It began with a choice Rei never consciously made.
After the confrontation with Null-Jay, after the corrupted memories flayed across his mind like razor-sharp regrets, something inside him cracked—not from weakness, but from too much clarity.
He had seen too much.
Felt too much.
And worst of all—remembered too much.
The Core Archive had promised truth.
But the truth wasn't linear.
It was fragmented, like code fighting to execute in a system already declared obsolete.
He had stood at the edge of the New Path, bleeding light. The Observer's voice still echoed faintly in the back of his mind:
"He was never supposed to meet you."
And then…
"But that's why it worked."
Rei had reached toward the pulse in the sky—toward the echo of Jay's fading presence.
And something—someone—reached back.
A hand not made of flesh or dream. A construct built from Jay's discarded emotions: fear, rage, apathy, brilliance… all compressed into a Null Signature.
It didn't drag Rei in.
