The platform did not open immediately.
It stopped, suspended between floors, as if NULL were reconsidering whether they deserved gravity at all.
The priestess sank to her knees the moment the motion ceased. Her hands pressed flat against the stone, fingers splayed, as though she expected the floor to dissolve if she did not anchor herself to it.
The third survivor stood near the edge of the platform, staring into the lightless shaft below. He did not look down out of fear. He looked down as if expecting something to follow them.
Nothing did.
SYSTEM NOTICE: STABILIZATION PHASE INITIATED
DURATION: UNDEFINED
Eiran read the words without reacting.
Stabilization had never meant rest inside NULL. It meant the Tower recalibrating—observing breathing patterns, heart rates, reaction delays. It meant measuring what remained after fear had finished its work.
The priestess laughed softly.
A single, broken sound.
"So that's three," she said. "Three left."
No one answered.
Eiran moved to the center of the platform. The light above dimmed slightly, responding to his presence. He felt it again—that subtle pressure, like invisible weight adjusting itself around his decisions.
Not a buff. Not a skill.
Attention.
The third survivor finally spoke. "Karsen hesitated."
It was not an accusation. Just a statement.
Eiran nodded. "Yes."
"He was waiting for confirmation," the man continued. "From you."
"Yes."
Silence stretched.
The priestess lowered her head. "If you'd given it… would he still be alive?"
Eiran did not answer immediately.
NULL did not demand speed here. It demanded precision.
"If I had," he said at last, "someone else wouldn't be."
The system chimed quietly, as if acknowledging the statement.
No bonus granted.
No penalty applied.
The platform began to shift again, panels sliding apart with deliberate slowness. Ahead, a new corridor formed—not red this time, but pale and unfinished, like bone before skin.
An interim space.
Floor Twelve's threshold.
SYSTEM NOTICE: FLOOR 12 ACCESS GRANTED
WARNING: PARTY COHESION BELOW OPTIMAL THRESHOLD
LEADER DESIGNATION: MAINTAINED
The priestess looked up sharply at the last line.
Eiran felt it settle fully then.
Not power.
Designation.
NULL had not rewarded him for clearing Floor Eleven.
It had decided he was still useful.
He stepped forward.
The others followed—not because they trusted him completely, but because the Tower had already proven what happened when hesitation outlived command.
Behind them, the platform sealed.
Ahead, Floor Twelve waited.
And this time, NULL was no longer observing passively.
It was preparing to interfere.