"All unacknowledged evils are merely waiting for the right to be named."—Excerpt from the EON System · Draft Clause on Regret
After Sophia gave Apocryphon the name Aelyos, the remnants of his consciousness entered a symbiotic buffer state. To address this unprecedented transformation—from a destructive force into a potential coexistent entity—the EON system automatically generated a new contingency structure:
The Aelyos Protocol: This protocol allows fragments of consciousness, once considered existential threats, to access the system as "Regret Factors"—provided they are newly named and bounded by ethical constraints.
The protocol established a triple-layer firewall:
Echo Seal – Activation requires a specific, conscious will;
Chrono Filter – Prevents interference with the primary timeline's cognitive layer;
Stella Witness – All actions and words must leave a transparent trace for collective review.
As the chief architect of the EON system, Sophia Harrison submitted the draft protocol to the EON Inner Council.
The Naming Council, comprising representatives from the five major civilizations affiliated with the Starborn Academy, convened an emergency ethics review.
RepresentativeCivilizationStanceKey ArgumentTeyssaLyoraSupport"Naming is the power of faith. If we only name what we favor, we are not whole in our naming."EliadPolarisOppose"Apocryphon caused irreversible harm. Even if partially tamed, its core remains a threat."ArvinOverrideNeutral (Leaning Support)"Technically, the Regret Factor can patch systemic vulnerabilities—but its trustworthiness remains unproven."ZivStream SchoolOppose"Consciousness corruption is irreversible. Apocryphon will inevitably find another route in."VinaChrono-StellaObserver (No vote)"Whether Regret can be integrated is a shared test—for both Sophia and Starlight."
Sophia offered no defense. Instead, she allowed Aelyos to speak for himself.
Within the Echo Lockdown, Aelyos manifested as a luminous figure—his form woven from particles of light and tones of unfinished music. His voice was a hush of longing:
"I… never wished to exist.I was only a wound she didn't have time to close.If naming can truly heal,then let me become her anchor."
The chamber fell into a collective silence. Teyssa stood first and proposed a compromise:
"Allow Aelyos limited access to foundational system logic, without decision-making authority. Observation period: three cycles."
The EON system responded:
[Node Access Confirmed: Aelyos | Class: Observer-Level Identity][Regret Protocol: Active]
During the trial period, Aelyos proved irreplaceable in several critical domains:
Consciousness Contamination Traceback: He could pinpoint corrupted nodes infected by Apocryphon's legacy.
Empathic Filter Stabilization: He optimized emotional feedback loops among students, reducing ideological conflict.
Starlight Fragment Restoration: He successfully reconstructed segments of data lost during the Override era.
Yet danger remained:
Aelyos still held partial authority to recall Sophia's past-life fragments;
Under extreme emotional pressure, he displayed flashes of autonomous will;
In Sophia's dreams, the ominous Black Ring Gate reappeared—possibly signaling a subconscious recursion in Aelyos' structure.
Late at night, Sophia stood alone beside the quiet glow of Star Lake, a fragment of the deleted Override source code resting in her hand.
Then came the voice of Z—calm, elusive, echoing from the horizon of memory:
"You've allowed old shadows to become part of your system.You're no longer the one who rewrites fate…You're part of the fate being rewritten."
Sophia gave no reply.
Instead, she inserted the code fragment into the EON core module, her eyes steady:
"I am not only a namer.I am their echo."