He returned to the Sealed Archive.
The wards shimmered as he stepped through. They didn't stop him. They parted like mist.
Inside: darkness. Floating lights. The cracked silver mirror.
And the Black Spiral, hovering like an open eye. Watching.
> [SYSTEM OVERRIDE: USER ID RECOGNIZED — RAI ITO. ACCESS GRANTED.]
He fell to his knees as a flood of memory surged through him—not just dreams. Lives.
He remembered dying. In a burning lab. In a ruined world. His story had ended. And then restarted… here.
And suddenly—he knew.
> It was never his story.
But he was in it now.
And the world would have to deal with that.
---