Elira was already three tasks behind when the emergency soul requisition landed on her desk.
She stared at the folder. It glowed faintly at the edges — black-flagged, manual override, high-pressure signature. Not the usual drifting romantic. Not a lost poet or hopeful swordsman. This one had burn marks across the thread seal and a top-tier stress rating.
Perfect. A soulbomb.
"Why me," she muttered, flipping it open.
The name blinked across the divine ledger in terse white glyphs:
Soul Designation: Ash Lynel
Cause of Death: Internal sabotage, flame impact, ruptured core
Reassignment: Plane 437-D, Leyline Stabilization Loop (Pending)
Note: Do NOT fragment. DO NOT sync with active relics.
Elira blinked. "Oh good. A smooth one."
She turned to her desk.
It looked like a divinity had sneezed paperwork across it.
Soul tags. Thread readers. Sigil printouts. A half-melted incense crystal she forgot to file two cycles ago. And somewhere beneath it all — her Divine Card.
"Card, where—"
She knocked over a glowing cup. Cursed ink bloomed across the reroute charts. A divine thread hiccupped mid-render and projected someone's wedding by mistake. She waved it away.
"Focus. Focus."
Elira reached under the desk, yanked her card free — it sparked, faintly annoyed — and jammed it into the thread anchor without calibrating. She didn't have time. Someone from Rebirth Processing was already yelling across the office.
"You have five seconds before the cycle closes!"
"I know!" she shouted back.
She held Ash Lynel's thread in her hand. It shimmered faintly — taut, damaged, but still stable.
All she had to do was guide it gently into the new plane, anchor the signature, report the transfer, and go back to her (cold) tea.
She pressed the seal.
[Thread Realignment in Progress]
[Error: Card-Sync Incomplete. Manual Override?]
"Yes, override. Come on, it's fine."
[Manual Confirmed. Beginning Transfer.]
The thread surged. Too fast. Too hot. Something tugged at her palm.
(Something inside the thread. Something that shouldn't have had weight.)
Elira's eyes widened. "Wait—no, that's not—"
She felt the sigil field rupture. The entire transfer corridor lit up red.
[Warning: Anchor Drift Detected.]
[Warning: Card Not Synced. Identity Bleed Imminent.]
A pressure snapped at her ribs. Her divine field tore.
"Oh no. Oh no no no—"
The floor vanished.
So did the thread.
And then she was falling.
And the Card was falling with her.