[System Alert: Incoming Narrative Collision]
Warning: An Inter-Dominion Rift has formed.
Origin: Sector Veyla
Status: Unstable – Envoy Passage Active
Countdown to Full Convergence: 23:41:58
The golden light around the Dominion Core had dimmed.
The survivors had eaten, patched wounds, and even slept—albeit restlessly. Makeshift tents lined the second platform level. Guard stations were posted in hallways with repurposed barriers and broken train doors.
Noah sat in the central control room with two screens pulled open—one for sector resource management, the other showing an animated map of nearby zones.
[Danton Sector Status – Stable]
Fortifications: 2
Resource Gain: +10%
Morale: Moderate
Core Integrity: 100%
It was fragile peace.
Not safety.
And that peace shattered with a low, echoing chime—a tone that didn't belong to any in-world sound.
Noah's eyes snapped to the system.
[A Rift has opened on Platform A4.]
Source: Sector Veyla
Access Type: Envoy
Notification: The Domain Lord of Veyla has extended a proposal.
Seraphine burst through the control room doors seconds later.
"Something just climbed through the wall."
Noah stood. "How many?"
"Just one."
That made him pause.
He sent only one person?
He followed her quickly to Platform A4. The space was half-collapsed from previous battle damage—but now, a mist clung to the area, thick and cold.
The Rift shimmered against the far wall like a curtain of glassy water.
And through it stepped—
—a girl.
No older than 16.
Long dark hair. Pale skin. Eyes like violet glass.
She wore a black dress laced with red glyphs, and floated an inch off the ground as if reality refused to hold her weight.
More terrifying than her appearance was her calm.
[System ID: ???]
Classification: Envoy
Affiliation: Rex Monroe
Role: Shadow Narrative Proxy
Warning: This entity is not registered to the original scenario.
"Hello, Noah," the girl said, her voice thin as paper. "I bring a message from my master."
Noah stepped forward, but not too far. He had no idea what class she was or what she was capable of.
Seraphine's body had already ignited faintly.
"Don't," Noah warned. "She's a messenger. If we kill her, Rex gets an excuse."
"Rex Monroe," the girl said, as if correcting him, "has no need for excuses."
She smiled. It didn't reach her eyes.
"My master acknowledges your rise. He is… curious."
"Curious?"
"Whether your knowledge of the narrative will serve you when the narrative itself has been devoured."
[System Notification: Envoy Proposal Opened]
Would you like to review Dominion Pact Terms?
Noah opened it.
The screen displayed three lines:
[Pact Proposal from Rex Monroe – Veyla Sector]
Acknowledge Rex Monroe as Supreme Narrative Heir
Accept Veyla as Master Dominion
Relinquish Dominion Core to Veyla Control
Reward: Temporary Immunity from Corruption
Bonus: 1,200 Coins / 2 System Traits / 1 Rare Contract Offer
Noah stared at it.
Laughed once—dry, humorless.
Then closed the window.
"No."
The girl tilted her head.
"No counter-offer?"
"I don't negotiate with tumors."
A pause.
Then the air cracked.
The Rift behind her trembled as her gaze sharpened—not hateful, just eerily mechanical.
"My master anticipated this response," she said. "As per contingency, you are now designated a Kill-On-Sight Priority Variable."
She stepped back into the mist.
[Envoy Retreated – Rift Sealed]
But before the portal fully closed, her voice came one last time:
"Let's see how long your knowledge lasts when the rules are rewritten."
That night, the survivors whispered of the Mist Woman.
They avoided the platform entirely.
Even Seraphine was quiet, eyes focused on her weapon as she cleaned the blade again and again.
"Are you scared?" Noah finally asked her, later.
She didn't answer at first.
Then: "I'm scared of you."
He raised an eyebrow.
"You know what's coming. You act like you've seen it before. But now, even you're unsure."
He didn't respond.
She continued. "I think the enemy isn't just him. It's this… story. Whatever it used to be—it's becoming something else."
Noah nodded.
"I know."
And in truth, he'd felt it.
Ever since he touched the Dominion Core, he could feel something beneath the system.
Something old. Watching.
[Narrative Instability: 2%]
Projected Collapse Rate: Accelerating
New Variable Detected Nearby
A second Reader is approaching.
Far away, on the edge of Sector Lynden, another Rift had cracked.
A woman with twin swords walked through a burning field, expression blank.
[Reader Profile: Unknown]
Title: The Blade That Walks Between Endings
Status: Undefined
Hidden System Remark: This Reader does not belong to any route.
She looked up at the sky where Danton's emblem still shimmered.
"Noah Graves," she murmured. "We need to meet."