The translucent gold letters didn't announce themselves with a trumpet. They just 'appeared'—hovering at the edge of his vision like a patient creditor who had finally come to collect.
[ HeartSync — SSS+ → Transcendent ]
[ Acquisition: MAXED ]
[ No Further Sync Possible with Source ]
He stared at it. One second. Two.
A slow, long beat where his brain simply refused to do anything useful.
His mouth twitched.
"What the hell."
Not a question. Just three syllables that fell out of his mouth the same way a man drops something heavy—accidentally, and with immediate regret.
Because right in front of him, at hip level, knelt Lira. Still soaked. Pink hair plastered in dark cotton-candy streaks against the sharp line of her jaw. Golden eyes half-lidded and entirely too composed for a woman currently barefoot on wet shower tile. Steam curled around the pale curves of her bare shoulders.
And she heard the flatness in his voice.
