"Some dreams are not yours. Some belong to the soil."
—Camp Codex
Midnight. Beneath the Threadloom Roof.
Kazuto didn't dream often. Or if he did, they rarely lingered past morning.
But tonight was different.
He lay still in his cot beneath the new Threadloom Shelter, its woven fibers humming faintly in the wind. Firelight flickered beyond the cloth door, and beside him, the Codex Interface stayed dim—no alerts, no danger. Just quiet warmth.
And yet…
His breath slowed.
His mind shifted.
The Dream That Wasn't
He stood in a stone corridor. The walls were familiar—earthen, dry, patterned with the same spiral sigils he'd seen carved into the ruin stones below the garden.
But he wasn't alone.
A child stood across from him. Thin. Barefoot. Holding a lump of chalk in shaking hands. She drew the spiral again and again on the floor, each time faster, until the mark began to fade under its own repetition.
She didn't speak.
But he heard something.
Not from her lips—from beneath her.
A voice, deep and distant, not language but vibration.
"Return the mark. Return the mouth."
Then—cracking stone. The ceiling above split open.
Not with light. But with eyes.
Kazuto woke up with his pulse steady.
His hand was already reaching for his notebook. Not fear. Not confusion. Just method.
Record first. Process later.
He scribbled notes under the glow of the fire, listing every detail: the child, the chalk, the repeating spiral, the phrase.
"Return the mark. Return the mouth."
Cryptic. Possibly symbolic. But also disturbingly specific.
When he finished writing, he glanced at the Codex screen.
It had updated—without notification.
Codex Entry — [Unlocked by Dream Residue Sync]
▸ Memory Echo Registered
Classification: Passive Ancestral Leak
Source: Sub-Ruin Layer (Depth Level Unknown)
Description: Certain root-based anomalies may leak memory fragments during aligned mental states.
▸ Match: 89% confirmed overlap with below-camp structure.
Warning: Repeated exposure to shared dreams may erode personal identity if unanchored.
▸ Trait Detected: Mental Anchor Present (Kazuto)
Effect: Slower rate of memory erosion. High resistance to echo confusion.
Kazuto's eyes narrowed.
Not a hallucination. Not random. The ruin was bleeding dreams now—and choosing him as the vessel. Why now?
Morning
Fia noticed something in his expression during breakfast.
"You didn't sleep, did you?"
"I slept. Just… not alone in my mind."
She raised a brow.
He handed her the notebook. Let her read every line.
"You sure you want to show me this?" she asked softly, halfway through.
"Yes," he said. "Because if something's trying to communicate through shared memory, we need to map its intent before someone more vulnerable receives it next."
Fia tapped the phrase on the page.
"'Return the mouth'… what the hell does that mean?"
Kazuto took a slow breath. "Maybe the ruin wants to speak again. Maybe it was once able to."
"And now?"
"Now it's waiting. But not sleeping."
That Evening
Nael chopped wood quietly by the edge of the camp.
Kazuto watched him—half-shadowed by the setting sun. No erratic behavior. No obvious signs of mental bleed.
But Kazuto noticed a small detail: Nael's hand moved differently. The way he twirled the hatchet between swings—not out of habit, but rhythm.
The same rhythm as the chalk spiral.
Kazuto approached.
"You ever draw when you're alone?" he asked casually.
Nael blinked, surprised. "Yeah, sometimes. Used to do shapes as a kid. My sister taught me spirals. Helped me focus."
Kazuto's voice didn't waver. "How long has it been since you saw her?"
Nael's face fell.
"I… don't remember."
Codex Ping: [Soul Fragment Sync Deepening – Subject: Nael]
▸ Identity erosion possible if subject remains near anomaly without intervention.
▸ Suggestion: Initiate "Memory Lock Ritual" or relocate subject beyond camp radius.
Kazuto stared at the Codex prompt for a full minute.
Then he looked toward Nael, now hunched slightly as he chopped the last log.
He could exile the man. Keep the camp safe. Contain the unknown.
But that wasn't Kazuto's way.
He didn't discard people because they complicated things.
He'd understand it first.
Personal Log — Kazuto
"If Nael is linked to the ruin, it means the past isn't buried—it's returning.
And if I am the bridge between those echoes and now…
Then I must hold that weight with clarity.
I do not fear the ruin.
But I will never let it take someone without consent."