The Regulator adapted.
Instantly.
Scenes no longer erased behind it
they were locked, frozen in an unfinished state.
Aethern clenched their fist.
It learned. It's no longer deleting outcomes.
Nyx swallowed It's forcing one.
So it decided on an ending.
For me.
The Regulator finally manifested fully
a tall, colorless figure made of brackets, margins, and redacted space.
FINALIZATION IN PROGRESS it declared.
SUBJECT WILL CONCLUDE.
The world narrowed.
Every possibility collapsed toward a single line.
My death.Continuity Severance failed to disengage.
Authorial Paradox strained
not broken, but contained.
My body cracked with unreality.
For the first time since awakening
I was losing.
Selene screamed.
Kael it's overriding probability itself
I breathed slowly.
So that's how it wins.
By removing choice.
Then I noticed something.
The Regulator wasn't immune.
It was dependent.
Dependent on the idea that stories must resolve.
I stepped forward anyway.
The ground didn't allow it.
So I walked where the next page should've been.
The Regulator froze.
Not damaged.
Conflicted.
UNDEFINED ACTION it stuttered.
SUBJECT MOVING WITHOUT RESOLUTION.
I looked up at it.
Calm. Focused. Certain.
You can't finish what refuses to end I said.
The Regulator pulled back hard.
Not retreating.
Reconsidering.
And somewhere far above the narrative.
Something older noticed.