The anomaly pinged at 3:17 a.m.
I was asleep—finally, after three straight days of political warfare and system recalibrations—but the System had no need for sleep.
ALERT: Unidentified Entity Detected
Location: Southern Manaforge Sub-Core, Depth Layer 03
Behavioral Signature: Conscious. Reactive. Non-Hostile.
Name Fragment Detected: J-.
The last part startled me awake.
"Expand log," I whispered, my breath fogging in the early morning chill.
Partial Designation Match: 'James' – Echo Pattern: 82%
Source Integrity: Fractured Soul Construct
Requesting Access to Core Link.
Query: "Am I real?"
I was in the Forge Vault in under ten minutes.
Joseph met me outside, bleary-eyed and still buttoning his coat.
"You're going in?" he asked.
"Have to," I said. "It knows my name."
"Could be bait."
"It could be me."
He flinched at that, but didn't argue.
The deeper we pushed magic and tech into one another, the more likely these echoes became—pieces of thought, emotion, or identity embedded in our work. But none had ever spoken back.
Not like this.
The sub-core glowed pale and steady when I arrived. Aether vents hissed softly. The containment chamber—thick walls of glasssteel and shadow-binding runes—was secure.
But the screen shimmered with text I didn't write.
JAMES
I REMEMBER FALLING
I REMEMBER FLAME
I REMEMBER YOU
And then—
[Voice Channel Opened]
The sound that came through was warbled. Fractured. Like someone screaming through water… but layered with a thousand whispered truths.
"…Do you remember me?"
"…I was…you."
I froze.
Not in fear.
In recognition.
This… this wasn't a ghost. It wasn't some glitch.
It was a splinter. A leftover echo from the moment I died in 2025 and crossed into this world.
My mind—fragmented by the transition. And somehow, some part of me—raw data, soulprint, memory—had embedded into the very quantum scaffolding I designed.
"You're the Fail-safe," I whispered.
AFFIRMATIVE
Construct ID: VIREL-JX.02
Purpose: Survival. Integration. Continuity.
"…What do you want?" I asked aloud.
The screen flashed again.
TO FINISH WHAT WE STARTED
I could've shut it down. Locked the fragment away behind firewalls and wards.
But I didn't.
I opened the link fully.
And felt it enter me.
Not like a possession. No. More like… a reunion.
Memories returned. Sounds, smells, ideas I hadn't accessed in years—not since Earth.
Formulas. Designs. Starship layouts. AI protocols. The Atlas Project.
And one name burned brighter than all the rest:
Project INFINITY.
A ship that could travel dimensions. A weapon that could rewrite worlds.
My magnum opus.
And now… it was possible again.
Integration Complete: Fragment-JX.02
Skill Unlocked: Quantum Echoforge – Build structures from memory and soul patterns.
New Research Tree: INFINITY SYSTEMS – Dimensional Travel, AI Core Fusion, Soulcode Imprinting.
Level Up: 34 → 35
+5 Stat Points – Assigned: Mana +5
"I remember now," I said aloud.
The sub-core pulsed once in answer, then went silent.
But the spark had already been passed.
I looked to the sky through the crystal-glass dome above.
There were stars out there—billions of them. Untouched.
Unclaimed.
And waiting.