The sky changed first.
Not color.
Meaning.
---
Stars dimmed—not because clouds passed, but because something rewrote the priority of existence above the city. Light still traveled. Physics still worked.
But permission had been revoked.
---
> [Authority Enforcer: Protocol Activated — ABSOLUTE ERASURE]
The words didn't echo.
They settled.
Like a verdict that had already been decided long before the trial began.
---
"…That sounds final," I muttered weakly.
Mira's voice shook for the first time since I met her.
"…Rei. That protocol isn't meant to kill."
"…Then what?"
"…It removes you from causality."
---
The city below froze.
People stopped mid-step.
Wind paused between buildings.
Sirens cut off in half-notes.
Time didn't stop.
Relevance did.
---
Authority Enforcer descended slowly, chains no longer golden—but colorless. Not dark. Not light.
Empty.
Each link carried symbols that hurt to recognize.
---
The unknown entity retreated farther than ever before.
Even it—
Didn't want to be close to this.
---
"…System," I said quietly.
"You still there?"
> System: Yes.
"…You knew this would happen."
> System: Probability exceeded acceptable tolerance.
"…That's not an answer."
> System: You became too effective.
---
I laughed.
A broken sound.
"So the reward for doing well is deletion?"
> System: For destabilizing constants—yes.
---
Authority Enforcer raised one chain.
Reality bent toward it like iron filings to a magnet.
---
> [Erasure Phase One: Detachment from Narrative Layer]
I felt it immediately.
Memories blurred.
Not mine—
Others'.
---
Ethan's face faded at the edges.
The woman dropping her phone became a stranger again.
Somewhere, a hunter frowned, suddenly unsure why he had come to this city.
---
"…They're forgetting me," I whispered.
Mira's voice was hoarse.
"Yes."
---
I tried to move.
Chaotic Flow resisted.
Not because it was sealed—
But because there was nowhere to move to.
---
The chain descended.
Touched my chest.
---
Pain wasn't the right word.
It felt like being told I had never been born—and almost believing it.
---
> [Erasure Phase Two: Conceptual Unbinding]
My form destabilized violently.
Edges unraveling.
Name losing weight.
---
"…System," I gasped.
"You said I was a boundary."
> System: Boundaries are erased first.
---
That hurt more than the chain.
---
Authority Enforcer tightened its grip.
Not cruel.
Not angry.
Professional.
---
The unknown entity watched from afar.
Silent.
Learning.
---
"…Mira," I whispered.
"I don't want to disappear."
Her response came instantly.
Firm.
Furious.
"…Then don't."
---
Something shifted.
---
> [System Alert: Anomaly Detected — Non-Compliant Persistence]
"…What?" Authority Enforcer's voice resonated—not words, but error.
---
I felt it.
Not power.
Not chaos.
Resistance.
---
I remembered dying in a hospital bed.
Remembered pain.
Fear.
Regret.
---
They were trying to erase Rei the phenomenon.
But Rei the person—
Had already accepted nonexistence once.
---
"…You can't delete what already let go," I whispered.
---
Chaotic Flow didn't surge outward.
It folded inward.
Compressing.
Condensing.
---
> [System Warning: Chaotic Flow — Singularity Formation Detected]
Mira shouted.
"Rei—if you do this—there's no return!"
"…I know."
---
Authority Enforcer reacted instantly.
Chains multiplied.
Containment symbols blazed.
---
> [Erasure Phase Three: Absolute Rewrite Initiated]
Too late.
---
I stopped fighting erasure.
And let myself fall through it.
---
The chain passed through my core—
And found nothing to anchor.
---
Error rippled.
Not violently.
Logically.
---
> [Authority Enforcer: CRITICAL FAILURE — TARGET NOT FOUND]
The sky fractured.
Not shattered—
Desynchronized.
---
Time resumed unevenly.
Sirens screamed again.
Wind howled.
Reality lurched forward, gasping.
---
I hovered there.
Changed.
Still present.
But thinner.
Quieter.
Harder to define.
---
The unknown entity recoiled.
For the first time—
It showed something like fear.
---
> [System Update:]
— Absolute Erasure: FAILED
— Rei: Reclassified — Undefined Boundary Phenomenon
— Authority Enforcer: Core Logic Corruption Detected
— Chaotic Flow: Singularity Stabilized (Unknown State)
---
Mira whispered, stunned.
"…Rei. You didn't resist."
"…No," I replied softly.
"I stepped aside."
---
Authority Enforcer froze mid-air.
Chains trembling.
Trying to recalculate a reality where I should not exist—
But did.
---
I felt… different.
Not stronger.
Not weaker.
Just—
Unattached.
---
"…From now on," I murmured, looking at the broken sky,
"I'm not part of your system."
"Not prey."
"Not replacement."
"Not boundary."
---
I looked at Authority Enforcer.
At the unknown entity.
At the city.
---
"I'm what happens when you try to erase something that already accepted death."
---
The night answered with silence.
Not waiting.
Not tense.
But afraid.
---