The Stabilizer didn't move again.
But the silence it left behind…
felt temporary.
Eryx stood still.
Breathing slow.
Too controlled.
Too quiet.
Mira stepped closer carefully.
"…It stopped?"
Ashar didn't answer immediately.
His eyes were locked forward.
"…No," he said finally.
A pause.
"It's waiting."
The ground beneath them flickered once.
Then—
A voice returned.
Not the system voice they were used to.
Deeper.
Layered.
"Containment protocol initiated."
Eryx frowned slightly.
"…Containment?"
Ashar's expression changed.
For the first time—
serious alarm.
"…That's not targeting us."
Mira's breath caught.
"What is it targeting then?"
Silence.
Then Ashar said it:
"…One of us is being removed."
The space cracked instantly.
A pull.
Not physical.
Existence-level.
Mira stumbled back.
"…No—what is that?!"
Eryx reached out instinctively—
but something blocked him.
Invisible.
Final.
Ashar stepped forward sharply.
"…It chose."
Mira shouted, "WHO?!"
The answer came immediately.
Not spoken.
Shown.
Soren.
A distortion opened behind them.
And through it—
he appeared.
Not walking.
Not entering.
Being taken.
Soren looked at them.
Calm.
Like he expected it.
"…So it's my turn," he said quietly.
Mira shook her head.
"No—no, we stop it!"
She tried to move—
but the space locked her in place.
Eryx stepped forward.
Hard.
Controlled.
"…Don't."
Soren looked at him.
Then smiled faintly.
"You're getting close," he said.
Eryx's jaw tightened.
"…To what?"
Soren glanced upward.
"To where the system stops correcting."
A pause.
"That's the only place it fears."
The pull intensified.
Soren began to fade.
Slowly.
Mira's voice cracked.
"Soren—don't go!"
He looked at her.
Softening slightly.
"You didn't break this time," he said.
A pause.
"That's enough."
Mira froze.
"…That's not enough."
Soren smiled.
"It is for progression."
He looked at Eryx again.
"…Don't stop here."
And then—
he was gone.
No sound.
No flash.
Just absence.
Silence hit hard.
Mira dropped to her knees.
"…We're just losing people now…"
Ashar exhaled slowly.
"…This is the real system now."
Eryx didn't speak.
But something inside him shifted.
Harder.
Colder.
Not sadness.
Not anger.
Decision.