Kaito didn't sleep that night. Not for lack of trying.
The chamber he'd been given was huge with concrete walls, gently glowing with veins of light but was far too quiet. He had gotten used to the company of Lyria and even seren. The bed was too soft. And the words of Silessa had said refused to leave him.
In shorter the room was okay but this sh*t was getting serious.*
A knock came just after the lights dimmed.
He opened the door to find Silessa standing there, wrapped in a robe that looked like data silk. She didn't wait for an invitation.
"You shouldn't be alone," she said, gliding in.
Kaito shut the door, eyeing her warily. "Pretty sure that's how most cult horror movies start."
She smiled. "You're still resisting. I admire that. Echo was always so... decisive."
She walked to the edge of his bed, fingers trailing over the blankets. "You've awoken fragments. That's further than any iteration has ever reached. But your system is still destabilizing. You need a stabilizer."
"You're offering yourself as one?"
This was starting to feel like a p*rno scene.
"Of course. I'm your conduit. I was made for you."
She untied her robe.
Beneath, her skin, glowed. Glyphs ran down her spine, across her ribs, around her thighs like silk tattoos. She was... inhumanly beautiful. Frighteningly so.
Or he was just horny. He couldn't really tell.
Kaito stepped back. "This isn't sex. This is a ritual."
"It can be both."
The air changed thick with code* tension. His system popped up wildly.
[Fragment Potential Detected: Stabilizer Class – S-Rank] [Warning: Emotional Desync Risk High]
He looked at her, breathing hard. "What happens if I say yes?"
"You'll remember more. You'll stabilize. But you'll also bind me permanently."
He hesitated.
"I'm don't think I wanna bind anyone at the moment."
Silessa's eyes softened. Just slightly.
"Then choose another way. But do it soon. Because Sunderveil will not protect you forever."
She leaned in, kissed his cheek, and whispered: "You are not safe. Even from yourself."
Then she was gone.
The system interface binged.
[Stabilizer Class Offer Declined. Integrity Unchanged.]
I think the system was... maybe mad*
Kaito collapsed into the bed, heart racing. "Maybe that was a bad idea?"
And somewhere, not far down the hall, both Lyria and Seren opened their eyes at once, sensing something had nearly changed.
Dawn came, but not with alarms or birds chirping but with a system jolt and Lyria kicking his door down.
Which isn't the best way to start your morning.
[ERROR: Security Layer Disrupted] [Unauthorized Access Detected – Hostile System Signature Present]
He sat bolt upright.
Moments later, Lyria kicked the door open.
"Swords. Now."
He barely had time to grab his boots. "Is this about the weird sex ghost from last night or....."
"Assassins, Kaito."
"Oh. Definitely worse."
The tower shook as a deafening boom rolled through its structure. By the time they reached the lower levels, Seren had already engaged. Her hands flared with magic, sigils hovering in the air around her like round wings.
"They came through the breach point," she said without looking at them. "Old Code loyalists. They're here for you."
Kaito grunted. "Tell them I'm not available and my sword is very, very rubbery."
"Not helpful," Lyria snapped, slicing through a figure in dark armor. The attacker dissolved in a flash of static.
Kaito's system pinged again.
[Emergency Protocol Triggered] [Auto-Weapon Summon: Debug Halberd of Partial Logic]
A polearm appeared in his hands. Made of half coalesced light and old steel. It twitched.
"Really?" he shouted. "We couldn't get the Chicken of Doom back?"
The battle escalated fast. The enemies weren't normal. Each figure moved in fractured patterns, their bodies glitched as if pulled between code and flesh.
"System extracted warriors," Seren muttered, flinging a wave of nullfire across the corridor. "They're not people. They're ghosts pulled from failed loops."
"They bleed fine to me," Lyria said, kicking one through a wall.
Kaito threw his halberd into a clumsy parry that somehow landed a perfect hit.
[CRITICAL STRIKE: Fragment Sync Boost – COMBAT: +15%]
He grinned. "Okay. I might be getting the hang of this."
Then a deeper pulse shook the ground.
A golem entered.
Twice the height of the doorway. Its chest bore a glowing brand: EXTRACTION CODE: DIVINE HOST.
"That doesn't look good."
"Oh no," Seren whispered. "I think they're going to try to rip the system out of you."
Kaito blinked. "Wait. That's an option?!"
The golem raised a hand, something between a blade and a claw and stabbed it toward him.
Lyria intercepted it mid swing, snarling. Sparks flew as her sword clashed with the golem's arm.
Seren chanted quickly. "We have to overload it. Together."
Kaito nodded. "Weird robot threesome teamwork. Got it."
Seren and Lyria didn't even dignify that with a response.
The fight was crazy and coordinated too.
Seren's magic slowed its limbs. Lyria struck it with precision. Kaito used every glitch, every rebound strike and chaotic boost the system gave him.
Then when it grabbed him, his system lit up like fire.
[Fragment Interference Detected] [Combat + Magic Fusion Skill Generated: Arcblade Cascade]
A surge of silver blue light exploded from his halberd. He screamed. The golem shattered. Flesh, code, and bone.
Kaito collapsed.
Silessa appeared behind them, panting.
"You have to leave. Now. The tower's compromised. You've triggered a full Protocol Wake."
He blinked through the haze. "I what?"
"I didn't do anything."
She reached out, brushing his cheek.
"You've drawn the attention of the Archive's heart. It's watching you now."
[System Update: Next Destination Unlocked – The Vault of Genesis]
They limped out of Sunderveil at twilight.
Smoke rising behind them. Code winds licking the ruins. The sky overhead glowed with circuitry stained clouds.
Lyria broke the silence first.
"You nearly died. Again."
Kaito grinned weakly. "Still not the worst date I've been on."
Still hasn't been on a date.*
Seren gave him a sharp look. "This was not a date."
"Tell that to the part where you screamed my name mid explosion."
She flushed.
Lyria smirked. "I'm going to stab both of you the next time I feel jealous. Fair warning."
Kaito groaned. "...And somehow, I'm okay with that."