The calculations indicated that the scene he had seen was likely some kind of memory stored in a hidden format. The Celestials had no mind-affecting abilities, and the other party did not seem like the type skilled in electronic intrusion.
That left only one explanation: this memory had come from deep within his own storage.
But why had it never been activated before?
"Do you remember now?"
The voice in his mind asked again. Though it was also his own voice, it was extremely faint, like a dying candle in the wind.
"No. This makes no sense. I have hundreds of ways to prove that it isn't me."
"But I only need one way to prove that he is us: this memory is located inside your body. You cannot refute that."
... CCU fell silent. He could not understand why.
But the other self in his mind was in no hurry. It played a second memory: himself riding a bicycle like a human, then panicking when he saw the Beyonders descend upon Earth and crashing to death in a dumpster.
It was disgusting, but it made sense.
The physical collision, the resulting consequences, and that other Earth in the sky all matched CCU's records.
"Was that me?"
He asked his other self, but it did not answer. Instead, it presented a third memory.
It showed a woman with CCU's face injecting herself in an abandoned factory during the Beyonders' invasion. She got distracted watching the spectacle, overdosed, then died with foam spilling from her mouth in a state of manic excitement.
No matter what questions he had, the self in his mind did not answer. It merely brought out memory after memory, showing CCU the facts.
One version of "himself" after another died in all manner of ways. Without exception,