The air inside the Veil of Echoes shimmered with a restless energy, a blend of fading memories and untold possibilities. Rael's steps echoed softly against the fractured ground as he followed the wavering light that Patchling emitted. The landscape was a kaleidoscope of broken fragments — shards of buildings, fleeting faces, and whispered voices that barely reached their ears.
"Stay close," Patchling warned, her voice tinged with urgency. "This place warps reality itself. Time folds, memories collide. We're not just walking through data — we're walking through lives that never fully existed."
Rael swallowed hard, glancing around. The horizon rippled, revealing glimpses of scenes he had never lived but felt inexplicably drawn to — a city burning, a child crying, a sword shattering in half. It was overwhelming, but there was no turning back.
Suddenly, a low hum vibrated through the air. Rael stopped, senses sharp. From the shadows stepped a figure — not human, yet eerily familiar. It was Revenant, his other self, eyes burning with cold fire.
"So, you've finally come," Revenant said, voice echoing like a distorted melody. "Do you understand now? This place is a prison for what we could have been."
Rael's fists clenched. "I'm not here to argue with a ghost. Tell me—what's the truth behind all this?"
Revenant smiled, a cruel twist. "The truth? That you're just a fragment, a failed experiment trying to rewrite your story. But memories aren't so easily changed."
Before Rael could respond, the ground beneath them trembled. The Tower of Decline emerged from the mist, its dark silhouette stretching into the shattered sky. The Veil's whispers grew louder, voices overlapping in a chaotic symphony.
Patchling's voice cut through the noise. "We have to reach the Tower. Answers lie within its code — but it's heavily guarded by system defenses and corrupted echoes."
Rael squared his shoulders. "Then we fight our way through. For the truth. For our lives."
The group pressed forward, stepping into the unknown heart of the system's fractured memory — where every choice, every failure, and every shadow awaited them.