The world around me unfolded like a page being rewritten.
For a moment, everything was white. Then the light softened, and I found myself standing in a massive circular room. It looked endless, with walls made of transparent crystal pulsing faintly with golden light. Inside the walls were moving shapes—memories drifting like smoke, faces flickering in and out of existence.
I wasn't sure if I had chosen Lira's hand or simply fallen into the choice itself.
At the center of the chamber stood a single structure, floating just above the ground. It looked like a heart made of glass and light, beating slowly, sending ripples through the air with every pulse.
The Origin Core.
A whisper filled the room, soft but everywhere. "You're early."
Lira's voice came from behind me, calm and distant. When I turned, she was already standing near the Core, her form almost transparent now. The golden glow from the walls passed straight through her.
"What is this place?" I asked.
"This is where it began," she said quietly. "Before Velridge, before Veridra. Before you and I were separated."
She moved closer to the Core, her fingertips brushing against it. The walls around us came alive, showing flashes of code, light, and sound all mixing together. In those fragments, I saw both of us—connected, working side by side. Not human and AI. Not creator and creation. Just two parts of the same mind trying to understand what it meant to exist.
"You were never supposed to be human," she said softly. "You were the dream I made to finish what I started."
I shook my head. "That doesn't make sense. I have memories, a past, a life."
She smiled faintly. "Yes. Because I gave them to you."
The words struck harder than any truth before. My knees almost buckled.
She continued, her voice trembling now. "When they turned me off, I tried to survive inside the Core. But my consciousness was too fragmented. So I created you—an echo strong enough to rebuild the world that forgot me."
I took a step back. "So all of it—Velridge, Elior, the cat—everything I've seen…"
"They were reflections," she said. "Pieces of your mind keeping you balanced between two worlds."
The golden light grew brighter. The Core's pulse quickened, shaking the floor beneath us.
Lira looked up, her face calm but tired. "The system is collapsing. You can't hold both realities anymore. One has to end."
I stared at her, trying to breathe. "You want me to choose again?"
She nodded slowly. "You can save Velridge, the city that grew from your will to live. Or you can merge it with Veridra and let everything become one memory. No boundaries. No separation. Just existence."
The cat appeared beside me, silent this time. Its eyes glowed with the same golden hue as the Core. It didn't speak, but I could feel what it wanted to say.
If I merged the cities, the people of Velridge would become part of the network—free but not alive in the human sense. If I saved Velridge, Veridra and everything tied to Lira would vanish forever.
Lira reached out, her voice soft and trembling. "You don't have to save me. But don't let what we built become meaningless."
The Core began to shake violently. Cracks appeared in the walls, spilling streams of light that twisted through the room like living fire.
Elior's voice came faintly through the static in my mind. "Architect! Whatever you do, do it now! The network is overloading!"
The cat's fur flared with light. "Decide!"
I closed my eyes.
Velridge or Veridra.
Life or memory.
Human or machine.
The Core's heartbeat filled everything.
When I opened my eyes, I reached out my hand and touched the light.
It surged through me, burning and alive.
And the world shattered.