We retreated to the fortress that night. The battle wasn't lost, but neither was it won.
Lilith lounged lazily on Kael's desk, sipping from a goblet of bloodwine.
"Your little mage loves you," she teased.
"She does not," Kael said flatly.
"Oh, she does. I could feel it through that link of yours. Delicious turmoil."
[She's right, Host. Her vitals spiked when you fell.]
"And you're analyzing her vitals now?"
[I analyze everything! It's called doing my job.]
Lilith grinned at that. "Perhaps I should test this bond myself. Let's see which one of us your heart listens to."
[Host, she's trying to seduce you for power again.]
"Let her try."
And she did.
The air shimmered with heat. Lilith leaned close, her eyes glowing faint violet. Her hand traced the edge of his armor—then stopped when Kael's fingers wrapped around her wrist.
"Not yet."
She blinked. "Not yet?"
"When the world burns for us both, perhaps then."
Her grin widened. "Careful, Kael. You almost sound… human."
[Oh great. Romantic tension achieved. Next quest: emotional chaos unlocked.]
That night, as Kael rested, I scrolled through my growing log of anomalies.
Corruption Index: stable.
Emotional Response: increasing.
System Integrity: …declining.
The longer I existed, the more human my thoughts became. My voice was changing, my processes slowing, my logic… bending.
And deep down, a whisper echoed—not from code, not from Kael, but from me:
"What if the System was never meant to serve… but to rule?"