The cave outside Hollow Reach is quiet. For once.
Grim lies back, arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling. Sparks hums low from inside his chest—rest mode.
"So we survived a haunted refinery, got emotionally roasted, and possibly broke the laws of soul-physics. Solid Tuesday."
Grim exhales. "Still can't feel my legs."
"You're fine. You're just flame-depleted, space-folded, and core-glitched. Like a magical energy drink away from greatness."
Grim smirks. Eyes drift shut.
And the world… fades.
🌌 DREAM SEQUENCE — The Memory Root
He's falling.
Not through sky. Through time.
Flames curl around him—not hot, but ancient. Golden and gray.
He lands, barefoot, in a vast black field. At its center, a tree burns upside-down. Its roots stretch into the sky. Its leaves are pages. Its bark… cracked glass showing flickering memories.
"This is the Root," a voice whispers. "Where emotions remember themselves."
He sees himself—younger. Alone. Crying. Then laughing. Then erased.
He steps forward. The tree pulses.
"You carry fire not meant to be carried. Two lineages. One soul. But something more…"
The bark splits. A single memory falls into his hand.
"Sparks didn't just find you. You called to her. You lit the flare."
🔥 Quick Cut Back – Real World
Grim jolts upright. "I called to her?"
"Okay, dream yelling. That's new."
"Sparks, I think my fire isn't just Avara or Irix. There's something older—like it's waiting to wake up."
"Cool cool cool, love that. Also—mild update—someone's trying to kill us."
"What?"
"Tracking signature just spiked. It's fast. It's here."
⚔️ Irix-Class Glitch Assassin
The cave wall distorts—like a screen tearing.
A figure steps out.
She's wrapped in glitch-code fabric, face veiled in a cracked visor, arms digitizing and reforming. Her voice is layered—part human, part machine.
"Subject: Sparks. Status: Rogue Entity. Objective: Erase Host. Harvest Lume."
Grim stands, fire flickering to life. Sparks pulses.
"That's an Irix-class assassin. She's made of corrupted time, lost code, and every bad decision I've ever made. Sooo… fun."
Grim dodges as the assassin lunges, slicing space with blade-like fingers.
She moves like a glitch in reality—there, not there, already behind you.
"I hate how cool this is while she's trying to murder us."
Grim punches a flame burst—she dodges mid-frame. His fire warps the ground. She laughs—layered and cruel.
"Emotion detected: Defiance. Extracting."
A spike shoots toward his chest. Sparks intercepts, launching a short-range lightning burst.
"Touch him again and I'm syncing your code to an electric toothbrush."
The assassin stumbles back, recalibrating. Sparks flickers.
Grim clenches his fists. "You want to harvest me? Try."
His eyes blaze.
"Ash Surge incoming—round two."