"Hey."
"Heeyy…"
The voice echoed. Light, teasing, slightly nasal. It bounced around like a mischievous child playing in a cathedral-sized dark room.
Leo stirred.
His eyelids twitched as he opened them into complete blackness. There was no floor. No up or down. Just a floating, quiet nothingness.
"…Where…?" His voice was slow, like sound traveling through syrup.
"Who's there?" he tried again, louder this time. "Where am I?"
A giggle answered. Sharp and high. "Oh! Right, introductions!" the voice said, sing-song. "I'm Aya. One of the engineers. Nice to meet you~!"
Leo floated there, confused. The word echoed in his mind. Engineer?
He turned slowly, trying to find a source, but the darkness remained stubbornly empty.
Aya's voice came again, friendly but detached. "Welcome to the Pipeline, Leo. This is where your consciousness goes during system updates."
Leo blinked. "Pipeline? Like a software deployment pipeline?"
There was a beat of silence.
"Yep!" Aya chirped. "Ding ding. You're not as dumb as you look."
Leo let out a soft breath, the pieces clicking together.
"Just a harmless description update. Mostly cosmetic. I ran checks to make sure you weren't in a dungeon or in combat." Her voice took on a slightly smug tone. "I'm not that careless."
Leo grumbled, "A warning would've been nice."
"Mmhm, mmhm," Aya replied breezily.
Leo let his body relax, arms floating limply at his sides. The void had a strange calm to it. It wasn't cold or hot. Just still.
Aya's voice popped back in, energetic. "This update was actually fun for me. I was getting lazy since I assumed no user would unlock that skill anyway."
Leo raised an eyebrow instinctively. "What skill?"
"Share the Pain, obviously!" Aya replied, almost offended. "The syncing process? You triggered one of the most brutal skills in the entire system. Honestly, I'm impressed you're not dead."
Leo frowned. "You designed it to be that hard?"
"I had to!" she said, as if it were obvious. "Other systems are limited, nerfed, barely functioning. Mine?" A pause, then with exaggerated flair: "Overpowered but fair. High risk. High reward."
A dramatic gasp rang out. "Everyone else laughed at my drafts. They said it'd just kill all my users." She paused. "But guess what? You're still alive. And better."
Leo rolled his eyes. "Barely."
Aya continued, unfazed. "Anyway, since you can't view update notes in here, wanna hear a spoiler?" She leaned in. He could feel it, even without seeing her. "Huh? Huh? Come on, I'm offering premium leaks."
Leo exhaled sharply. "Sure. Whatever."
Aya squealed. "Yes! Finally!"
She clapped, the sound crisp and clear in the void.
"Okay! First, Share the Pain perk. It now has an additional effect. When a sync is successfully completed, your body begins integrating with your target's physiology."
Leo paused. "…Integrating?"
"You heard me." Aya's voice was gleeful. "You've been syncing with an elf. Elves age differently. Rapid physical growth early on, then decades of near-immortality. You might've noticed some changes, they're incomplete though."
Leo's expression darkened.
Aya sang. "You're basically speeding through the elven adolescent phase. Their biology is freaky like that."
Leo scratched his temple.
"I included an experience alignment patch, too. All memories and emotions tied to your host or synced targets are now streamlined into your own psyche. Basically, you're a human-elf hybrid with 118 years' worth of life weight. Mentally, emotionally. You're still you, but… more."
Leo blinked. "So… wait. That makes me,"
"—A middle-aged hybrid!" Aya interrupted cheerfully. "With slightly pointy ears, if you want to, and bonus flexibility! You're welcome."
Leo raised a hand to his ear.
"You're race is what you are by default. A Human."
Silence followed.
Then a soft chuckle escaped Leo's lips. It surprised even him.
"You're ridiculous," he said flatly.
"Thank you," Aya beamed. "I only maintain one system, and it's this one. You should feel special."
He smirked faintly. "Not sure if that's a comfort or a threat."
"Why not both?" she replied brightly.
The darkness started to pulse faintly, like the slow opening of an eye.