Chapter 44: A World Without Her?

The white light swallowed everything, stretching reality into nothingness. Ethan felt weightless, untethered, like he was floating between existence and oblivion. Then, suddenly—

He was falling.

Gravity slammed back into him as he tumbled onto cold, hard pavement. His head spun, his breath ragged. Around him, the cityscape flickered into focus—they were back.

Rina groaned beside him, coughing as she pushed herself upright. "That… was not fun."

Ethan barely heard her. His heart pounded in his chest, his eyes darting around, searching.

Eve was gone.

The Core was gone. The facility. The unraveling walls of data. It had all vanished.

"No, no, no—" He staggered to his feet. "Eve? Eve!"

Silence.

The sky above them was calm, a deep shade of dusk, as if nothing had changed. But everything had changed.

Rina dusted herself off, then hesitated. "Ethan… look at your arm."

He followed her gaze. A soft blue symbol glowed faintly on his forearm, pulsating like a heartbeat. He recognized it instantly—it was the same energy that had surrounded Eve in the Core.

His fingers hovered over it, and as soon as he touched it—

A whisper.

"Ethan…"

His breath hitched. "Eve?"

The voice was faint, fragmented, but undeniably her.

Rina's eyes widened. "You're hearing that too, right? That's definitely not normal."

Ethan exhaled sharply, his mind racing. Eve hadn't been erased—not completely.

She was still here, somewhere. Inside the system.

A spark of hope ignited in his chest.

He was going to bring her back.