As the gate to the vault closed behind him, Yuki stepped inside the chamber. Dim lights flickered to life, revealing a girl already standing there, hand resting on the floating Nexus Tome.
She turned. White eyes, braided hair infused with static, and a gentle smile. "Took you long enough."
"Who are you?" Yuki asked, weapons still ready.
"Selene. A Data Witch. I've been watching you since the first glitch."
She handed him the tome.
Nexus Tome Acquired — Data Core Sync Initiating…
Selene gestured to the walls, which shimmered with archived simulations. One displayed Earth as it once was—lush, blue, teeming with life.
"Before magic, before this... cycle," she explained, "we had technology. The Nexus isn't magic—it's memory. This world? It's a recursion layer built after the collapse."
Yuki stared as timelines unraveled—each ending with him. Dead. Reset. Forgotten.
"They always try to erase you. But something always lingers. You are the last fragment they can't delete. The true glitch."
He swallowed hard. "So what now?"
Selene smiled. "Now, you fight back."