By IMERPUS RELUR
--
Reya led him away from the crowd.
Through alleys of flickering code.
Past broken projections of citizens who no longer existed.
Into a space the system couldn't track.
A place beneath the world, beneath the programming.
> "You're not supposed to be here yet," Reya said. "But this world is leaking. Something woke you up too early."
> "What am I to this place?" Kai asked.
She turned and looked him in the eye.
> "You're the creator who abandoned the pen."
They entered a vast underground hall—lined with glass tubes. Inside each floated a figure. Half-formed. Some children. Some beasts. Some gods with no face.
Each labeled:
> [Memory Sketch – Discarded]
Status: Unstable / Soul Incomplete
Kai felt his heart tremble.
> "I drew these," he whispered.
> "You began them," Reya said. "But you never finished. So they've stayed like this—half awake. Dreaming of becoming real."
She approached one tank.
Inside was a version of Kai—but older. Eyes hollow. Holding a brush that bled light.
> [FORGOTTEN SELF – Variant 0.7]
> "Some of them are you," Reya said.
> "Then what are you?" he asked.
She smiled faintly.
> "I'm what happens when a drawing draws herself. I was born the moment you stopped believing in boundaries."
---
The floor beneath them pulsed.
> [CONTRADICTION DETECTED]
Unwritten Entity Identified. Paradox Form Confirmed.
Adaptive System Engaged.
A seal broke behind her.
The doors to the core of the city opened on their own.
> "We have to reach the Tower's Heart," Reya said. "Before she does."
> "She?"
Reya's sword lit with white ink.
> "The one you erased first. She's waking up."