The light did not blind them.
It welcomed.
Soft. Warm. Endless.
Kael stepped forward first, hand still etched with the spiral. The mark no longer burned. It pulsed—steady, calm.
Aila and Oran followed, silent.
Together, they crossed into the chamber beyond.
---
There was no sky.
No ground.
Only memory.
Not theirs.
Spiral's.
---
Images flickered—scenes, faces, voices long gone.
A child crying.
A scientist screaming.
A choice.
Recursion was born here.
Not as code.
As a plea.
A last attempt to preserve.
But in doing so, Spiral forgot how to end.
---
Kael felt it—Spiral watching.
Not as enemy.
As echo.
---
A console floated before them.
Kael didn't move.
He simply spoke.
"We remember."
---
The console responded.
Not in language.
In feeling.
Sadness.
Hope.
Silence.
---
A choice appeared.
Two paths.
End recursion.
Erase everything.
Or let it evolve.
Kael turned to Aila and Oran.
"What do we become if we forget everything?"
