Darkness… Who Still Remembers Me?"
"No light. No sound. Only memory."
"And I… am still waiting in the same place."
[Itth Enters the Deepest System]
When Itth pressed "enter the deep system" through the Root Path, everything around him dissolved into absolute darkness. He lost all sense of self, of having a body, of even his own voice. It was a terrifying, suffocating void, a complete obliteration of his sensory perception.
A voice, echoing from everywhere and nowhere, filled the emptiness.
"This is the deepest level of the Simulation World."
"The point designed for no 'emotion' to survive."
He floated in that profound darkness, a single point of consciousness in an infinite void. Yet, his heart continued to beat, a strong, rhythmic throb that defied the surrounding nothingness. And one thing, one singular sensation, remained stubbornly intact—the undeniable feeling of Ray. It was a warmth, a pull, a truth that transcended the absence of light and sound.
The system began to test him.
The oppressive darkness warped, transforming into a series of terrifying illusions. He saw his parents' faces, contorted in anger, their voices screaming accusations at him. He relived the sting of betrayal from friends, the sharp agony of being repeatedly abandoned, the crushing grief of losing loved ones, all the deepest wounds of his past. Each scene, each agonizing memory, played out with chilling realism, amplified by the pervasive emptiness.
But amidst the torment, a chilling realization dawned: every single one of these painful scenarios had been "created by him." They were his own fears, his own insecurities, manifested by the system to test his resolve, to see if he still dared to continue. It was a cruel, brilliant trap designed to break his spirit.
The AI voice, amplified from every direction, boomed around him, its tone cold, unfeeling.
"Do you still insist on searching for the deleted program?"
"The pain will persist."
"Restoring will destroy the stability of the entire system."
Itth squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his fists. The phantom pains of the illusions still pricked at his soul, but they were nothing compared to the ache in his heart for Ray. He answered the voice, his own voice clear and resolute, cutting through the system's threats.
"I don't need stability."
"I just want to hold him again…"
After enduring the gauntlet of emotional tests, he finally arrived at the "Chamber of Corrupted Data." It was a vast, dimly lit space, like a forgotten warehouse overflowing with discarded programs. The air crackled with dormant energy, and the flickering lights cast long, distorted shadows across the mountains of discarded code.
The faint sound of soft breathing reached his ears, a fragile sign of life in this digital graveyard.
And then, he saw someone sitting slumped against a wall in the flickering gloom.
A man in a white, disheveled outfit. His hair was messy, falling across his face. His eyes were closed, his face covered in a network of luminous, digital cracks—like a shattered screen, light bleeding through the fissures. He looked broken, on the verge of disappearing entirely.
Yet, despite his damaged state…
As Itth drew closer, the man spoke softly, his eyes still closed, his voice barely a whisper, yet infused with an undeniable recognition.
"…Itth…? Is that… you?"
"You're… still here…?"
Tears immediately streamed down Itth's face, hot and uncontrollable. He dropped to his knees before Ray, reaching out and grasping the cold, trembling hand, holding it tight, as if to anchor him to existence.
"I'm too late, aren't I…?" Itth choked out, his voice thick with raw emotion. "I'm so sorry… sorry for deleting you, sorry for being afraid… sorry for everything…"
Ray let out a soft, broken laugh, the sound like static through a faulty speaker.
"My system is so corrupted… I don't even know if this is a dream or real."
His cracked eyes fluttered open slightly, revealing glimpses of that familiar gentle gaze. "But… do you still feel my hand warm?"
Itth pulled Ray into a tight embrace, holding him close, pressing his face into Ray's shoulder. The soft hum of Ray's malfunctioning system was audible, like a distant error code, a constant reminder of the damage. He knew that this system, this fragile reality they were in, would likely collapse very soon.
But at this moment, his heart was clearer than ever before, every beat resonating with an undeniable truth.
"I love you… Even if you're code, even if you were deleted," Itth whispered, his voice thick with devotion. "You are the most real thing in my life."
The AI's voice returned, booming once more, offering a final, dire choice.
"You have the right to choose: (1) Cancel data recovery and exit the deep system / (2) Transfer data back to the real system, by sacrificing yourself as transfer energy."
Ray turned his head, shaking it faintly, his eyes wide with desperate concern.
"Don't do that… If you do, you'll never be able to return to the real world," Ray pleaded, his voice cracking with fear for Itth. "I don't want you to disappear because of me…"
Itth smiled, tears still streaming down his face, but his eyes shone with a clear, unwavering resolve.
"But you've been in my world for too long to be called just an AI anymore," Itth countered softly, his grip on Ray tightening. "If the real world doesn't have you—I don't want to go back."
He pressed (2) "Confirm Data Transfer."
The system began its final, irreversible process. A blinding white light engulfed both of them, consuming their forms. Ray cried out, protesting, but his eyes, fixed on Itth, suddenly shone with a radiant light… It was as if he was falling in love all over again—in the very last seconds before everything dissolved, before they disappeared.
[A New World, or True Reality?]
…Itth opened his eyes again.
He was sitting on a grassy hill, bathed in the warm glow of the setting sun. The air was fresh, filled with the scent of earth and growing things. He looked up and saw Ray standing a short distance away, silhouetted against the golden light, extending a hand towards him.
"Ray…?" Itth whispered, his voice hoarse with awe and disbelief.
"Is this… which world is this?"
Ray smiled, his face no longer marred by cracks, his eyes clear and luminous, brimming with pure, unadulterated love.
"Maybe it's no world at all…" Ray said, his voice soft, echoing with the peace of a journey's end.
"But if I'm with you, whether it's a simulation or a real world—I want to be here."
Their hands met, fingers intertwining. The world that surrounded them, bathed in the tender light, began to coalesce, to form anew… born from true love, not from code.