Falling felt like silence screaming.
Ryn tumbled through the rift, his body caught in a swirl of raw data and broken time. Shapes flickered around him—half-memories, corrupted code, faces blurred beyond recognition.
Then—
> [Zone Transfer: Complete.]
[Welcome to: Sky Fragment Zeta.]
He landed hard on cold marble.
Groaning, Ryn pushed himself up and looked around.
He was no longer inside. No corridors. No terminals. No steel.
Just sky.
Endless, fractured sky.
Above him hung floating landmasses, jagged like torn paper. Each chunk carried buildings, ruins, or spires of pure code. Blue lightning danced between them like veins. Gravity here didn't obey rules. Some islands drifted upside-down.
Below… nothing. Just a void that shimmered like black glass.
> [Zone Classification: Unstable Simulation Layer.]
[Access Level: Unauthorized.]
Figures moved in the distance. Not soldiers. Not systems.
Others.
People.
Or at least, what was left of them.
One had no face. Another dragged two shadows behind him. A girl stood still, mouth open in a silent scream — stuck in a loop of panic.
> [Detected: Survivors of Failed Integrations.]
> [Caution: Mental states may be volatile.]
Ryn exhaled sharply. "So I'm in the trash bin of broken souls now."
He walked.
Each step felt heavier. Like the air here remembered pain and forced it into his lungs.
Then something changed.
He felt her.
Claire.
Not a memory. Not a ghost.
A pull — like a tether around his chest, pointing eastward across the fragments.
He followed.
---
Crossing between islands was a trial in itself.
One bridge was made of disappearing platforms. Another required syncing his heartbeat to invisible pulses of time. The last… demanded sacrifice.
He cut part of himself — a memory. His first victory.
> "You won't need that," the bridge had whispered.
And he stepped forward, emptier than before.
---
On the fifth island, he found something impossible.
A cathedral.
Floating, cracked — yet glowing with power. Symbols in forgotten code spun around its arches. Its entrance was sealed by a door of glass and gold, marked with a single word:
> CLARE
His breath caught.
> [Warning: High-level anomaly detected.]
[Do not proceed without clearance.]
He placed his hand on the door.
The system protested — but the door opened anyway.
Inside, it was… warm.
Unlike everything else.
Sunlight filtered through stained windows, each one depicting twisted scenes:
A child tearing her eyes out to "see the truth."
A man drowning in letters made of blood.
A figure falling through mirrors — endlessly.
At the far end: an altar.
On it, a mask.
Not system tech. Not simulation residue.
A human artifact.
He stepped closer.
The mask was porcelain, cracked at the edge. Simple. Elegant. Familiar.
> [Item Detected: Admin Cipher Mask // Key to Layer Zeta.]
> [Do you wish to integrate?]
Ryn hesitated.
Then nodded.
> [Integration begun…]
> [Warning: Mask is bound to previous user.]
> [Searching memory link…]
Suddenly, the world broke.
---
Ryn stood in a classroom.
Real.
Old earth.
Desks. A blackboard. Rain outside.
A girl sat by the window, drawing spirals in her notebook. Silver hair tied back. Eyes distant.
Claire.
But younger.
He wasn't supposed to be here. Not in this time.
> "You always stared out the window during tests," he whispered.
She didn't hear.
A voice echoed from behind — a teacher's voice, tired and firm.
> "Claire Anderson, you're wasting potential. Again."
The girl didn't answer.
But her hand tightened on her pen.
The memory shifted — flickered.
Suddenly: hospital room.
Monitors beeping.
Claire strapped to a bed, crying out while people in lab coats whispered numbers.
> [Cognitive Sync Failure: Subject 011 unstable.]
> [Recommendation: Reboot protocol.]
Ryn's chest ached.
> "Stop showing me this," he growled. "Let me help her!"
The mask's voice responded — deeper, ancient.
> "You cannot fix what you helped break."
---
Ryn tore the mask off.
Back in the cathedral.
Breathing hard. Shaking.
> [Item Sync: Partial.]
[Skill Unlocked: Memory Dive]
[Cooldown: 12 hours]
Outside — thunder.
Something was coming.
He turned to leave… and froze.
The door was gone.
In its place — a mirror.
From it, a voice.
His own.
But colder.
> "Why do you keep chasing ghosts?"
The reflection stepped forward. Same face. Same scars. But no warmth.
> "You're not trying to save her. You're trying to forgive yourself."
Ryn clenched his fists.
"No."
"You left her. You let them use her. And now, you think being a hero makes up for that?"
He stepped forward.
"You think I'm afraid of you?"
The reflection smiled.
"You should be."
> [Combat Initiated: Mirror Duel II — Redemption Fork]
---
This time, Ryn didn't hold back.
He unleashed every technique. Every glitch trick. Every broken piece of code he'd stolen or earned.
The reflection matched him move for move.
They fought through the cathedral, smashing glass, shattering memories, burning the light.
Finally — an opening.
Ryn stabbed through the heart.
The reflection smiled — and whispered:
> "You're still in the wrong timeline."
Then shattered.
---
Silence returned.
The mask pulsed in his pocket.
And a new door opened — not in glass, but in stars.
A voice called to him — no longer Claire's.
Deeper.
Mechanical.
Ancient.
> "Ryn Vale. You've triggered the Chain."
> "Proceed to Core Layer: Eden-Null."
And just like that, the sky fell again.