It's not a monster.
Not really.
No claws. No hunger. No motive.
Just… design.
Sentient logic strung into form.Like if regret had hands.If causality could bleed.
It doesn't chase Rael.
It waits.
Because it knows.
He always runs.
Always tries to save someone.
Always fails.
That's how it was written.
And now?
Now it wants him to stop resisting and upgrade.
To be the next system.
A better one.More humane.More… "merciful."
Rael laughs. Bitter. Raw.
"You think I'd ever become what I destroyed?"
The thing doesn't answer.
It just opens.
A thousand arms of light.Each holding a broken version of him.
Rael the Tyrant.Rael the Savior.Rael the Loopkeeper.Rael who killed Elira to win.Rael who chose peace by ending the world.
Every failed iteration.
All smiling.
All… content.
"You could be free," they say in unison."You just have to forget what made you human."
Behind him—Elira trembles.
Not afraid.
Ashamed.
"…They offered me the same thing," she whispers.
Rael turns.
"What did you say?"
She doesn't answer.
Because her body is flickering again.Her tether to this reality—weak.
The system is pulling her out.
She steps back.
"I burned to stop the loop. You dragged me out. You… woke it up."
Rael reaches—
But she's already fading into static.
And in her place—
A screen appears.
Her face. Cold. Blank.
[Offer: Elira will survive if Rael agrees to upload his Core][System Role: Primary Architect][Emotion Protocols Optional]
He stares.
And time holds its breath.
This is the trap.
Not teeth. Not fire.
Just… choice.
Offer salvation to someone he loves.At the cost of what makes him real.
He clenches his fist.
Looks at the machine's form—its many Raels—its promises.
Then looks back at Elira.
And says—
"I'd rather kill her myself than let you own her again."
A silence falls over the entire tower.
Even the shadows pause.
And then—
Victor's voice cuts through the void like glass through skin.
"…Good answer."
The walls collapse.
The system screams.
And Victor steps through the fracture.
Coat torn. Left eye bleeding code. One hand clutching a blade not made from this world.
He tosses it to Rael.
"Cut your link."
"What?"
Victor's tone sharpens.
"You connected to her with memory. That's how it's keeping her hostage."
Rael stares at the blade.
"…If I cut it, she dies."
"No," Victor growls. "She wakes up. As herself."
"But—"
"No system. No fragments. Just her."
Behind them, the machine snarls.
The tower begins to devour itself.
Countdowns light the walls.
[SYSTEM MELTDOWN: 87 SECONDS]
Elira's voice returns—fractured but hers.
"Rael…"
He raises the blade.
Hand shaking.
Heart breaking.
She nods once.
Tears in her eyes.
"Burn it down."
He cuts.
Everything explodes.
To be continued…