Morty leaves Rick forever, goes to a normal school, dates a normal girl, grows old. Rick watches from a distance, drinking alone. The other timelines stabilize, but C-137 becomes a ghost.

Then Cowboy Rick laughs. Chef Rick starts crying. Therapist Rick closes his notepad.

“Nowhere. Everywhere. The place between ‘I love you’ and ‘goodbye.’”

But C-137 Rick never did that. He kept his chaos. His improvisation. His real pain.

“Those both suck! This is a trick, right, Rick? You’ve got a gadget in your pocket that turns this into a win-win?”

“Not this time, Morty. For once… the science is honest.”

“…You’re so weird lately.”