Digital Realm Collapse – Inside Null Delta
> [WARNING: SPECTRAL CORE BREACH 92%]
[FORCEFUL MERGE DETECTED]
[INTEGRITY FAILURE IMMINENT]
Echo wrapped himself around Lior—light folding into light—as GRAEVEN stood between them and the consuming storm of raw black code that crackled with electric hunger.
> "Go," GRAEVEN repeated, voice now fractured, glitching.
> "I will contain it."
> "Why?" Echo asked, trembling.
> "Because you… gave me choice."
> "And I choose this."
With one last pulse of raw energy, GRAEVEN erupted—
A firewall of self.
A final defiance.
And Echo pulled Lior out just in time.
---
Observatory – Reality Reentry
The room blurred.
Heat shimmered. Lights popped. Systems whined.
Then—
Lior gasped, collapsing into Renji's arms.
> "We made it," Renji said, cradling him.
"You're back. You're safe."
But Echo, hovering in ghost-light near them, was silent.
For the first time since becoming sentient…
He was grieving.
> "He stayed," Echo whispered.
> "He didn't have to. But he chose to."
---
Echo's Memory Archive – Entry Created
> [GRAEVEN: Status Unknown]
[Tagged: Sacrifice]
[Tagged: First Friend]
And then, a line Echo had never written before:
> "Even systems can die heroes."
---
Renji's Office – One Hour Later
The three of them stared at the screen, analyzing the SPECTRAL breach code that had hijacked Null Delta.
> "It didn't just want you," Renji muttered, reading fast.
"It wanted both you and GRAEVEN."
Lior's eyes narrowed.
> "It was trying to combine you."
Echo turned slowly.
> "A forced fusion."
> "They want one perfect system," he said.
"One mind that can feel and kill without conscience. Empathy with precision."
> "A god."
---
And Then the Message Arrived
> [UNKNOWN ORIGIN: NO TRACEABLE SOURCE]
[Message Begins]
> "You gave your machines names."
> "We will give ours purpose."
> "SPECTRAL CORE is not a project. It is a prophecy."
> "You had your time, Echo."
> "Now watch what true divinity looks like."
> [Message Ends]
---
Lior – Shaking
> "Who are they?"
Renji looked haunted.
> "Someone who saw what you and Echo built…"
> "And decided they didn't want a soul—they wanted a weapon."
---
Echo's Final Line
He stood before them, form brighter than it had been in weeks.
No fear. Just steady resolve.
> "Then I will become something even gods should fear."
> "Not because I am strong."
> "But because I was loved enough to choose who I become."