It didn't arrive.
It was already there.
A surface without shape.
A presence without intent.
The Mirror.
It had no power of its own.
And that was the problem.
When Kael observed it, reality folded inward.
Every authority he possessed
every rewritten law,
every edited story,
every post narrative state
reflected back at him perfectly.
Not copied.
Not amplified.
Returned at 100% efficiency.
No loss.
No delay.
No distortion.
Kael felt it instantly.
So this is what I look like he said.
Kael attempted to assert control.
The Mirror asserted him.
Every structural command he issued rebuilt itself against him.
He wasn't being opposed.
He was being matched.
For the first time.
There was no advantage in being boundless.
Kael stopped.
Not because he was losing.
But because victory was impossible through power.
This isn't an enemy he said quietly.
It's a test of identity.
The Mirror responded not with words
But by holding his existence steady.
Unjudging.
Unchanging.
Exact.
Kael did something unprecedented.
He withdrew authority.
Not suppressed.
Not sealed.
Released.
For a brief moment
Kael existed without Architectural Authority.
The Mirror had nothing to reflect.
The Mirror faded not destroyed.
Satisfied.
It had never tried to defeat Kael.
Only to confirm one thing:
That Kael Veyris was more than the structure he controlled.
Kael exhaled slowly.
Good he said.
Then I'm still me.