Elara looked down at the weeping, trembling creature. Her hand remained resting quietly against the velvet folds of her gown. Her pulse was steady, but deep within the unmapped center of her chest, that strange, localized warmth throbbed once—heavy, cold, and silent.
"Are you finished with your nonsense?" Elara asked flatly. Her voice didn't carry a hint of anger, nor did it hold a trace of defensiveness. It was a perfectly smooth line of clinical dismissal.
The system stared at her, its tiny chest heaving as it slowly lowered its paw. It wiped its face with the back of its arm, the violet glare around its form fading into a dull, exhausted gray.
"You will regret this," the system whispered, its voice suddenly hollow, stripped of its previous rage. "You will eventually realize that what I am saying is completely accurate. And I am going to wait for that day to come."
