The walls are not supposed to move
But tonight
They do
Yuki stares at the masked intruder in his room
Still as a statue
No shadow
No sound
Only the glow of the broken shard lighting the silence
> Yuki
Who are you
> Masked Intruder
Someone who does not want you to remember
The lights flicker
A wave of pressure hits Yuki
Like the room is sinking underwater
He tries to run
But his legs glitch
Time blinks
> Yuki's thoughts
Not again
Not this feeling
Like something inside me is rewinding
The intruder steps forward
Not walking
Just phasing through space
Yuki grabs the cassette shards on his desk
Clutches them like they are sacred
The shard responds
Vibrates
Then sings
The voice of his mother leaks through the air
Broken
Out of order
> Cassette Fragment
...not memory... it is the lock... and the key... do not trust...
The intruder pauses
Looks at the shard
For a second
He flinches
> Masked Intruder
That should not exist
You should not exist
The window bursts open
Kairi drops in
Eyes burning red
Both hands wrapped in Ember flame
> Kairi
Move away from him
Now
The intruder raises a hand
Fires a ripple of distortion
Kairi counters with a memory pulse
Two colors clash
Red and violet
Reality stutters
Yuki ducks as the ceiling cracks
Everything slows
Glass hovers in the air like floating time
> Yuki's thoughts
Is this what war feels like
Not fire
Not screaming
Just silence that breaks in your chest
The intruder backs off
Retreats through the wall
No sound
No trace
Gone
Kairi grabs Yuki
Checks his pulse
> Kairi
He was real
That was not a dream
That was an Archive Specter
Top level enforcer
> Yuki
He said I should not exist
That this shard should not exist
What does that mean
Kairi hesitates
Eyes flick to the shard
Then back to Yuki
> Kairi
It means your mother was not just any carrier
She built something
Something even the Archive cannot erase
She steps back
Breathes out slowly
> Kairi
We need to leave
Now
They can phase through walls
But they cannot follow into sealed memories
Yuki looks around his ruined room
His old life
His old quiet
Gone
> Yuki's thoughts
The moment I pressed play
I stopped being a normal person
I started being something else
Not chosen
Just cursed
They jump out the window
And vanish into the night