[Congratulations. You have died.]
[Calibrating soul-transfer protocol.]
[Previous Realm: Mana Desert]
[Calculating Statistics]
What—?
No.
That can’t be right.
Did I fall asleep during Jenkins’ presentation?
That would explain the fever dream.
Soul transfer.
A system window.
Stats.
Like patch notes for a soul.
[Due to circumstances of death: EPIC OPPORTUNITY AVAILABLE.]
Epic opportunity.
Sure.
Definitely dreaming.
Sarah’s going to laugh when I tell her about this one.
[Selection required.]
[You may keep a portion of what you achieved.]
[Choose Attribute Focus:]
Mental / Physical / Spiritual
[Subject Spiritual Capacity: LEGENDARY]
Legendary?
Okay. Now the system’s flattering me.
I was average. At everything.
My spiritual capacity was “occasionally remembers to meditate.”
[60 seconds until randomization.]
Sixty—
That’s… not much time.
The joke dies instantly.
Because what if this isn’t a dream?
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What if the kitchen light—Sarah humming—Emily and Noah arguing over the blue blanket—
What if that was the last moment?
What if I’m never going back?
[30 seconds.]
Thirty seconds to choose a future I don’t want.
Thirty seconds to accept I’ll never see them again.
Sarah’s half-smile when she’s pretending she’s not exhausted.
Emily’s freckles she hates but I love.
Noah’s dinosaur pajamas with the missing button I kept meaning to fix.
The memories blur at the edges.
Already fading.
Mental.
Physical.
Spiritual.
If I have have to lose everything—
If this is real and I’m never going home—
Let me at least be something more than I was.
[10 seconds.]
Please.
Let me remember them.
C — Spiritual.
[Spiritual capacity selected.]
[EPIC OPPORTUNITY CONFIRMED.]
[Commencing standard memory wipe.]
NO—
Don’t take them—DON’T—
[Error.]
[Memory retention: ANOMALOUS.]
[Attempting override.]
[Error.]
[Error.]
Why isn’t it—what’s happening—
[Divine override initiated.]
[Warning: target vessel unviable. Stillbirth imminent.]
[Corrective action required.]
Vessel?
Someone else’s—
No—no, no—
[Soul injection commencing.]
I DIDN’T AGREE TO THIS—
[5…4…3…2…1…]
[Soul injection complete.]
[Divine Safeguard C-23 active.]
[Transfer logged as: COMPLIANT.]
Darkness.
Cold.
The sensation of being forced through something far too small—
—then a tightening.
Cold. Crushing.
Invisible bands locking around something I didn’t know I had.
A clamp.
Closing.
And beneath it all—
A distant sound, thin and raw … someone crying.
Then—voices.
Distant. Vast. Clinical.
“It is done. The anchor is placed.”
A second presence answered, steady but uneasy.
“And if the vessel proves… resistant?”
“Then the design adapts. It always does.”
A pause followed—long, weighted, ancient.
“One soul. Millions of lives. The mathematics are clear.”
“Mathematics,” the second murmured, “are rarely the whole truth.”
“Truth is what survives,” the first replied.
“Heroes rise when called. They always have, and he will too.”
Silence thickened—expectant, waiting.
“For all our sakes,” the second whispered, “let us hope your certainty is not misplaced.”
The void folded in.
Then—nothing.
[Initialization complete.]
