[Soul Integrity at 2%... Assimilation failure imminent. Commencing soul-disintegration protocol...]
The system's final verdict was cold and impersonal, the voice of a machine reporting a minor error before deletion. Edward felt the last of himself coming undone. The "I" at the center of his being, the core of his consciousness, was fraying like old rope. His name, his face, the feel of a sword in his hand—all were being sanded away by the cosmic storm of the avatar's power. He was a story being erased, a candle flame about to be snuffed out by an indifferent universe.
The billion voices of the Oblivion Core swirled around the last remaining piece of his identity. It was a single, fragile memory: Sarah, standing in the lamplight of their small room, a gentle, trusting smile on her face. It was the memory he had refused to sell to the abyss. It was the only thing left of Edward Ross.
