"Acquisition successful."
No light.No sound.Only… sensation.
Suffocation.His throat felt like it was being crushed from the inside.
Blood.Something warm, thick… rising up.
Kairi opened his eyes.
But—
not from his own perspective.
The ground.Cold.The smell of metal.His vision tilted.
Something… lodged in his throat.
Hard.Crooked.
Like it had been driven into him from the inside.
Every breath—hurt.
"…kh—"
A broken sound.Not even a voice.
Pain.Not in one place.But everywhere.
His body convulsed.His heart pounded wildly.His consciousness stretched—then crushed.
This was his death.
No control.No preparation.
Only panic.
"…damn it…"
A thought shattered.
"…I should have…"
His breath stuttered.
"…from the very beginning…"
"…I should've followed it…"
He didn't know what "it" was.
Only—
that he was wrong.
He was going to die.
Not according to plan.Not under his control.
But killed.
"…no… no…"
His consciousness struggled.
Useless.
Something broke.
That so-called "perfection"—
was gone.
Darkness.
…
But it didn't end.
Kairi was still there.
Not in the present.
But—
inside him.
Memories unfolded.
Not piece by piece.
But collapsing all at once.
A dark room.Cramped.A glowing screen.
Code.Wrong.Wrong again.
"…why… won't it work…"
A file appeared.
Links Star — Access Denied
"…his…"
The reflection on the screen—
tired.distorted.
"…why… him…"
The scene shifted.
A room.
No one spoke to him.
But one name—
repeated.
Kairi.
"He's almost done.""A genius, seriously."
The voices looped.
Endlessly.
He stood there.
Right in the same room.
Yet—
as if he didn't exist.
"…why…"
"…why not me…"
The scene shifted.
A screen.
Code.
The cursor blinking.
Paused.
Then—
delete.
Delete.
Delete everything.
Nothing left.
Silence.
"…then…"
A thought.
Slow.Clear.
"…take it."
…
Final scene.
A balcony.
Wind.
The city below.
Distant lights.
He stood there.
No hesitation.
"…then I'll…"
"…start over from the beginning…"
No answer.
One step.
Falling.
The wind howled.
No fear.
Only—
emptiness.
Darkness.