The room felt lighter.
Not peaceful.
Empty.
Riaan's presence was barely visible now — like smoke thinning before disappearing.
Aarohi stood still, arms folded loosely, breathing even.
Arin stared at her like he was looking at someone unfamiliar.
"You really meant it," he said quietly.
"Yes."
"You're just going to let him fade?"
"If his existence increases correction risk… then yes."
Riaan's faint outline trembled.
"You're choosing survival over me."
She looked at him steadily.
"I'm choosing continuity."
Silence pressed against the walls.
Riaan tried to step forward — but his form flickered violently.
He looked at her not with anger.
With grief.
"You were never supposed to become this cold."
She answered calmly:
"I wasn't supposed to survive."
The distortion returned stronger than before.
The air thickened.
"Alignment increasing."
Arin stepped between them.
"No."
The pressure in the air intensified.
"You cannot interfere."
Arin clenched his fists.
"I don't care what you are."
The presence did not respond to him.
It focused on her.
"Emotional variance minimized."
Riaan's form dimmed further.
Aarohi felt something in her chest shift.
Not pain.
But pressure.
Like something locking into place.
"If I remove all attachments," she asked calmly, "does correction complete?"
Silence.
Then—
"Partial."
Her eyes sharpened.
"Define partial."
"Primary disruption unresolved."
Riaan looked up sharply.
"No."
Aarohi's pulse beat once.
Hard.
"What is primary disruption?"
The air trembled.
"He saved you."
The words echoed heavier this time.
"You were intended to continue without emotional dependency."
Her breathing slowed further.
"So his sacrifice created instability."
"Yes."
Riaan's voice was weak now.
"I would choose it again."
Aarohi didn't flinch.
"And that's why you were removed."
Silence fell like a blade.
Arin whispered:
"This isn't right."
The presence continued:
"His attachment altered trajectory."
Riaan looked at Aarohi desperately.
"You are not a system to be optimized."
She met his gaze.
"I am a variable that survived."
The presence pulsed faintly.
"Acceptance detected."
Riaan's form fractured slightly — pieces of light flickering away.
Arin grabbed her shoulders.
"Stop this! This isn't you!"
She looked at him calmly.
"It is now."
He shook her lightly.
"You loved him!"
"Yes."
"And?"
"And love created deviation."
The air grew colder.
Riaan's voice was barely audible.
"Aara… don't erase us."
She stepped closer to him.
For a second—
Something flickered in her eyes.
Memory.
Rain.
Warmth.
The way he had held her.
The way she had whispered I love you.
But then—
She straightened.
"If loving you destabilizes my survival… then I let it go."
The words didn't shake.
They sealed.
Riaan's outline broke further.
He looked at her one final time.
Not begging.
Not angry.
Just tired.
"I never stayed to control you."
She whispered quietly:
"I know."
The distortion intensified.
"Primary disruption resolving."
Riaan's form thinned to near nothing.
Arin felt something break inside him.
"You're killing the only part of you that felt human."
Aarohi answered softly:
"Human nearly got corrected."
The presence spoke again.
"Alignment nearing completion."
Aarohi closed her eyes briefly.
Inside her chest—
Something cold settled fully.
Stability.
Control.
Distance.
No fear.
No longing.
No softness.
She opened her eyes.
Clear.
Sharp.
"You said I resisted transition," she told the presence.
"Yes."
"Then I resist you now."
The air paused.
For the first time—
The distortion wavered.
"Clarify."
"You paused my death because I resisted leaving."
"Yes."
"Then I refuse to become what you want me to stabilize into."
Silence.
The presence did not respond immediately.
Aarohi stepped forward.
"If I am replaceable, then I will choose my own disruption."
Riaan's fading outline flickered once.
Arin's breath caught.
The air trembled.
"Resistance detected."
Aarohi's voice hardened.
"You think removing love restores balance."
Silence.
"You think detachment creates alignment."
Silence.
She whispered:
"Then watch me destabilize it intentionally."
The distortion pulsed violently.
"Warning."
Riaan looked at her with a spark of something like recognition.
She wasn't cold anymore.
She wasn't soft either.
She was something else.
Not submissive to sequence.
Not driven by love.
Driven by defiance.
Aarohi's eyes burned with clarity.
"You paused my death."
"Yes."
"Then I choose how I live."
The air fractured.
Not visually.
But energetically.
For the first time—
The presence did not feel in control.
Riaan's fading stopped.
Not strengthened.
But paused.
Arin whispered:
"What are you doing?"
She didn't answer him.
She spoke into the air.
"If I was kept for continuation… then I will continue beyond your design."
Silence.
Then—
The distortion withdrew suddenly.
Not defeated.
But unsettled.
The air normalized.
Riaan's outline remained faint.
But present.
Aarohi exhaled slowly.
Not relieved.
Resolved.
She turned toward Riaan.
"You stayed for me."
He nodded weakly.
She met his eyes.
"I won't erase you."
Not warm.
Not loving.
But honest.
Arin stared at her.
"Then what are you becoming?"
She looked at the empty space where the presence had been.
"Unpredictable."
And unpredictability—
Was the one thing systems hated most.