Morrie POV.
Kael was barely standing.
No—he wasn't standing at all. I was the only thing keeping him upright, his weight pulling my shoulder as the space around us tightened, correcting itself with growing urgency.
The Seams moved.
Fast.
Not running. Not teleporting.
Closing in.
Each step they took erased distance instead of crossing it, the void snapping back into place behind them like it was ashamed of having stretched for us in the first place.
My hands shook as I raised my sniper.
Kael coughed, barely conscious. "Morrie don't.....".
"I'm not leaving you", I said, voice low, steady, even though my legs threatened to give out.
The first Seam Keeper lifted it's arm.
The stitches around us began to close.
I fired.
The bullet didn't hit one Seam Keeper.
It hit the approach.
The correction field rippled, syrup detonating into threads that wrapped around the advancing forms, slowing them, confusing their alignment.
I used the moment.
Hooked Kael's arm over my shoulder.
Forced my legs to move.
Step.
Drag.
Step.
Behind us, the Seams recovered adapting fast now. Their presence sharpening as they recalibrated to me— not as an anomaly—
—but as a threat.
My vision blur and breath burned.
The tear was gone.
Not closed.
Corrected.
Where it once was, there was nothing, no weakness. Reality had learned.
My legs finally gave and we hit the ground hard. Kael groaned, barely conscious, the weight of the existence crashing back at him.
The Seams were close.
Too close.
Then I felt it.
The loop.
The loop still running, still unstable. Still hungry.
A bad idea formed in my mind so fully it scared me.
What if the loop wasn't just a prison...but a door?
I pulled Keal towards it.
"Morrie...", He murmured, "you can't —".
"I know", I said "but listen".
We stood at the edge of the loop. Up too close, it was worse.
"The chains need someone", I said quickly, my mind racing.
"They always do. They didn't vanish. They transfer".