The moment Aren stepped through the rippling gateway back into the fractured city, a chill crawled up his spine. The Loom's threads still whispered in his mind — strands of infinite possibility tangled with foreboding. His body pulsed with the new power from the Gala-Stream, but a shadow lingered behind every gift.
Juno waited by the shattered fountain, eyes scanning the horizon. "You look different," she said quietly, "like you touched something… dangerous."
Aren nodded. "I did. The Weaver's Loom isn't just a place of creation. It's a test. And the Guardian… it wasn't just protecting knowledge. It was guarding a truth."
He paused, lowering his voice. "There are others. Regressors who came before me—people who fell into the Resonance and never came back whole."
Juno's face tightened. "I heard rumors. Lost souls trapped in endless loops, shattered minds… some say they're warnings."
Aren's gaze darkened. "Warnings or examples. I saw the threads—the fates of countless echoes, and not all were lucky. Some fractured beyond repair."
A Flicker of the Past
His mind flashed, pulled unbidden toward a memory that wasn't his own — a fragment from a regressor named Alpha-17, the one who died infinitely, screaming silently through countless deaths. The agony was unbearable, a psychic scream echoing in the void.
Aren gritted his teeth, shaking off the sensation.
"No," he whispered, "I won't become one of them."
The Gala-Stream Pulses
Suddenly, his interface blinked alive.
New Message — Gala-StreamCelestial Weaver: "The Veil thins. You walk a dangerous path. Guard your mind."Watcher of Threads: "Sacrifice is the price of power. What are you willing to lose?"
Aren swallowed hard. The gifts were tantalizing, but the cost weighed heavy.
System Notification:New Upgrade Available: Mental Fortress — Increases resistance to temporal and psychic corruption. Requires memory sacrifice. Accept? [Y/N]
He stared at the prompt. A memory flickered — a forgotten lullaby from childhood, warm and distant.
He hesitated, then accepted.
The Mind's Crucible
The sacrifice burned like ice through his consciousness, erasing the fragment forever. But his mind steadied, clarity blossoming through the haze.
Juno's voice brought him back. "You okay?"
He nodded. "Better. Stronger. But every gift is a cut."
A New Threat Looms
A distant roar shattered the silence. Across the fractured skyline, ripples of dark energy bloomed — echoes of the Resonance destabilizing, bleeding into the waking world.
The city trembled. The Loom's threads fluttered in warning.
Aren's grip tightened on the Stellar Edge.
"Whatever comes next," he said, "we face it together."
Juno nodded, drawing her weapon. "Then let's move. The Resonance won't wait."