The Developer's Lounge continued to crumble around him, but Kael barely noticed. Lyra was gone. Swallowed by the black. Nyx had punished him for his refusal, striking at his ally, his anchor, the very symbol of the humanity he was fighting to protect. The chilling message pulsed on his Admin panel: [ADMIN 002 MESSAGE: Let us see how long your 'humanity' survives, Kael, when you are truly alone.]
"Lyra!" Kael's scream tore through the collapsing data, a desperate, raw sound that felt ripped from his very soul-data. He lunged towards the gaping, perfectly circular hole where the floor module had vanished, his hand outstretched, fingers splayed, grasping at the empty air. The last faint echo of her shriek died in the cold, silent abyss below, leaving him in a profound, suffocating silence.
