The universe did not retaliate with force.
It retaliated with consequences.
Across the Citadel, systems flickered. Power dipped, then surged unevenly. The sky outside dimmed, stars blurring as if reality were losing its grip.
Vasundhara rushed in, breathless.
Vasundhara:
"Causality indices are collapsing across multiple sectors. Not catastrophic—yet. But unstable."
Agastya's face hardened.
Agastya:
"The universe is flagging her. She's become a living violation."
Mandakini felt it.
A pressure against her very existence—as if spacetime were resisting her presence, straining to correct itself each time she breathed.
Viraj placed a hand on her shoulder.
Viraj:
"How bad?"
Mandakini:
"I can feel the timeline correcting around me. People forget small things when I pass. Objects… hesitate."
Vayu frowned.
Vayu:
"That's not sustainable."
Agastya nodded gravely.
Agastya:
"The more you act, the more reality will demand payment."
Mandakini closed her eyes.
Mandakini:
"And Kashyap?"
Agastya didn't answer immediately.
Agastya:
"The paradox signal is weakening. He's becoming… thinner."
Her chest tightened.
Mandakini:
"So every time I try to save him, I lose him a little more."
Silence.
Then Mandakini made her choice.
Mandakini:
"Prepare a jump."
Viraj stared.
Viraj:
"To where?"
She opened her eyes—steady, resolved.
Mandakini:
"To the place the laws can't enforce."
Agastya's grip tightened on his staff.
Agastya:
"There is no such place."
Mandakini:
"There is. The moment before enforcement exists."
Vasundhara whispered.
Vasundhara:
"Pre-causal space…"
Agastya:
"That realm isn't meant for consciousness. You won't be protected by narrative or identity. There is no you there, only potential."
Mandakini nodded.
Mandakini:
"I know."
Vayu stepped forward.
Vayu:
"We're not letting you go alone."
Mandakini:
"This isn't a battle. It's a negotiation—with reality itself."
She turned to Viraj.
Mandakini:
"If I don't come back—"
Viraj:
"You will."
His voice left no room for doubt.
She smiled faintly.
Mandakini:
"Watch the signal."
The chamber lights dimmed. A breach formed in the air—not a tear, but an unfolding of non-space.
Mandakini stepped toward it. For a moment, she looked back.
Mandakini:
"I'm not doing this to break the universe. I'm doing it to remind it why it exists."
She vanished.
The breach sealed instantly.
Agastya whispered into the silence.
Agastya:
"May uncertainty protect you."
And somewhere, far beyond time and law—
Kashyap felt her coming.