place was the unseen center of the multiverse - a source of unimaginable power and, at the same time, of danger. Once someone understood how it worked, the reality itself could rewrite it.

Costs are slowly approaching her. "You were chosen to walk here because you were the only one who survived previous travels. You saw the breakdown of time, the survival of space and the shadows of the multivers. But here, in the new foundation, you can really understand how to control all these forces. Here you can become more than a simple traveler."

Mara felt the weight of Coste's words, but she wasn't ready to accept. "If you were transformed ... Why didn't you come back? Why did you stay here?"

Costs looked at her long, as if weighed the decision to tell her the truth. "There is no return here. Once you have entered the new foundation, you can no longer return to the usual realities, because they become irrelevant. What I discovered here is much wider than anything I have ever known. But every decision you make here has not only for you, but for the whole multiverse."

Mara looked at him silently. He felt the strength of this place, his irresistible attraction, but also the danger hidden in his promises.

"What if I don't want to become an architect of reality? If I just want to save the world I left behind?"

Costs smiled again, but this time, in his smile he felt a trace of sadness. "You cannot return to what it was. The new foundation gives you only one choice: to create or be created. If you refuse, you will become part of the creative chaos of this place, absorbed by the energies that define everything."

Mara felt like the reality around her begins to pulse in the pace of her breath. Each thought seemed to change the surrounding structure, as if this place was responding to the presence of its consciousness.

"It must be a way to go," she said, in a trembling, but determined voice.

"It is not about the exit," he said to Costs, with his eyes on a new intensity. "It is about your choice to model what's next. There is no way to return. You begin to see how the space is modeled after you. And this is just the beginning."

At that moment, something huge and invisible moves through the space between them. Mara feels the air around her becomes dense, almost tangible. The shadows of creatures of huge dimensions, made up of pure energy, seemed to pass on the edge of its visual field.

"What are these?" she asked, freezing in place.

"They are the guards of the realities," he said to Costs in a low voice. "Entities that watch over the new foundation. They ensure that no creation becomes too chaotic, too dangerous for the very fabric of reality."

Mara felt a deep fear. The guards did not seem to be beings that you can face or control. "And if I decide to create nothing?"

Costs lowered his voice. "Then you will be destroyed."

Mara looked around. He knew she was not ready for such a responsibility, but at the same time, she had no choice. In front of her, the reality unfolded as a white page of a huge book, waiting to be written. Every choice he made was going to affect not only this world, but all the others.

"The new foundation," she said slowly, contemplating her future. "It is not just a foundation for universes. It is the foundation for whatever it can exist. Everything will happen because of me ... or it will not happen at all."

Costs took a step in front, looking at her intensely. "Now you understand. But you have to choose. What will it be, Mara? Will you create a new universe or will you be swallowed by chaos?"

With a deep inspiration, Mara prepared to make the final choice. And then, in her mind, a glittering thought "if everything is modeled by consciousness ... why limit myself to a single reality?"

Costs remained silent for a moment, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"I will create a reality that is neither chaos nor order," she said. "I will create something new. A world that is both flexible and stable. A place where the guards have no power and where the laws are dictated by those who live it. I do not want to be the supreme architect. I want to offer the freedom to create."

Costs looked at her long, his silence speaking more than any words. "Is this your choice?"

Mara nodded.

Then the guards disappeared, and the space around it changes. The new foundation, this primordial universe, began to vibrate in harmony with her thoughts.

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