The eye above the void blinked once, and time itself stuttered.
Kazen's HUD flared violently with alerts:
> Origin Anchor: Synchronized
> User ID 000 – Null Root Access Reinstated
> Warning: Administrative Override Unstable
Patchling floated closer to him, her eyes wide. "It's watching us now. No filters. No walls. The original user has returned."
Oroth gripped his halberd. "This was always the risk. Whoever Null Root is... they're not bound by system laws anymore."
The sky warped—folding inside out to form a descending figure. It didn't walk. It simply became, pixel by pixel, until it stood before them. Not a god. Not an AI. But a being made of compressed authority: flowing robes of code, a face shifting between familiarity and blankness.
Rael took a step forward. "Is this who created the system?"
"No," the figure replied with a calm, echoing voice. "I am what was left when they abandoned it."
It raised a hand. The fractured void began repairing itself—timelines stitched together violently, realities crashing like broken puzzle pieces trying to fit.
Kazen shouted, "You're going to destroy the multiverse!"
"I am going to restore it," Null Root answered. "Your interventions fractured the core threads. The only way to preserve the original sequence… is to erase all deviations."
Patchling's glow dimmed. "Including us."
Null Root extended its hand. From its palm emerged three floating glyphs—symbols matching the Anchor Codes they had retrieved.
"I offer a choice," it said. "Merge your codes with mine. Return to the root reality. You will live—but not as yourselves."
Oroth whispered, "And if we refuse?"
Null Root's face showed nothing. "Then this system… and everything it simulated… ends."
The choice hung in the air. Three heroes. One decision.
Kazen looked at his friends. "We rewrite the world… or watch it crash."