That night, under a fractured red moon, Kael found Ayla on the spire's highest ledge, gazing into the Abyss beneath Ashveil.
The city trembled in the distance, breathing steam and madness.
"You're quiet lately," Kael said. "Too quiet."
Ayla didn't look at him. Her voice was distant. "The Trial woke something in me."
Kael waited.
"I'm not… just a player," she whispered. "I was born during a system sync. Part human. Part code."
Kael tensed. "You're like Echo?"
"No. Echo was designed. I was accidental. A child of a failed transfer. A glitched spawn."
She turned to him—her eyes flickering with binary.
"I rewrite parts of myself just to stay stable. I adapt my code every day to avoid collapsing."
Kael whispered, "You're unstable?"
"No. I'm alive because of it. In ways Nexus never intended."
Kael stepped forward. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because half of me wants to survive. The other half… wants to corrupt the system that made me."
Kael didn't flinch.
"Then maybe that's exactly what we need."