Rain washed the Shade's remains into a smear on the broken pavement. The body was already losing shape. But the memory of tearing it open stayed with me.
Power still moved under my skin. Warm. Faint. Real.
I leaned against a cracked wall. My lungs hurt. My hands wouldn't stay still.
"What… what did I just do?" My voice sounded small in the empty street.
The Whisper answered at once.
—You survived. Efficiently.
I closed my eyes. The stone was cold against my skull. "That wasn't survival," I said. "I tore something apart. I drank its Essence."
—Correct.
"That doesn't make it right."
—Right and wrong are tools. Survival does not use them.
The calmness in its voice made my stomach turn.
I forced myself to look at what was left of the Shade. Just gray skin collapsed in on itself. The red shimmer was gone.
"Who was it?" I asked. "Before I killed it."
—No one.
I shook my head. "Don't lie."
—I do not lie. A Shade is not a person. It has no past. No name. No soul. It is a construct shaped by infection. A training vessel.
Relief hit me. Shallow. Fragile. But real.
—If a Shade kills you, the result is different, the Whisper added. —Your mind dissolves. Your body in the waking world remains alive, but empty. You will become inert. Forever.
My breath caught. "So this is final."
—Yes.
I pushed off the wall and stood. My legs felt steady. Too steady.
I looked down the street. Crooked buildings. Roads that broke into black gaps. No sky beyond the rain.
"This place," I said. "It's connected to me, isn't it?"
—Partially. The world reflects the infected mind. This section reflects you. Your fears. Your unresolved drives.
I swallowed. "So I'm walking through myself."
—In a sense.
A simple answer. No flourish. Worse because of it.
"What am I becoming?" I asked.
—A Variant. A bridge.
"A bridge to what?"
—To something stronger.
"And if I refuse?"
—Then you die. Soon. And she is lost.
Elara didn't need to be named. The pressure in my chest told me everything.
I pressed my back to the wall again. Drew in slow breaths.
"Tell me what you are," I said. "Not the system label. You."
Silence. Then—
—I am instinct given direction. Nothing more.
I looked at my hands. Pale. Slight tremor in my fingers.
"Why did it feel good?" I asked. "Feeding."
—Because you were starving. Because your Core Desire is Consumption. Progress feels rewarding. This is natural.
"I'm not a monster."
—Not yet.
The words sat between us.
Then a sound rolled through the rain. Low. Heavy. Close. It vibrated up through the pavement.
Not a Shade.
Something bigger.
The Whisper sharpened.
—A stronger construct approaches. Do not run. Weakness has no place here.
I turned toward the sound. A shape pulled itself from a collapsed subway entrance. Larger than the Shade. Its chest pulsed with jagged light.
SYSTEM ALERT
Elite Construct detected
Designation: Mourning Husk
Rank: F-tier (High)
State: Aggressive
My fingers curled into a fist. The ember in my chest stirred.
I hated this place. I hated the Whisper.
But I needed more time. More strength.
I stepped forward into the rain.
"One step closer," I said quietly.
Deep in my mind, the parasite watched.
Waiting.