The Gallery shifted again.
Three doors remained, though one now pulsed with a pale gold shimmer—open, waiting. The second door began to glow faintly green.
Ren, still munching the remnants of Clomp's suspicious snack, stared at it warily.
"So. This one isn't mine?"
Keeri narrowed her eyes. "Nope."
Clomp chimed in helpfully: "It's labeled unwritten regret with shared consequence. Ooh, rare."
Ren raised a brow. "What does that even mean?"
"It means," Keeri said, "you're about to see something that involves you, but isn't about you."
"Sounds like most group projects."
[Echo Trial #2: "The Hidden Ripple"]
✦ Warning: Observational trial only. Emotional bleed risk: Moderate.
✦ Bonus reward if the identity is recognized before the end.
❖ Secondary Memory: [She Who Saw the Threads]
The door opened into…
A stone room. No windows. Candlelight flickered along shelves of scrolls, glowing crystals, and metal cubes humming with quiet power.
A girl sat alone at the table.
Late teens. Messy hair. A cloak marked with old sigils. Ink-stained fingers.
She was crying—but only a little. Quietly. Like she'd learned to keep her sobs small so they wouldn't echo.
Ren whispered, "Who is she?"
Clomp murmured, "Someone from the Woven Archives. Someone they said vanished."
"She's not from my memory," Ren said.
"No," Keeri agreed. "But you're from hers."
The girl sniffed, flipping pages of a worn notebook. Every page was a sketch:
- A boy standing before a shining door
- A mushroom with an umbrella hat
- A map labeled Worlds Between Worlds
- A journal entry: He's real. I found him. The Traveler.
Then Ren saw it.
The last page had a single name:
REN VIREO
…with a heart next to it.
Ren's brain short-circuited.
"Wait wait wait—was this girl tracking me? Before I even started??"
The trial shifted. The memory blurred.
The girl looked up, suddenly aware.
"Someone's watching," she whispered.
Ren froze.
But she wasn't talking to him.
She stood. Clutched her book. Ran to a strange archway at the edge of the room.
As she stepped through it… the memory glitched.
⚠ Error: Missing Memory Anchor
⚠ Trial Stability Degrading
"What is this?" Ren muttered. "Why is she gone?"
Clomp answered quietly.
"She was erased. From the system. From the Archives. But not… from the weave."
The trial collapsed.
Ren landed back in the Gallery, dazed.
The Warden's voice returned, cold and low.
"Not all echoes are fair. Not all stories are told."
"But they remember you, Guide."
Keeri looked concerned. "You okay?"
Ren stared at the fading shimmer of the trial.
"…Someone was waiting for me. Someone the world tried to forget."