---
The surface air hit Kael like a hammer.
Dust, heat, and data-saturated static roiled through the slums. Neon lights flickered against rotting steel, and the hum of distant sirens echoed through the alleys.
But Kael didn't notice any of it.
He was standing still.
Frozen.
His breath slow.
---
> "You shouldn't have done it."
A voice.
But not from outside.
It was inside his head — familiar, ancient… his own voice. But older. More… broken.
Suddenly, the world fractured around him.
---
FLASH.
He stood in a white corridor — smooth, clean, and filled with humming light. Scientists in armored robes rushed past him. Warning klaxons echoed overhead.
He looked down.
He wore a lab coat. Fingers trembling. A badge: Dr. Kael Vire – Level 9 Clearance.
On the screen ahead: a containment cell. Inside, a pulsating void beast — crawling with stars and screaming in silence.
> "We've gone too far," a voice said beside him.
> "No," Kael answered. "We haven't gone far enough."
---
FLASH.
The vision vanished. He was back in the slums — standing in an alley, surrounded by piles of scrap.
He stumbled back, gasping.
> "What… was that?"
> [ Memory Echo triggered. Origin: Pre-death consciousness shard. Neural alignment stable. ]
> "So I really was part of the original research."
> "And I knew… this power could unravel everything."
He clenched his fists.
---
> "Echo incoming. Brace."
Kael didn't resist.
He let it come.
---
FLASH.
This time, he was on a battlefield.
Black towers crumbled in the distance. Ships fell from the sky like burning stars. Cultivators and mechs alike clashed in a screaming sky war.
And standing on a ridge — Kael.
But not the Kael of now.
This Kael had no eyes. Only burning void. Armor of living code wrapped around his body. He raised a single hand, and a whole legion fell to their knees, clutching their heads.
> "This is the fate of those who call themselves gods," the future Kael said.
He turned. Looked directly at his past self — at the version watching through the echo.
> "If you're seeing this… then I failed. Again."
> "Ascension is not power. It is sacrifice. Remember that."
---
FLASH.
Kael staggered again — back in the alley, knees on broken concrete, blood dripping from his nose.
> [ Memory Echo stored. Compression complete. ]
> [ New Trait Unlocked: Echo State – Predictive Foresight (Short Burst) ]
[ Warning: Overuse may lead to identity distortion. ]
Kael wiped the blood from his face.
> "Even my future self… feared what I might become."
> "Good."
---
Above him, clouds twisted.
The Void stirred.
He stood up.
Stronger.
Sharper.
And for the first time… unsure if he was still only himself.
---