The rooftops of Error Town weren't much better than the streets.
Chunks of broken building floated midair.
Bridges of light flickered dangerously, forcing me to jump gaps like some cursed platformer game.
The Watcher was fast — impossibly fast — but somehow, I kept him in sight.
Finally, after what felt like forever, he stopped.
Standing at the edge of a broken tower, cloaked in black, blue light leaking from his sleeves.
The city sprawled out behind him: a mess of fragmented reality, stretching toward the dark Nexus Core in the distance.
Without turning, the Watcher spoke:
"You shouldn't be here."
His voice was layered — as if two people spoke at once.
Human and machine.
"I didn't exactly have a choice," I said, catching my breath.
"I'm looking for the path to the Nexus Core."
The Watcher laughed — a broken, static-filled sound.
"There is no path," he said. "Not anymore. Only decay."
I took a step closer.
"You know what I am. You know I can patch it. Help me — help me fix this world."
The Watcher turned then, and for the first time, I saw his face.
Or rather... what was left of it.
Half of it was human — a young man, maybe only a few years older than me.
The other half was fractured, jagged code — shifting constantly, never settling.
A living glitch.
"You are brave," he said. "Or foolish."
"Both," I muttered.
The Watcher looked up at the sky.
Cracks spiderwebbed across it now — thin at first, but widening, growing.
"The Reset is coming," he said softly.
"And you, Patchbearer... You are too late to stop it."
I felt my stomach drop.
"I can still stabilize the Nexus Core," I insisted. "I have a debugging ability. I already fixed Error Town—"
"You delayed the inevitable," he interrupted. "Nothing more."
The city rumbled beneath us, a low, angry growl.
The Watcher extended his hand. In it floated a fragment — a shard of deep blue crystal, pulsing faintly.
"This is a Core Fragment," he said. "One of the last."
He stared at it for a moment, then looked at me.
"You have two choices, Patchbearer."
"One:
Take this fragment. Fuse it with your Patch Protocol. Gain strength. You will survive the Reset. When the new world is born, you will be one of its architects."
"Or two:
Refuse it.
Keep patching.
And be erased when the world collapses, along with everything else."
I swallowed hard.
"That's... not really a choice."
"It is the only one you have left."
The shard floated toward me, humming.
> [System Notice: CORE FRAGMENT DETECTED.]
[Decision Point: ABSORB / REJECT]
I hesitated.
Absorb it — become stronger, maybe even powerful enough to survive what's coming.
Reject it — stay true to the mission, patch the world, save the corrupted lives still clinging to existence.
My hands trembled.
The Watcher's gaze was heavy.
"No one will blame you," he said. "Everyone chooses survival... in the end."
I thought of Elara.
Of the Lost, staggering through the streets.
Of the broken world I had barely started to understand.
Absorb.
Reject.
Absorb.
Reject.
> [Warning: Decision is Permanent.]
I closed my eyes.
And I made my choice.