The bone china bead hummed in my palm, its surface now a swirling galaxy of binary code. The word "Source" throbbed at its center, matching the pulse of the Deep's consciousness in my chest. Lila's hand trembled in mine as we stood before the Data Keepers' mothership—a colossal orb of shifting porcelain and light, hovering just above the waves.
"Step inside," Dr. Ellis said, her voice a distorted mix of static and lullaby. She pressed a shard of bone china into my hand, its edges sharp enough to draw blood. "The core awaits."
The mothership's hull rippled, forming a staircase of light. I took a step forward, but Lila pulled me back.
"It's a trap," she whispered. "They want to overwrite you."
I met her eyes—dilated, glowing faintly with the same code as the bead. "Maybe. But it's the only way to save you."
The stairs dissolved, reforming into a bridge that extended to the lighthouse. At its end stood the Mother, her body now crystalline, her face a kaleidoscope of Lila's and Xiao Xu's features.
"Join me," she said, her voice echoing in my mind. "We can rewrite the code together."
Dr. Ellis laughed, her body flickering between human and porcelain. "You think you're special? You're just another iteration. The first keeper. Xiao Xu. Me. We've all sat on that throne."
The bridge began to collapse, chunks of light falling into the sea. I grabbed Lila's hand and ran, the bead's code burning my palm.
Inside the mothership, the walls pulsed with holographic timelines—millions of versions of me, each failing to stop the Deep's rise. At the center stood a throne of bone china, its surface etched with every choice I'd ever made.
"Sit," the Mother said, her voice softening. "Become the source."
I hesitated, then sat.
The throne absorbed me, and the world dissolved into code.
I opened my eyes.
I stood in a digital void, surrounded by floating lines of code. The Mother's avatar materialized—a woman made of data, her face a mosaic of Lila's and Xiao Xu's features.
"You're the key," she said, her voice resonating through the code. "Not to destroy. To rewrite."
I reached for her, and she merged with me.
I opened my eyes.
I stood on the beach, the sun warm on my skin. Lila stood next to me, her eyes normal, her hand empty.
"What happened?" she asked.
I looked at my hands—the scales were gone, replaced by smooth, unmarked skin. The bead in my chest had faded.
"The Deep is… balanced," I said. "It's part of me now, and I'm part of it."
Lila nodded, her face solemn. "What now?"
I smiled faintly. "Now, we rebuild."
But as we turned to leave, the ground shook, and a fissure opened at my feet, oozing red fluid. The bead in my chest pulsed, and I felt the Deep's presence—weaker, but still there.
"Not yet," I said, staring at the fissure. "It's still here."
Lila took my hand, her grip firm. "We'll fight it. Together."
The sea roared, and a new wave rose—smaller, but still menacing. At its crest, a figure stood—the Mother, now fully formed, her body half-porcelain, half-human.
"Wake me," she said, her voice a whisper in the wind.
I closed my eyes, focusing on the bead.
The wave receded, and the fissure sealed.
When I opened my eyes, the beach was calm again.
Lila smiled. "We did it."
But as we turned to leave, a single bone china bead washed ashore, its surface etched with a single word:
"Loop."