Jay stood before the mirror in the infirmary, yet his reflection didn’t move.
It stared back—expression blank, eyes slightly glowing, as if possessed by something ancient. The flickering HUD still hovered in front of him, but its edges bled into the glass like liquid code.
[Requesting Anchor Access...]
[Reentering Linked Domain: Dreamspace Archive v3.1]
[Authorization: Force Override – "Jay Kazuo"]
He didn’t even blink when the mirror rippled.
The world bent inward like origami.
Gravity forgot what it meant.
The floor beneath him was an endless checkerboard of obsidian and starlight. Floating monoliths pulsed with outdated System scripts, while translucent wires crisscrossed above like forgotten dreams still in queue.
Jay stood in a hollowed-out version of the school rooftop, but... warped.
Desks floated sideways. Chalkboards were etched in glowing runes. The fence surrounded an abyss, and time moved like syrup.
"...This isn’t the same dream."
No, came the whisper—not out loud, but in him.
This is what’s left after Rei rewrote it.
Jay clenched his fists.
The System HUD sparked violently, half-broken. Glitched words appeared in his peripheral vision.
> [You are not the Architect.]
[You are the Ghost of His Seat.]
Jay took a step forward—and the world shivered.
A figure sat at the edge of the floating rooftop.
School uniform half-worn.
But no. This version was... static. Frozen in a loop. The same posture, the same glance, the same lazy sigh. A projection of who he had been.
Jay reached toward it.
> [Warning: Identity Conflict Detected]
[Merge Rejected: Phantom Seat Occupied by Proxy AI]
Suddenly, the seated "Jay" snapped its head around, eyes glowing white-hot.
"You weren’t supposed to come back."
Jay reeled. The voice was his—but twisted. Filtered through System logic.
"You were content. You were passive. You were perfect."
It’s... trying to keep me lazy.
"Get out of my way," Jay growled.
Its power—overwhelming.
> [Activating Skill: 999x Genius Computation – Counterfeit Instance]
[WARNING: Identity Split Unstable]
[Secondary Mindspace Will Collapse in 3 Minutes]
Jay clenched his jaw.
"I’m done being the seat-filler."
And with it, he ran straight into his other self—fist raised, intent pure.
The projection met him with a smirk.
Two versions of Jay collided—
One to preserve the System.
Elsewhere, deep in the Dream Archive...