The academy was no longer a place of order. It was a liminal space now—a patchwork world of restored memories and forgotten ruins. The sky had nearly mended itself, yet jagged veins of static still ran like cracks through a pane of glass. For the first time in days, there was no immediate crisis. And that was unsettling in its own right.
Jay stood at the edge of the old central plaza, staring into what used to be the Grand Fountain. Now, it was a swirling pool of memory-data, images of past trials and battles drifting lazily across its surface. One flickered into view: Alicia reaching out to him when Null had almost consumed everything. Another: Rei, burning with defiance, refusing to be rewritten.
"They weren't illusions," Jay murmured. "None of it was."
He clenched his fist. The air responded, humming faintly with unseen code. The System had integrated Null's framework into his own. His thoughts felt heavier now, layered. More precise. More dangerous.
Behind him, footsteps.
