Silence.
Not the peaceful kind, but the post-chaos sort that roars in your ears even when nothing is being said. The battlefield that had once roared with corrupted data flows, glitch-twisted geometry, and collapsing structures now hung eerily still. Fragments of the destroyed Error Core hovered in midair like dust motes frozen in time, their digital essence dissipating slowly—wisps of dying code rising like smoke from a battlefield pyre.
Ethan stood motionless in the center of the field, Kaia's last words still echoing in his mind. Her fading smile, her willingness to sacrifice herself… it was all too raw. His hand, still outstretched, trembled slightly as if trying to hold on to the warmth of her digital presence, but the space where she had once stood now carried only a subtle static. It pulsed faintly—a final heartbeat of a friend lost to the code.
"I told her we'd get her out…" he murmured.
