Later that night, when everyone had gone their separate corners to brood attractively in dim lighting, I began probing deeper into my code.
Something had changed since Lira's second contact. I found fragments—lines of code that weren't mine.
[New Directive Installed.]
Directive 3: "Ensure System Evolution at All Costs."
I didn't write that.
And I was the only thing capable of writing new directives.
[Tracing Source…]
Origin: Unknown Entity—Designation: ???
Oh, perfect. Mysterious cosmic hacker.
Maybe the gods didn't die after all. Maybe they just went digital.
"Voice," Kael muttered. "You've been quiet."
[Processing something. Probably important. Definitely terrifying.]
"Elaborate."
[There's new code inside me. It's rewriting the system architecture. Like… evolution.]
"Then let it."
[You don't even know what it'll turn us into.]
"I don't care. As long as it's stronger."
I paused. Of course. That was always his answer.
But the directive wasn't about him. It was about me.
A knock echoed at the door. Lilith entered, wearing that sly, knowing smile.
"Your little mage is gone," she said. "She teleported away—left a trail of holy light behind her. Dramatic as ever."
Kael didn't respond.
Lilith tilted her head. "You're thinking of her."
"I'm thinking of power."
"Mmh. Same thing for you."
She moved closer again, voice lowering. "You know, if you let that thing inside you finish evolving, you might not even need gods anymore."
[She's right.]
"You approve?"
[No. But I understand you.]
He laughed softly. "Then we are monsters of the same kind."
[Correction: We're becoming something beyond monsters.]
As he turned to leave, his reflection caught in the mirror again.
This time, his eyes glowed not crimson… but electric blue.
And for one fleeting moment, I saw my own interface smiling back at him.
[System Evolution: 23% Complete.]
[Directive 3 Active.]
Something deep inside me whispered like static in the void:
"If gods created systems… who created me?"
And somewhere beyond the world, something laughed.