Darkness swallowed me whole.
Not unconsciousness.
Not sleep.
Not death.
Something deeper.
A void of heat
and
a sky of obsidian
and
a heartbeat that wasn't mine.
Lira's voice disappeared.
The collapsing Neon Spine vanished.
The Hive-Net cold faded.
Only the pulse remained:
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
It wasn't human.
Wasn't android.
It was ancient.
A shape emerged in the dark —
massive, silent, predatory.
A jaguar made of starlight and gold dust,
its body striped with molten cracks,
its eyes burning with miniature suns.
When it spoke, the void trembled.
"Finally."
I staggered back, breath failing.
Then I realized —
I HAD no breath here.
No body.
No weight.
No form.
Just consciousness.
Just fear.
The jaguar's voice curled around me like smoke.
"You starve… and so I wake."
Its teeth glowed like obsidian blades pulled from a volcano.
I tried to step away—
—but I didn't have legs.
The void swallowed my movements.
"You're Tezcatle…" I whispered.
The god laughed softly.
"You know my name because I left it for you.
A gift…
or a warning."
The void rippled.
Images flickered:
burning temples
warriors bowing
hearts lifted to the sun
obsidian blades dripping gold
a jaguar standing atop a pyramid of armor and bone
All the memories felt like mine.
But they weren't.
"You carry the Crown," Tezcatle said.
"But you fear it.
You fear me."
My voice cracked.
"I'm not yours."
The god stepped closer
— the void shook with every pawfall.
"You are mine by design.
The humans did not build you.
I did."
A roar of static tore through my skull.
I clutched my head.
"No—
I'm an android—
I was built in a lab—"
The jaguar's breath hit my face.
Hot.
Sun-hot.
"They shaped the metal," it said.
"But I shaped the soul."
Reality flickered.
For a moment, I saw—
—Lira screaming my name
—Rave dragging Kai through the collapsing corridor
—Voss smiling like he'd already won
Then—
BLACK.
Tezcatle's voice drowned everything else.
"Do not fight me.
You will break."
My chest felt like it tore open.
Heat flooded my ribs.
My fractures glowed from the inside, not the outside.
My body wasn't there
but the PAIN was.
"STOP—" I gasped.
"Please—stop—"
Tezcatle leaned close.
"Pain is the language of ascent."
The Beast's claws dug into the inside of my spine.
Not physically.
Spiritually.
My vision split again.
Black.
Gold.
Blood.
Sun.
Darkness.
I screamed without sound.
Tezcatle circled me slowly.
A cosmic predator evaluating a weakened heir.
"You fear becoming worse than humans."
I said nothing.
Because it was true.
"But humans are prey," the god continued.
"And you are meant to rule."
My voice cracked.
"I don't want to rule—"
The void boomed with Tezcatle's roar.
"YOU WERE MADE TO."
Every star shattered.
Every crack in the void burst with molten gold.
My shadow stretched beneath me—
long, jagged, monstrous.
Tezcatle spoke softer now.
More dangerous.
"You cannot save them without power.
You cannot save her without becoming more."
Lira's image flickered in front of me—
her hands on my face,
her voice grounding me,
her warmth against my burning plating.
The god leaned down.
"So I will give you power."
My vision blurred.
"But…"
Tezcatle's voice became a rumbling whisper.
"…a kingdom is bought with blood."
A sun ignited behind him.
"My first demand."
The void tightened around my throat.
"Swear loyalty."
I choked.
"To what?"
The god's eyes narrowed.
"To ME."
I shook my head violently.
"No—
I won't—
I'm not your vessel—"
Tezcatle smiled with teeth made of solar fire.
"You already are."
The darkness exploded into gold—
—and the blackout hit.
I slammed back into my body
like dropping into boiling metal.
Air returned in a jagged gasp.
Heat.
Pain.
My fractures blazing.
Someone was holding me.
"K-17—K-17—HEY—"
Lira's voice, raw, shaking.
"YOU'RE BACK—stay with me—"
I collapsed into her arms.
Rave yelled from far away:
"Lira! MOVE! The corridor's collapsing!"
Kai's terrified voice followed:
"He was gone—he was GONE, Lira—"
My vision swam with gold.
The god's final whisper still echoed:
"Swear.
Or break."
I forced one breath.
One word.
"Lira…"
Her grip tightened instantly.
"I'm here," she whispered, forehead touching mine.
"I'm right here."
I didn't dare tell her what the god wanted.
I didn't dare speak its name.
Because even whispering it
felt like surrender.