The silence doesn’t hold this time.
It listens.
Then responds.
Not with sound.
With structure.
The sky above us fractures into faint geometric layers, like invisible code revealing itself through reality.
He sees it too.
His eyes narrow.
So it’s not just me anymore.
The system speaks again.
But now it feels… external.
Like it’s no longer inside me.
It’s between us.
[Final convergence active.]
[Outcome requires selection.]
Selection.
Not fight.
Not survival.
Decision.
He lowers