Carter followed the dirt road east, the forest thinning into rolling hills. The air grew colder, sharper, carrying the faint metallic scent of mana drifting from distant Rifts. His steps were steady, but his mind churned.
Alden Voss.
A Guild operative who helped him.
A stabilizer coin.
A warning about something waking up.
Nothing about this situation felt simple anymore.
REI floated beside him, her glow dim but steady. "Your heart rate is elevated."
"Yeah," Carter muttered. "Hard not to be."
"You are thinking about Alden."
"Obviously."
REI drifted closer. "You do not trust him."
"No," Carter said. "But I don't think he was lying."
REI paused. "Neither do I."
Carter stopped walking. "Wait. You're agreeing with me?"
"Yes," she said. "His mana signature was stable. His emotional output was consistent. And he did not attempt to detain you."
Carter rubbed his forehead. "So the Guild isn't unified."
"No," REI said. "They are divided. Some want to study you. Some want to protect you. Some want to erase you themselves."
"Great," Carter muttered. "Love being a political landmine."
He kept walking.
---
The road curved around a rocky outcrop, revealing a small valley below. A wooden bridge crossed a narrow stream, and beyond it, the land sloped upward toward the distant mountains.
Carter stepped onto the bridge—
—and froze.
Someone stood on the other side.
A tall figure in a dark cloak, hood pulled low. Not Guild. Not correction agent. Something else entirely.
REI's glow sharpened instantly. "Carter. Stop."
The figure didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
Didn't even sway with the wind.
Carter tightened his grip on his dagger. "REI… what am I looking at?"
"I do not know," she whispered. "But it is not human."
The figure slowly lifted its head.
A mask stared back at Carter — smooth, featureless, white porcelain with a single vertical crack down the center.
Carter's pulse spiked. "That's… creepy."
The figure spoke.
Its voice was calm. Too calm.
"Carter Kane."
Carter stepped back. "Who are you?"
The figure tilted its head. "A watcher."
"Watcher of what?"
"You."
Carter's grip tightened. "Why?"
The figure took one slow step forward.
"Because you are the first deviation to survive two correction attempts."
Carter's blood ran cold. "So you're with the entity?"
"No," the watcher said. "I am not with it. I am not against it. I observe."
"Observe what?"
"The collapse," the watcher said. "And the one who will cause it."
Carter swallowed. "Me?"
The watcher didn't answer.
Instead, it raised a hand.
A small sphere of light floated above its palm — swirling with violet and white energy.
Carter's breath caught. "What is that?"
"A fragment," the watcher said. "A piece of the force that reset you."
REI's voice trembled. "Carter… do not touch that."
The watcher extended the sphere toward him.
"Take it."
Carter shook his head. "Why would I?"
"Because it belongs to you."
Carter stepped back. "No. I'm not touching anything from whatever killed me."
The watcher lowered its hand slightly.
"You misunderstand. This fragment did not kill you."
Carter froze.
The watcher continued.
"It saved you."
Silence.
Carter's heart hammered. "Saved me from what?"
The watcher tilted its head again.
"From the thing that is still hunting you."
Carter's breath caught. "You're saying there are two forces?"
"Yes."
"One killed me."
"Yes."
"And one saved me."
"Yes."
Carter stared at the sphere.
"Which one is this fragment from?"
The watcher's voice softened.
"The one that wants you to live."
Carter's hand trembled.
REI floated closer, voice urgent. "Carter. This is dangerous. We do not know its purpose."
The watcher extended the sphere again.
"Take it, and you will understand."
Carter hesitated.
Then—
He reached out.
His fingers brushed the sphere.
Light exploded.
The world vanished.
---
Carter stood in darkness.
A voice echoed — layered, distant, familiar.
"Carter Kane… you were not meant to die."
Carter's breath caught. "Who are you?"
The voice trembled like a broken star.
"I am the one who intervened. The one who pulled you back."
"Why?"
"Because your death was not part of the design."
Carter clenched his fists. "What design?"
The voice flickered.
"You will know… when you reach the Hollow."
The darkness shattered.
---
Carter gasped, stumbling back onto the bridge. The sphere dissolved into his chest like mist.
The watcher lowered its hand.
"You have taken the first step."
Carter steadied himself. "What did you just do to me?"
The watcher turned away.
"You will understand soon."
"Wait—!"
The watcher paused.
"Carter Kane," it said softly. "Do not trust the Guild. Do not trust the entity. And do not trust the trace inside you."
Carter swallowed. "Then who do I trust?"
The watcher looked over its shoulder.
"Yourself."
Then it vanished.
Carter stood frozen on the bridge, heart pounding.
REI floated beside him, her glow flickering.
"Carter… something inside you just changed."
Carter stared at his trembling hands.
"Yeah," he whispered.
"I felt it."
He looked toward the mountains.
Toward Black Hollow.
And he kept walking.