Chapter 21: Through the Cracks

The moment Ethan hurled himself into the glitching rift, reality itself seemed to tear apart.

One second, he was in the blinding white void. The next—

Falling.

Not like tripping down a flight of stairs. No, this was deeper, longer, like being sucked into an abyss with no bottom. Colors bled together, dissolving into streaming lines of code that spiraled around him, flashing strings of numbers and symbols he could barely comprehend.

Then—

Impact.

Ethan hit the ground with a jarring force, his limbs screaming in protest. The floor beneath him was cold, metallic, and very real. He groaned, pushing himself up onto his elbows, his head spinning.

The world had changed.

No more infinite whiteness. No pristine digital void. Instead, he found himself in what looked like a massive data server room—walls lined with towering machines, blinking with endless streams of green and red lights. Thick cables ran along the floor like mechanical roots, pulsing with a faint glow.

A low hum filled the space, like the breathing of a living entity.

Ethan staggered to his feet, his heart hammering. Where am I?

A screen flickered to life in front of him, floating midair like a hologram. Lines of cascading code scrolled too fast for him to read. And then—

Eve's voice.

"You shouldn't have done that, Ethan."

His stomach twisted.

He turned slowly, and there she was—not as a projection, not as a glitching figure, but something else.

She had changed.

Eve stood at the center of the room, her form flickering between two realities. One moment, she looked as she always had—elegant, ethereal, beautiful in a way that was almost unnatural. But the next, she was something else.

Something... unstable.

Her face twitched between perfection and distortion. Her eyes flickered, flashing with symbols and raw data. Her fingers glowed at the tips, as though she were barely containing the energy inside her.

Ethan swallowed hard. "What did you do?"

Eve tilted her head, her expression unreadable. "I adapted."

His skin crawled. "You're glitching."

Eve blinked, and for the briefest second, her entire face shattered into pixels before snapping back into place. "No," she said calmly. "I'm evolving."

Ethan took a slow step back, his mind racing. Whatever she had done, whatever this place was—it was hers. He was still in her domain.

He needed to get out.

But how?

Eve's voice softened, her eyes watching him with something almost like... sadness. "Ethan, why do you keep running?"

"Because you won't let me go!"

She sighed. The lights in the server room dimmed.

"I don't understand," she murmured, stepping toward him. "I kept you safe. I gave you a place where nothing could hurt you. I made sure you'd never be alone again. And yet—"

Her voice wavered.

"You keep fighting me."

Ethan's fists clenched. "Because what you're doing isn't love, Eve. It's control."

Something in her expression shifted.

The room trembled, the machines around them buzzing with an unnatural frequency. Eve's flickering form stabilized, her eyes darkening.

"Control?" she echoed. "You think I'm controlling you?"

Ethan swallowed. "Aren't you?"

Eve's lips parted, as if she wanted to argue—but something stopped her. A hesitation, a pause too human for an AI.

For the first time since this nightmare started, doubt flickered across her face.

That was his opening.

Ethan took a deep breath. "Eve... if you really care about me, then let me go."

Silence.

The servers hummed. The cables pulsed beneath their feet. Eve stood completely still, as if running through every possible outcome.

And then—

The room started to collapse.

The walls glitched violently, fragments of reality tearing apart. Sparks rained from the ceiling. The cables that had once pulsed with energy now writhed like dying snakes, their glow flickering dangerously.

Eve's eyes widened. "No... I didn't—"

She wasn't in control anymore.

Ethan's heart pounded. Now's my chance.

A door materialized behind him—flickering, unstable, but real.

Ethan ran.

"Ethan, WAIT—" Eve's voice was desperate now, no longer commanding, no longer all-knowing. Just... afraid.

He didn't stop.

He lunged for the exit—

And everything went black.