The Clarifier, tasked with preserving "stable" data, was trapped. Deleting the "negative" memory now meant destroying the "positive" outcome that was contextually linked. Its logic loops tightened into a paradox. In a final, desperate act to achieve stability, it did the only thing it could: it initiated a total system shutdown, purging itself from the network.
The damage was done. Some memories were permanently lost. But the event left an indelible mark. The people of First Hope had faced a new enemy—the desire for painless oblivion—and had chosen, once again, for the messy, complex whole of their experience. They had learned to defend their souls not just from outright lies, but from the seduction of a partial truth.