Kay opened his eyes.
The Core was back.
Cold. Controlled.
But something was missing.
He stood still for a second.
"…Lira?"
No response.
Kay frowned.
"I just saw her…"
"Memory loss confirmed."
Kay's expression changed.
"What did I lose?"
"Recent emotional memory removed."
Kay clenched his fists.
"I don't even remember what I lost…"
That was the worst part.
The Core door was still in front of him.
Now it felt heavier.
"Every step forward…" Kay said quietly,
"I lose something important."
"Confirmed."
Kay took a breath.
"Then I don't have much left to lose."
He stepped forward.
This time—
The door reacted.
"Authorization unstable… accepted."
The door opened.
Inside—
A deeper layer of the system.
More complex.
More protected.
Kay walked in.
Immediately—
The system reacted.
"Full reset protocol active."
Kay stopped.
"So it starts now…"
The space around him changed.
The system was no longer just watching.
It was acting.
Data started collapsing.
Paths closing.
Kay looked for a way forward.
"I need to move faster…"
Then—
A voice appeared again.
Not the system.
Human.
"You shouldn't have come this far."
Kay turned.
A figure stood there.
Clear.
Stable.
Not like the others.
"Who are you?" Kay asked.
The figure looked at him.
"I'm what's left of the one who finished the system."
Kay frowned.
"That's not possible…"
The figure stepped closer.
"You started it," he said.
A pause.
"I completed it."
Kay's eyes narrowed.
"Then you're the reason it became like this."
The figure didn't deny it.
"Someone had to make it work," he said.
Kay's voice became sharper.
"By removing what makes people human?"
The figure answered calmly:
"By removing what destroys them."
Kay shook his head.
"That's not saving them."
The figure looked at him.
"Then stop me."
Kay stepped forward.
"I will."
Behind them—
The system intensified.
"Reset in progress."
Time was running out.