[Catalyst Status: Disconnected]
Location: Unknown Simulation Space
Core Soul Thread: Flickering
Architect Influence: 27% and rising
When I opened my eyes, I was back home.
My old bedroom.
Posters on the wall. Cracked phone on the nightstand. Uniform folded on the desk.
Everything exactly how I left it—
Except this place wasn't real.
I stepped to the window.
Outside, Eclipso High sat under a perfect blue sky.
No blood.
No mist.
No Reapers.
Fake. All of it.
But the Game wasn't trying to fool me.
It was trying to test me.
The door creaked open.
I turned—and nearly fell backward.
Keon stood there.
Smirking. Alive. Whole. Unbroken.
"Told you I'd see you again, bro."
My chest caved in.
"Keon…"
"You're glitching, man," he said, walking toward me. "Too deep in. Echo's resonating with corrupted threads. Architect's bleeding into your soul."
He shouldn't know that.
None of this should be possible.
"You're not him," I whispered.
He grinned. "Close enough."
Then he leaned in.
"Here's the real question—what are you gonna do about it?"
The walls flickered.
A console formed in front of me.
Holographic. Glitching. Code pouring like rain across the screen.
Two options appeared:
⚙️ [System Restore: Patch Corruption | Purge Architect Influence]
Consequence: Soul Damage. Risk of Memory Loss.
🔥 [Manual Rewrite: Inject Soul Code | Hijack Architect Protocols]
Consequence: Rule Break. Game Stability Collapse Begins.
And hovering between them—Keon's face.
Not smiling now.
Just staring.
Almost pleading.
"Do you want to fix this?" the Architect's voice echoed from the code.
"Or do you want to change it?"
Restore the old world… or rewrite it?
I reached for the first option—
Stopped.
Then hovered over the second.
And whispered:
"Let it break."
[Catalyst Directive Rewritten]
Manual Control Accessed
Soul Integration: 42%
Architect Containment: Delayed
The simulation cracked.
Keon's image smiled one last time—then shattered like glass.
My bedroom warped.
Collapsed.
Exploded into strings of violet code.
And when I opened my eyes again—
I was awake.
Back in the real Graveyard.
Trinity and Orion knelt over me.
"You were gone," Trinity whispered. "Your Mark… turned black."
I sat up.
And felt the new message burn across my vision.
[System Breach Successful]
Catalyst Path Mutation: Begin Phase Override
⚠️ You no longer belong to the rules.
The Game is no longer in control.
Somewhere above us…
The Reapers began to scream.