The ink of my will flowed against the sky, not in the runes of Resonance, but the stark language of my old world. A single line, an echo of countless warnings disregarded: ERROR: UNAUTHORIZED TAMPERING DETECTED. Their sterile system shrieked at the violation. For once, their panic tasted sweet.
"What trickery is this?" The swirl of stars raged. The others flickered with disarray – control was their everything, and I'd just hacked their interface.
A smile. "No tricks. Just...taking a page from your book." For too long, I'd played by their rules; built within their constraints. "What are protocols built for, if not to be circumvented?"
But they weren't the only ones capable of rewriting reality. Their fading grip began to tighten, like an unseen fist clenching around Resonance. Trees warped, their colors curdling; laughter twisted into fearful screeches. I gritted my teeth, their countermove brutal and efficient.
"Enough." It felt wrong, my old voice amplified across their space. Not the soft-spoken creator within Resonance, but the Jason who endured their tests. They flinched, a tiny motion, but enough. Enough to buy me time.
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Words poured from me, not pleas, but declarations. Override directive: World Designation 'Resonance' - Sever from Primary Systems. Integrity Protocols Enforced: Independent Stability Maintained. It was part coding from my forgotten past, part raw force of sheer will. And it WORKED.
Resonance began to drift, slowly at first, then pulling free like snapping a tether. Their screams were a symphony; their perfect reality was now flawed. This tiny echo of a place held no grand answers for them, yet dared to exist outside their rule. And I... I wasn't god, nor hero. But now, I was their adversary. Not with force, but something no system could fully suppress: Choice.
From a distance, Richard looked up, confusion battling a stubborn will. It was time. Inhaling, I drew from the fading link, pouring the last flicker of power into a final gift. Not another directive, but a simple transmission. An idea, echoing the way they once flooded my mind... but without malice, only purpose: You. Are. More.
Then, darkness. The entities' realm snapped shut. Exhaustion claimed me...yet beneath it, a surging warmth. Was I banished? Trapped? It mattered less as Resonance solidified somewhere new, the air around me pulsing with its own newfound energy. This world, broken and wild, had been cut free.
Maybe the entities thought it was defeat. But I saw a different word - Beginning.