Everything around Alicia shimmered like code on the verge of collapse.
But inside her chest—right under her sternum—there was stillness.
The staff she now wielded pulsed not with elemental magic, nor with System's energy, but something far older. A language of light. A whisper from before the digital realm had been born.
"[ADMIN PROXY VERIFIED]"
"[ACCESSING HIDDEN SECTOR: ORIGIN MEMORY]"
"[WARNING: Observer Protocol is defunct]"
The world froze.
Time fractured—not like it broke—but like a window opening in the dark.
Alicia stood alone in a white corridor with glasslike walls. Floating screens hummed around her, each showing fragmented memories. Some of Jay. Some of Rei. Others… of people she didn't know.
Then a single message began to write itself midair—line by line—in ancient glyphs that only she could read.
She reached out.
Her fingers passed through it—and then the voice spoke. Not aloud.
Inside.
"If you are reading this… then the cycle has broken."
