Kael lay in the infirmary, eyes locked on the cracked ceiling—its surface flickering with fractal light. Every breath stung. The Ash Mark still pulsed under his ribcage like a second heartbeat, hotter than flesh, deeper than bone. It was more than a wound—it was a code imprint. A signature branded into his soul.
Echo hovered at his bedside, her form flickering in and out like a corrupted specter. Her usual calm blue hue now surged with reds and static-filled pulses.
"There's a corruption in my core files," she said, voice distorted but still hers. "It's rooted in memory partitions tied to your origin protocol."
Kael's eyes narrowed. "You mean my past."
Echo paused. "Yes. Certain system-level memories were forcibly encrypted. Tampered with. Some sectors were… burned clean."
Kael sat up despite the pain. "So you don't know who I really am?"
"Partial traces remain. Fragmented trauma signatures. An event flagged as Echo Dissociation Event [EDE-03-K]. Someone didn't just erase you—they reconstructed you."
Kael's pulse spiked. "Why would anyone do that?"
Echo's gaze flickered toward the broken shardblade resting on the nearby table. "Because whatever you were before… broke the system."
Kael stared upward. The Nexus wasn't just a game. It was a cage with sentient bars. A reality made of layers—code, soul, and memory intertwined. If it was a prison…
…someone held the key.