White.
Then—
Red.
Then—
Silence.
But not the soft kind.
The wrong kind.
Like something holy just died… and the world's too afraid to weep.
Rael floats… blade still in hand.
No Elira. No Victor. No system countdown.
Just—
Ash.
It's everywhere.
Falling from nothing. Smelling like burnt memory.
He looks at the blade.
Still warm.
Still humming with her last breath.
That tether… it's gone.
Cut clean.
No interface. No backup. No echo.
But he doesn't scream.
Not yet.
Because he feels it.
A spark behind his eyes.
Not code. Not logic.
Her.
Not speaking.
Just waiting.
Like the soul he saved is hiding just outside time's reach.
And then—
A whisper.
Too soft for sound.Too sharp for dreams.
"You didn't kill her."
Rael spins.
Victor stands at the edge of the void.
A tear in his coat reveals circuitry laced with runes.His heart glows like a dying star.
"What did I do?" Rael asks.
Victor steps closer.
"You removed her name from the system. Set her free."
He pauses.
"But freedom… it has a cost."
Rael's throat tightens.
"I'm the cost."
Victor shakes his head. "She is."
The ash shifts.
Takes shape.
Not Elira.
A throne.
Twisted metal. Thorned vines. Bone handles.
Her seat.
The one she left when she chose to burn.
And now—
It's empty.
But still active.
Because the tower… needs a dreamer.
Rael takes a step back.
"No."
Victor's voice is low. Final.
"She left the throne behind. But the tower remembers who woke it up."
"No—"
"You created a glitch-space."
"Victor—"
"You're not just Rael anymore."
The ash rises faster.
Wraps around his arms. His legs. His spine.
[NEW SYSTEM HOST DETECTED][Designating Core: RAEL][Initializing Protocol: TOWER DREAM STATE][EMOTION ANCHORS: COMPASSION / DEFIANCE / LOSS]
Rael screams.
Shadow erupts.
He fights it—claws at the ash—tries to burn it off—
But it's not binding him.
It's becoming him.
[You are the Tower's new heartbeat.][You are the god they were afraid would never love.]
Victor watches. Silent. Sad.
"This is what she gave you. A world to reshape. Not to rule."
The throne glows.
And Rael—half-man, half-myth—sits.
Not because he wants to.
Because the world needs him to.
And in that moment—
He understands.
He's not the system.
He's the safeguard.
One who remembers.
One who burns.
One who waits in the dark for the next fool to break the loop.
And somewhere deep beneath the tower…
A girl laughs softly.
Alive.
Free.
Untouched by the system ever again.
To be continued…