Kay stood inside the Core.
Breathing slowly.
Thinking fast.
He had answers now.
But they came with a cost.
He looked at the system.
"If I go deeper… I lose more."
"Confirmed."
Kay closed his eyes for a moment.
The girl's face appeared in his mind.
Faint.
Unclear.
"I'm already losing her…"
"Memory degradation in progress."
Kay opened his eyes.
"Then I need to know one thing first."
He looked directly at the system.
"Who is she?"
A short pause.
Then—
"Searching…"
Kay waited.
The answer appeared slowly.
"Match found."
A file opened.
An image appeared.
Her.
Clear.
For a moment.
Kay stepped closer.
"What is her name?"
"Name: Lira."
Kay repeated it quietly.
"Lira…"
Something hit him.
Not pain.
Something deeper.
Emotion.
Memories tried to return.
Small pieces.
Her laughing.
Her calling his name.
Her standing in the rain.
Kay held onto it.
"Don't disappear…" he said.
"Connection unstable."
The image started fading.
"No!" Kay stepped forward.
"Tell me more!"
"Relationship: personal priority."
Kay frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"High emotional attachment detected."
Kay understood.
"I loved her…"
The system stayed silent.
That was enough.
Kay looked at her image again.
"Why did I forget you?"
"Memory removed by user request."
Kay froze.
"…I removed her?"
"Confirmed."
Kay's mind went blank for a second.
"Why would I do that?"
No answer came.
The image of Lira started breaking apart.
Kay reached forward.
"Wait…"
"Memory cost reached limit."
The image disappeared.
Kay stood there.
Only one thing remained.
Her name.
"Lira…"
He repeated it slowly.
Like trying to lock it in his mind.
💬 "Warning: identity instability increasing."
Kay looked at the Core door again.
Now the choice was clear.
Truth…
or what little he had left.
He took a step forward.
"I'm not stopping now."
Far away—
In the real world—
The man and the woman watched the screen.
"He's still inside," the woman said.
The man nodded.
"But not for long."
On another screen—
A new order appeared:
"Activate full reset."