The device was warm.
Not hot—alive.
Kael felt it the moment his fingers closed around the angular edges, a low vibration humming into his palm, up his arm, and straight into his skull. His implant flared instinctively, attempting to interface.
It failed.
Hard.
⟡ ACCESS DENIED ⟡
⟡ SYSTEM AUTHORITY: OVERRIDDEN ⟡
Kael gasped as the room tilted, gravity briefly loosening its grip. The walls stretched, then snapped back into place. Somewhere nearby, glass shattered.
Lyra grabbed his arm, steadying him. "Don't fight it."
"I'm not—" Kael clenched his jaw as another wave surged through him. "—trying to!"
The device pulsed brighter, thin seams of light appearing along its surface. Symbols bloomed in the air above it—geometric, rotating, layered in impossible depth.
Kael recognized none of them.
Yet somehow, he understood.
"This is… a menu," he said slowly.
Lyra's eyes widened. "You can see that already?"
Kael swallowed. "I don't think I'm seeing it. I think it's… remembering me."
The symbols shifted, rearranging themselves. One of them pulsed brighter than the rest.
⟡ BREACH REQUEST: LOCAL ⟡
⟡ RISK ASSESSMENT: CATASTROPHIC ⟡
Kael laughed weakly. "It's very honest."
Lyra didn't return the humor. "This is earlier than it's ever happened."
"You keep saying that like it's good news."
"It isn't."
The apartment lights flickered violently. Outside, the city groaned—a deep, structural sound that made Kael's stomach drop.
Lyra glanced at the window. "They're reinforcing."
"Who's they?"
She hesitated.
"Reality," she said.
The word landed heavier than it should have.
Kael looked back at the floating symbols. His instincts screamed that touching anything else would be a mistake.
"What happens if I activate it?" he asked.
Lyra met his gaze. "You'll punch a hole through the correction layer."
"And that means…?"
"You'll see what the resets are hiding."
The device pulsed again, impatient.
Another symbol flared into clarity.
⟡ USER AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED ⟡
⟡ ANCHOR CONFIRMED: KAEL ARDENT ⟡
Kael's breath caught.
"You never told me my name mattered."
Lyra's expression softened. "It always did."
The pressure returned—stronger this time. Kael felt something vast brushing against the edges of his awareness, like an eye opening somewhere far above.
The sky outside fractured.
Not shattered—segmented.
Thin lines appeared across the clouds, glowing faintly, as though the world were being divided into panels.
"Oh no," Lyra whispered. "They've noticed."
Kael tightened his grip on the device. "Then we don't have time to debate."
He focused on the glowing symbol.
The moment he confirmed the breach, the world screamed.
Not audibly—but everywhere else.
Space folded inward, compressing the apartment into a narrowing tunnel of light. Kael felt himself pulled forward, his body lagging behind his consciousness.
Lyra's hand tightened around his wrist.
"Whatever you see," she shouted over the rising distortion, "don't let go of yourself!"
"Very comforting!" Kael yelled back.
The breach snapped open.
They fell.
There was no sensation of movement—no wind, no acceleration—only transition. Colors inverted. Sound lost meaning. Time unraveled into threads that brushed against Kael's thoughts.
He saw fragments.
Cities burning under unfamiliar skies.
Versions of himself older, younger, broken.
Lyra standing alone over his body.
"No," he whispered.
The device flared, anchoring him.
The fall ended abruptly.
Kael stumbled forward, boots hitting solid ground. He barely caught himself before collapsing.
They were no longer in the apartment.
They stood in a vast, open space that defied immediate comprehension. The ground beneath them was smooth, mirror-like, reflecting a sky filled with cascading data streams instead of clouds.
Structures rose in the distance—impossible constructs of light and shadow, half-formed and constantly shifting.
"What is this place?" Kael breathed.
Lyra straightened slowly, eyes scanning the horizon.
"The in-between," she said. "The layer beneath the correction algorithms."
Kael stared. "You're telling me reality has… layers."
"Yes," she replied. "And this is the one it doesn't want you to see."
A low hum vibrated through the ground.
Kael turned as something massive moved in the distance—an outline forming, dissolving, reforming again.
"What's that?" he asked.
Lyra's jaw tightened. "A warden."
As if responding to being named, the shape solidified.
It was tall—far too tall—its form vaguely humanoid but stretched, proportions wrong in a way that hurt to look at. Its surface shimmered like liquid glass, patterns flowing endlessly across it.
No face.
Just a smooth expanse where eyes should have been.
Kael's implant spasmed violently, attempting to shut down.
⟡ ERROR ⟡
⟡ ERROR ⟡
⟡ ENTITY CLASSIFICATION: PROHIBITED ⟡
The warden turned.
Kael felt its attention snap onto him like a vise.
"Oh," he whispered. "It can see me."
Lyra stepped in front of him instinctively. "Stay behind me."
The warden spoke.
Not with sound—but with certainty.
ANCHOR DETECTED.
ANOMALY CONFIRMED.
CORRECTION REQUIRED.
Kael's knees weakened. The words felt heavy, pressing against his mind.
Lyra raised her hand, revealing a second device—smaller, sleeker.
"Back off," she said.
The warden didn't move.
Instead, the environment reacted.
The reflective ground cracked, lines spreading outward in perfect geometric patterns. The sky dimmed, data streams accelerating.
ESCALATION AUTHORIZED.
Kael felt something inside him snap.
"No," he said.
The word echoed—louder than it should have been.
The device in his hand flared, responding.
Lyra glanced back at him sharply. "Kael, don't—"
Too late.
The breach key unfolded, its geometry expanding, symbols spiraling outward.
Kael didn't know how he knew what to do.
He just did it.
He reached inward—past fear, past doubt—and pulled.
The space around them warped violently.
The warden staggered, its form destabilizing.
ANCHOR INTERFERENCE DETECTED.
Kael felt pain explode through his skull as new memories forced their way in.
Him standing here before.
Him failing.
Him choosing wrong.
Lyra screamed his name.
Kael roared, forcing the power outward.
The ground shattered.
Light erupted, tearing through the warden's form, ripping it apart into cascading fragments of data.
The entity collapsed inward, vanishing in a violent implosion.
Silence followed.
Kael dropped to one knee, gasping, vision swimming.
Lyra was beside him instantly, gripping his shoulders.
"Kael," she said urgently. "Look at me. Stay with me."
He focused on her face, anchoring himself.
"I… did that," he whispered.
"Yes," she said. "You did."
Her expression was a mix of awe and fear.
"You just breached a warden," she continued. "Do you have any idea what that means?"
Kael laughed weakly. "That I broke something very expensive?"
Lyra didn't smile.
"It means," she said softly, "there's no pretending anymore."
The sky above them fractured further.
New shapes began to form in the distance.
Plural.
Lyra pulled him to his feet.
"Run," she said.
Kael looked at the horizon, heart pounding.
"How many chances do we get?" he asked.
Lyra met his gaze.
"None," she replied. "This is CHAOS now."