[System Notice: Echo Seed Acquired]
Item Type: Narrative Core Fragment
Origin: Book II – "Echo Verse"
Status: Semi-Dormant
Compatibility: 42%
Risk Classification: High
Use Options:
– Absorb (High Risk)
– Store
– Analyze via Core Interface
Noah stared at the black, pulsing fragment hovering inside a sealed chamber above the Dominion Core. It looked like a shard of obsidian paper—one that leaked faint whispers from a story that hadn't yet happened.
Seraphine stood at his side, arms crossed. "This… thing was inside that Reader?"
Talia responded without looking up. "It was his anchor. Without it, he couldn't survive this timeline."
"And we're keeping it?"
"We have to." Noah stepped forward. "We need to understand how the Echo Verse is infecting the System."
[Analyzing Echo Seed…]
Estimated Completion Time: 02:44:11
Noah closed the panel and opened his new interface.
[Trait Gained: True Reader – Minor]
Perks:
– Author Text (1 per 24h)
– Cannot be denied by NPCs or non-authority Readers
Restrictions:
– Text must follow world logic
– Cannot be directly fatal unless it logically leads to death
– Author Text appears in-world as a Divine Command to all system-linked entities
He hesitated—then opened the Author's Text Panel.
A simple prompt appeared.
[Insert Author Text:]
Example: "Today, no invader shall cross the Danton gate."
Result: Scenario is rewritten to reflect statement as law.
He thought.
Then typed carefully:
"No Reader may enter Danton for the next 24 hours unless personally invited by Noah Cross."
The system rippled.
[Author Text Engaged]
Law Set
Countdown Begins: 24:00:00
Seraphine blinked. "Did you just… declare that by writing it?"
Noah nodded. "I just made the System acknowledge my sentence as canon."
"Won't that backfire?" she asked.
Talia answered. "Not unless another True Reader of equal or greater tier challenges it."
Noah turned to her. "How many are there?"
Talia was quiet. Then: "I've seen three before. Rex is one of them. I was another, before my route collapsed."
"And the third?"
She hesitated.
"…I don't know his name. Only that he called himself the 'Reader Hunter.'"
Elsewhere – Outside the Known Sectors
[System Command: Echo Invasion Repelled – Route Branch Collapse Prevented]
Response Directive: Deploy Correctional Agent
In a white room made of interface panels, something opened its eyes.
A man in a sterile coat. No name. No faction. No allegiance.
Only a purpose.
[System Classification: Reader Hunter]
Name: Unknown
Codename: Delta_Zero
Role: Internal Balancer
Primary Mission: Locate and eliminate all Readers classified as Exile Candidates or Unauthorized Authors
The figure stood.
Behind him, thousands of erased names floated.
At the center of the list:
Noah Graves – Flagged Tier 1
Back at Danton – Dominion Core Hall
Two hours later, the analysis completed.
[Echo Seed Analysis: COMPLETE]
Core Insight Gained: Narrative Entropy
Description: Echo Seeds carry entropy from alternate storylines. The more Seeds are used in one timeline, the more that timeline fractures.
Warning: If 3 or more Echo Seeds are used in the same Dominion, a "Page Collapse" will trigger.
Result: System law dissolves. Story becomes unstable.
Noah exhaled. "So we can't use them. Not directly."
Talia nodded. "Not unless we want to gamble on rewriting reality."
"Then we store it."
[Echo Seed – Sealed Storage Confirmed]
Warning: You are now marked as a Custodian of Corrupted Storylines
Side Effect: Readers aligned with Echo Verse may track you
Seraphine clicked her tongue. "So basically, we're carrying a beacon."
"Not just a beacon," Noah muttered. "A warning."
He looked at the Dominion Core.
"We're not the only ones rewriting this world. But now we're the only ones who know how."
That night, a quiet silence blanketed the sector.
The survivors rested.
The boundaries were sealed.
But somewhere just outside the western boundary wall, a man in a white coat arrived, eyes scanning the area.
He did not knock.
He did not speak.
He opened his interface.
[Objective: Noah Graves – Tier 1 Exile]
Directive: Erase from Storyline
Time Limit: 72 Hours