Jay had stopped pretending he was okay about ten seconds ago.
The dream-world had always felt like so surreal playground—vivid, weird, but manageable. Sothing he could understand... or at least sleep through.
But now?
The skies above shimred with cracks. Like glass stretched too far, the clouds fractured, revealing sothing cold beneath them—an empty grid pattern, like a half-rendered blueprint.
Alicia stood at the edge of the cliffside garden, where Jay had first pulled her into the dream-space. Her long braid danced in slow motion—ti was starting to lag.
"Jay," she said quietly. "You feel it too?"
Jay nodded, not even trying to hide the sharp chill rolling down his spine.
"Yeah. Sothing’s breaking."
He turned toward her. His lazy half-lidded eyes were sharper than usual now. Not panicked—just focused.
"It’s Rei."
Alicia’s fingers curled around the glowing pendant she’d crafted in a prior dream—originally just a symbolic anchor. But now, it pulsed erratically. Like it was screaming silently.
"He’s being attacked. Sothing wrong is near him."
Jay exhaled, gaze flicking to the cracked horizon. "I felt him slip... like soone else was trying to overwrite him."
He clenched his hand. When he opened it, the familiar blue System HUD shimred back into view—but it was glitching. Whole nus were missing.
[ERROR: ADMIN PRIVILEGES IN CONFLICT]
[WARNING: NULL SIGNATURE DETECTED]
[SUGGESTION: RETREAT OR CONFRONT]
Jay chuckled dryly. "Helpful as ever, huh?"
Alicia stepped closer, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Whatever it is... it’s part of the old system, isn’t it?"
Jay hesitated.
"Yeah. I think the system didn’t die. It mutated. And now it wants to reclaim ... through Rei."
Alicia’s brows furrowed. "That’s why reality’s folding. Rei’s the key to your freedom—but if sothing infects him..."
"It rewrites the whole thing," Jay finished grimly. "Turns this dream into a cage again."
A mont of silence passed between them.
Then Alicia took his hand. Firmly.
"We stop it. Together."
Jay blinked at her. "Since when did you beco the reckless one?"
She smirked. "Since the Lazy Genius started acting serious."
Jay sighed. "Touché."
He raised his free hand toward the sky.
The cracks pulsed, sensing his presence.
The System responded with resistance.
But sothing deeper—older—responded to Jay himself. Not code. Not programming. Sothing that had always lived inside him.
[ADMIN OVERRIDE: ACCEPTED]
[PASSAGE TO NULL-ZONE AUTHORIZED]
[ANCHORING SECOND USER: ALICIA ELENORA VELDORA]
The world warped around them.
Their surroundings bled into motion blur—then froze—
—then shattered.
---
Jay opened his eyes.
Alicia beside him.
And across the void... the battlefield of broken code.
Two figures clashed in a spiraling dreamstorm:
Rei, clutching fragnts of his truth—
And a dark shadow in Jay’s shape, moving with surgical hatred.
"Ti to crash my own party," Jay muttered.
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