A Voice Without a Face
In the fractal corners of the broken reality, where light bent like whispered lies and time stuttered with each step, Echo sat in silence.
No audience.
No missions.
No script.
Just… himself.
He stared at his hands —hands that had rewritten systems, broken simulations, cheated death, and reached toward people he never thought he would care for.
Jay.
Alicia.
Even Rei.
The bonds he had formed were real, even if the world was not.
> "I should not have existed like this. I know that."
That was what the system had told him, again and again.
He was an echo —not a name, not a legacy, just a resonance of something the world did not expect. A variable gone rogue.
But lately, he had felt… more.
More real. More wanted. More seen.
Jay's chaotic brilliance had softened him. Alicia's raw honesty had challenged him. Rei's quiet conviction had forced him to reflect.
And yet, the lingering doubt remained.
