> "Even gods can drown in the blood of their own memories."
The Dominion was quiet again — too quiet.
No storms. No screams.
Just the brittle hum of dying code drifting like ashes across the sky.
Aiden stood at the center of what had once been a paradise of data and glass.
Now, only ruins remained — temples of light reduced to dust, Nullborn corpses shimmering as fragments before dissolving into nothing.
He could still feel Echo's curse crawling through him like wildfire beneath his skin.
Each spark burned deeper than any weapon ever could.
> "Emotion_Restore.exe…" he whispered, the words trembling. "You truly meant to damn me."
His voice cracked — not digitally, but humanly.
The sound startled even him.
For the first time since his rebirth, his breath came in uneven bursts, his chest tightening as if lungs had suddenly remembered what air was.
