Interlude: The Memory Without Time
Time forgets me.
I forget time.
But I remember you.
Glass hums with memory. Somewhere between now and never, a figure drifts down a corridor made entirely of reflections—his own, fractured across impossible angles. One version of him smiles; one weeps; one burns. One watches Kaien through the mirror.
He is barefoot. Blindfolded. His footsteps make no sound. In his hand is a cracked pendant bearing the name: Lyra.
"Protocol Zero isn't new," the boy murmurs. His voice folds into the silence. "It is recursive."
He touches one mirror—it shivers. Inside, Kaien's face flickers, thirteen years old, terrified. Another touch: Kaien, fifteen, calm and burning.
"It learns by remembering what didn't happen."
His breath catches. His hand trembles.
"He touched the monolith. He shouldn't have. Now I remember again."
The mirrors ripple.
Solvyr Academy - Outer Fields
The academy's lowest-tier training field was a cracked stretch of combat ground affectionately known by students as "The Boneyard." No protocol amplification, no shielding runes, and absolutely no prestige.
Kaien rolled his sore shoulder. A bruise the size of Solvyr's crest bloomed under his uniform.
"Alright, gutter ranks," barked Instructor Vinn. "Pair up. Spar until one of you bleeds or breaks. Bonus points if it's both."
Kaien exhaled. Across from him stood Serin Velth, a wiry boy with a smug grin and an affinity for wind-based Protocol strikes.
"Try not to embarrass yourself, loophole," Serin hissed, activating a light veil of swirling air around his limbs.
The signal horn blew. Serin vanished.
But Kaien was already moving.
His feet slid left, ducked low, pivoted before Serin's strike had even begun. The wind lash missed his neck by a breath.
Serin stumbled. Shock twisted his face. Kaien didn't press the attack. He couldn't. He was too stunned.
That wasn't instinct.
That was repetition.
The fight restarted. Serin struck from the side. Again, Kaien moved first. His hand raised in reflex—but not his reflex.
A third time. Kaien saw Serin's leg shift weight... and before it moved, he was already responding.
Whisper: Do not imitate. Learn.
Kaien staggered back, blinking. The world doubled. A ghost-Serin hovered briefly over the real one. Echoes.
He wasn't predicting Serin.
He was seeing another version of the duel.
One that hadn't happened.
The fight was called off. Vinn accused him of cheating. Dray and Cinna stared like he'd grown a second head.
"You just dodged three attacks before they happened," Dray muttered.
"Like you fought the same duel already," Cinna added.
Kaien ran.
Courtyard - Sundown
He found quiet between the sculpture gardens, among rusted statues of past Protocol legends. There, beneath the stone gaze of a long-dead ascendant, Ayari Thornveil waited.
"You broke rank today," she said simply.
"I didn't cheat," Kaien replied.
Ayari circled him, her eyes sharp. Not cruel. Calculating.
"You're not just a Hollowborn. You're a glitch."
Kaien shrugged. "Still here. Still fighting."
"Not fighting," she corrected. "Remembering."
He paused. The word hit too close.
"You don't fight like someone trained," Ayari said, stepping closer. "You move like someone who's seen this before. Every strike. Every block. Like your body already knew."
"Maybe I did," Kaien said quietly.
She tilted her head. "That scares me."
He met her gaze. "Then maybe you should stay away."
She turned. "Or maybe I won't."
And then she was gone.
Elsewhere
A thousand mirrors cracked in the same breath. In the space beyond space, Nox knelt before a Monument built of glass and shadow. His voice was no louder than thought.
"Protocol Zero has awakened twice before. Both times, the bearer was silenced."
He looked into one mirror, the only one unbroken. Kaien walked away inside it.
"Let's see if the third time breaks the world."
He smiled, faint and fond.
"Only the Unwritten can remember what never was. Hello again, Kaien."