He brought his concerns to Elder Wun. The man listened, silent, cold-eyed. Then said only this:
"You were not born to this world. That much is obvious to the Spiral."
Daelen's blood froze.
"You knew?"
"I suspected. Now I'm sure. The Archive reacted to you, not to your actions. The world itself is… reacting. As if recognizing an old infection."
"Infection?"
Elder Wun gave him a long, unreadable stare.
"You are not the disease, boy. But you may be the symptom. Or the cure."
---
That night, Daelen walked alone beneath a moon that seemed too bright. He heard voices again, not whispers this time—screams. Screams from another world. Metal shrieking. Gunfire.
And then—
A girl's voice. One he didn't know.
> "You weren't supposed to die like that, Rai. This isn't your story. It never was."
He screamed. The sound didn't echo.
Because the Spiral was listening.
---