He walks like silence wrapped in skin.
No footsteps.No shadow.No resistance.
Victor.
That's the name carved into the tower wall.The name that shouldn't exist.
But the tower knows him.
Lets him in.
Doesn't scream. Doesn't collapse.
Just… shifts.
Rael watches from the upper levels, eyes narrowing.
The memory of Origin Null still burns in his chest.
But this?
This isn't another fragment of him.
Victor is something else.
[Warning: Clearance Level Exceeds Fixed Point Authority][Error: Cannot scan origin][Name: VICTOR][Affiliation: Null Path – Access Restricted][Status: Exempt]
Exempt?
That word makes Rael's teeth grit.
Even the Architects had clearance.
Even gods had rules.
But Victor?
He's walking through walls that shouldn't open.
Touching terminals that don't recognize Rael.
And leaving… footprints.
Not physical.
Temporal.
Rael drops down two floors. Silent. Focused.
He sees him now.
Black coat. Silver collar. One glove missing.
No weapons.
But the tower breathes heavier when he passes.
Victor turns slightly. Doesn't look back.
"You're watching me."
Rael steps forward. "You're not hiding."
"I don't need to."
That voice—
Not mocking.Not cold.
Just absolute.
Like gravity.Like death.
Rael tenses.
"Who are you?"
Victor tilts his head. No smile.
"I'm the reason the Architects built a cage around your timeline."
He raises a hand.
Flicks his fingers once—
The walls blink.Turn red.The scripts peel off and scatter like insects.
Rael stares.
"...How?"
Victor turns to face him fully.
"I don't rewrite systems," he says."I unwrite their purpose."
Pause.
Then he steps closer.
"You thought ending the system meant freedom. But systems don't die. They adapt."
His voice lowers.
"And now they've built something new."
Rael's eyes narrow.
"What?"
Victor's eyes glint.
"A Tower that doesn't run on code. Or belief. Or rules."
He taps Rael's chest—right over the scar.
"It runs on you."
Rael stumbles back.
The tower pulses.
A heartbeat.His heartbeat.
And Victor?
He's already fading.
Not teleporting.
Just—
Leaving.
Like a ghost walking out of a dream that was never his.
But before he disappears, he speaks one more time.
No threat.
Just truth.
"The next time we meet… you'll beg me to reset everything."
The silence that follows?
It's not peace.
It's permission.
And somewhere beneath the tower…
Something stirs.
Something older than systems.
Older than Rael.
Older than memory.
To be continued…