The picture didn't blink.
But Kairo couldn't look away.
There he was—frozen in a frame—smiling. One arm around a girl with pale hair. Another around someone faceless, blurred like a corrupted file. The photo was old, curled at the corners, faded.
And over his eyes, a single red line. Drawn in ink. Or blood.
Tick.
The clock in the next room echoed like a drum.
He stepped back.
The room was small. Familiar. Wood-paneled walls. Shelves lined with broken trinkets. A kettle whistled in the distance—soft, inviting. The window showed gray skies and a garden that didn't move. The light outside was painted on.
[SYSTEM ALERT: MEMORY RECONSTRUCTION TRIGGERED]
[SOURCE: UNKNOWN // AUTHORITY LEVEL: MATCHED]
His breath hitched.
The door behind him opened.
And he stepped in.
Not another monster. Not a mask.
Himself.
Wearing the same cloak. The same boots. But his face…
Older.
Eyes sunken. Sleepless. Smiling too wide.
"You finally made it," the Echo said, pouring tea into two chipped mugs.
Kairo didn't speak.
"Have a seat," the Echo offered. "Or stand. It doesn't matter. We've had this conversation before."
"What are you?" Kairo asked.
The Echo blew on the tea.
"I'm Loop 4. The one who gave up."
Silence.
"Eiras broke me," he continued. "I didn't resist. I submitted. She rewrote me into her archivist. I spent a thousand years cataloguing her world, maintaining the perfection."
Kairo stared.
"You're lying."
"Am I?" the Echo sipped. "Then why do you remember this room?"
[SKILL PULSE DETECTED: FORK//TRACE – ACTIVE]
[ECHO CLASSIFICATION: RECURSIVE MEMORY HOST // DANGER: MEDIUM-HIGH]
Kairo looked down.
The table between them wasn't wood.
It was bone.
Fused vertebrae, polished and smooth.
The mug in his hand was warm. Too real.
"Why am I here?" he asked.
"To remember," the Echo said.
"Remember what?"
"That your mind is the only thing worth stealing."
He reached across the table—
And pressed a finger to Kairo's forehead.
The void cracked open.
Kairo convulsed.
And the memories hit.
A tower collapsing. Lira screaming. A mask cracking. A boy with silver hair dragging him into fire.
A girl with a crown of glass, kissing his forehead before stabbing him through the chest.
[MEMORY SEQUENCE UNLOCKED: LOOP 4 DESTRUCTION]
[NEW SKILL GAINED: GHOST//THREAD - LV.0]
[EFFECT: Access tethered memory slivers to disrupt enemy logic trees]
Kairo staggered back, hand against the wall.
"You're just a memory," he whispered.
"And you're just a system prompt," the Echo replied. "One they haven't deleted yet."
Then the walls caught fire.
Real fire. Pale and silent.
The room began to collapse in on itself.
Kairo lunged forward, grabbing the table—stealing the final memory.
The Echo laughed as the world burned.
"I envy you," he said, voice warping. "You still think it matters."
He woke in a stone corridor, gasping.
The photo was in his hand.
And for the first time—
He remembered the girl in it.
Her name was Lira.