The vast top floor remained wrapped in a heavy silence, the faint hum of the suspended blue cube pulsing steadily in the background as the shattered remains of constructs lay scattered across the ground, their lifeless forms reflecting the cold light, while Damon stood firm, his grip steady, his gaze locked onto the half-human, half-mechanical figure before him, the tension between them no longer hidden, but laid bare.
"How did you become like this?" Damon asked, his voice calm yet direct, cutting straight through the silence, "why did you want this cube… and most of all… who is 'he'?"
For a moment, Ethan did not respond.
Then—
A low, melancholic laugh escaped him.
"How did I become like this… huh?" he repeated, his dual voice carrying both bitterness and something deeper, something unresolved, as the mechanical hum within his body seemed to grow faintly louder.
