They ran.
Through glowing vines, between silverwood trunks, and across paths where even light bent wrong. The girl moved ahead of him like a ghost—soundless, untouchable—her feet barely brushing the ground. Nox struggled to keep up, his breath ragged.
> This place... is alive.
Every step triggered flickers of light in the forest floor, like walking on dormant circuits. But the system in his head buzzed, louder now. Fragments, warnings, glitches—it couldn't stop talking.
> > [Unauthorized Movement Detected.]
[Threadline Status: Undefined.]
[Override Attempt: FAILED.]
He stumbled on a root, nearly fell.
The girl stopped and turned.
"We're almost there," she whispered. "This is the edge."
"Edge of what?" he gasped.
She didn't answer.
Instead, she pressed her hand against a pale stone embedded in the base of a tree—runes flickered. A soft click, and a panel slid open where no door should exist.
A tunnel.
Dark. Threadless.
She entered first.
And Nox followed.
---
The air inside was colder, heavier.
It felt wrong, like stepping into a world that the rest of reality had tried to forget. The tunnel led downward, spiraling into the earth. As they descended, the system in his head grew... quiet.
> No alerts?
> No status windows?
> What just happened...?
He paused. Then—
> > [System Rebooting…]
[Entering Isolated Threadspace.]
[User: UNDEFINED – Male – Forbidden Access Level 0xF.]
His heart skipped.
The girl kept walking.
---
The chamber they entered was circular, dimly lit by cracks in the walls that glowed faint blue. Threadlines, disconnected and dead, hung like cobwebs from the ceiling.
In the center: a broken loom.
Or what looked like one. A massive spindle of blackened thread, snapped at every end. Beneath it, a cracked terminal—ancient, humming weakly.
The girl sat by the broken thread as if it were an old friend. "No one comes here anymore. The system can't see this place."
Nox approached the terminal.
> Why does this feel... familiar?
His hand moved on its own, brushing the interface.
The screen flickered. Static. Then—
---
> > [Threadline Access Override: Kiris-K₁ Key Matched.]
[Memory Fragment Detected.]
[Do you wish to unlock?]
Nox froze.
> Kiris...?
That name again.
He didn't remember her. Not fully. Just the sound of it—like a whisper behind his ribs. A name that shouldn't exist in a place like this.
He hesitated.
The girl looked up. "Do it," she said. "You won't get another chance."
---
> > [Memory Fragment #012: Kiris → The Summoning Error]
[Loading...]
Light flooded the chamber.
Nox's vision blurred. His knees hit the floor.
A woman's voice filled the air.
"If you're hearing this… then it means you survived."
Her voice was tired. Steady, but strained.
"You weren't supposed to. You were just... the thread I pulled when the system was about to collapse. I didn't have time to be precise. I didn't have permission."
A pause. Static.
"You're a mistake, Nox. But you're mine."
Then silence.
---
The light faded. The loom went dead again.
Nox sat there, numb.
"Kiris summoned me..." he muttered.
The girl beside him closed her eyes. "So she really did it."
"You knew her?"
"No," she whispered. "But I remember her thread. It tried to pull me once. I escaped it."
A chill crept up his spine.
> What even is she?
---
> > [System Reconnected.]
[User Status: Threadless. Memory Override Detected.]
[Warning: You Are Becoming Something Else.]
Nox didn't move.
He wasn't sure if he was scared...
Or excited.