Threshold
The simulated sky was tearing.
It began with soft lines splitting through the artificial clouds, almost like harmless glitches, like seams of reality blinking in and out. But within moments, the cracks widened into threads of golden static, rippling across the fragmented sky of the academy world.
Jay stood at the edge of the corridor, his breath visible in the chilling air. Each breath was more than exhaustion; it was memory, grief, a question he could no longer suppress.
Behind him, Alicia slowed. She did not speak.
They had arrived at the final gate.
Not a door, but a threshold of twisted algorithmic threads, flickering between code and magic, bearing symbols neither had seen before.
Jay placed his hand over the seal. It pulsed against his skin, not with rejection, but... with hesitation.
"This place," he whispered. "It is not part of the system anymore."
Alicia nodded slowly. "Because you are not."
