Silence.
A kind of silence that wasn’t empty — but infinite.
Leon floated weightless in it, surrounded by fragments of gold light suspended in the void. They pulsed softly, like dying stars, each one flickering with echoes of memory.
His memories.
The clang of tools in the slums.
The smell of oil and sweat.
The sound of his sister laughing before the world burned.
The face of the Architect — cold, perfect, smiling.
And then Sovereign’s voice, dissolving into static.
Everything blurred, folding into the endless expanse of light.
[System rebooting…]
[Integrating corrupted code fragments.]
[Running KING’S PROTOCOL v1.0.]
The words echoed through the emptiness. Leon reached for them — but his hand wasn’t there.
Only light.
Only thought.
[User identity confirmed: Leon Vale.]
[S
