[Dominion System Boot Sequence: Day 3 – Hour 05:11]
Current Territory: Sector Danton
Sector Status: Stable
Co-Faction Readers: 2
System Sync Level: 3%
Alert: Narrative Convergence Incoming (18:44:39)
Noah stood in front of Talia Vynn on the lower training platform, his arm wrapped in bandages from earlier sparring sessions.
They had fought five times.
He had lost four.
Badly.
"You're not a sword user," she said, flipping one of her twin sabers and sheathing it with a clean click. "Stop moving like you're trying to duel me."
"I wasn't trying to duel you," he muttered. "I was trying not to die."
"You've been fighting with knowledge alone, Noah. You predicted the Seeker's pattern. You tricked the envoy. But in a real battle… you'll break."
[Sparring Session Complete]
Noah Graves
HP: 61%
Stamina: 34%
Trait Insight: Weakness – Overreliance on Narrative Advantage
He sat down on a rusted crate.
"…That's the first time I've seen a System window insult me."
Talia crouched across from him and tossed him a canteen.
"Rex will break your rhythm. His entire design is to override logic. If you keep assuming your version of the plot still applies, he'll write you out of it."
Noah drank and looked toward the northern boundary wall—where the mist never seemed to fully fade.
"And what about you?" he asked.
"What about me?"
"If the Rule of One hadn't let you in… what would you have done?"
Talia didn't answer at first.
Then she said, "I would have waited for your death. Then claimed your Core."
Her honesty didn't shock him.
It just made things feel real again.
[Trait: Narrative Harmony – Minor]
When two Readers cooperate under shared Core Authority, gain +5% Sync Bonus and access to Co-Linked Titles.
Sync Level: 3%
Next Unlock: 10% – Shared Memory Reconstruction
Noah closed the panel.
He wasn't ready to see shared memories yet.
Not from a timeline where he had died.
Later that afternoon, Seraphine joined him on the upper platform.
She eyed Talia below, silently slicing a training dummy apart.
"She scares the others," Seraphine said.
"She scares me too."
Seraphine turned.
"You trust her?"
"I trust that she wants to survive."
Seraphine looked down at Talia again.
"Then I'll train beside her. But if she breaks the line, I kill her."
Noah nodded.
"That's fair."
[System Alert: Transmission Intercepted]
Classification: Unstable Narrative Thread
Source: Sector Unknown
Encrypted Tag: 'Echo Verse – Book 2'
Noah stopped walking.
His system interface blinked rapidly as the corrupted message bled onto the HUD.
Text scrolled like torn parchment:
"To those who remember…
The first book is ending.
The second has begun to write itself.
But what happens when two authors try to control one world?"
[System Error – Conflict Detected]
Duplicate Narrative Seed: "Echo Verse – B2"
Overlapping with Primary Storyline: "Endgame Protocol"
Result: Story War
Noah exhaled sharply.
A second book.
A different book was beginning to overwrite the world.
He rushed back to the Core Chamber and called Talia and Seraphine immediately.
"This changes everything," he said. "There's not just one plot now. There are two… and one of them isn't from this universe."
Talia froze.
"I've seen that title," she whispered. "Echo Verse. It's the name Rex used in Route B before the world collapsed."
"Collapsed?"
"He renamed the entire scenario mid-story. After claiming three sectors, he declared himself Narrative Editor. The System obeyed him. It began rebuilding the plot using his decisions as canon."
Seraphine paled. "That's not possible."
"It is," Talia said. "Because the System was designed to fill in blanks. When the original story ran out of content, it turned to the strongest remaining author."
Noah looked down at the message again.
"Which means… if Rex gets enough dominions, he won't just control a zone. He'll control the genre."
[System Warning: First Narrative Collision Scheduled in 16:12:02]
Assigned Pairing:
Sector Danton (Usurper-Class)
VS
Sector Lynden (Unclaimed – Distorted Reader Present)
Victory Condition: Protect Your Core
Bonus Condition: Eliminate the Distorted Reader
Reward: +1 Rule Slot / 2 Trait Points / Echo Seed (Rare)
Talia stepped forward.
"Lynden isn't Rex. That's someone else."
"Then who?" Seraphine asked.
"I don't know. But if they're distorted, they're already half-integrated with the Echo Verse."
Noah closed the window and took a breath.
Then opened his Dominion Map, and activated full lockdown.
[Sector Danton – Status Updated]
All access routes sealed.
Outer boundary scanners armed.
Core shields strengthened.
He turned to them both.
"From this point forward," he said, "any Reader—ally or not—that enters Danton… will be treated as an invading author."
[Rule Updated: "Only One Leader May Exist" → "Only One Author May Write This Sector"]
Consequence: Any Reader attempting narrative overwrite will be flagged as hostile
Enforcement: Lethal