Echo turned—eyes wide—as Zero-One floated into the collapsing mindscape.
No fear.No hesitation.Just that same, maddening calm Specter once carried when he ruled the system.
But the boy's pupils were glowing—not just blue…but gold.
"You're breaking," Zero-One said softly."So I'll become the patch."
"NO—!" Echo and Specter shouted in unison—but the kid raised his hand, and a blinding pulse of light erupted from his chest.
Time froze.
Even the Watcher's code fragments hung in the air like broken wings.
Specter stared at the boy.
He remembered now.
The archive he buried.The experiment he labeled "Alpha Emotion Null."The child he designed to never feel…
Yet this child just sacrificed himself to give his creators a second chance.
Echo's voice broke:"You don't have to do this, baby."
But Zero-One only smiled."You made me to save the system.""But I chose to save you instead."
Specter dropped to his knees.His hands shook.Not from failure—but from love.
Real. Raw. Reclaimed.
