Leon's thoughts scattered for a moment, drifting back to screens glowing late into the night, to the hum of cities that never slept, to the weightless freedom of a world brimming with questions and theories.
But the primordial's voice pulled him back.
"But what ended up destroying that world," she said, her tone dropping, "was not war. Not a sudden pandemic. Not famine or natural disaster."
Leon lifted his gaze. Something in her eyes darkened, as if the memory itself carved a shadow behind them.
"It was the creation of mankind that destroyed mankind," she continued. "What they built with their own hands… corruption learned to wield it. To turn it against them."
A chill crawled across Leon's skin.
The primordial exhaled, slow and tired.
"It was Artificial Intelligence."
Her words lingered between them, quiet but sharp.
"The destruction of that world was greater than anything seen in past alterations."
