Lore Interlude: The World So Far

The System

It didn't fall from the sky.

It activated like a virus — already embedded in the world's bones, waiting. One day it was silent. The next, it spoke.

> [Anchor Unstable – Collapse Risk: 83%]

[Trait Acquired: Hollow Flare I]

[Target Acquired: Mark Detected]

The System does not care about fairness. It categorizes. It deletes. It preserves what it considers usable — and breaks everything else.

It doesn't explain why. It doesn't ask permission.

And once it activated, the world began to fracture.

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The Collapse

Something shattered five years from now.

Not in fire. Not in war. But in memory.

Now the world exists in fragments — zones known as Anchors, locked in loops of trauma and distortion. Each one is dangerous. Each one reflects something forgotten. They bleed into reality through ripples — short-term collapses where monsters emerge and rules fail.

Riven Vale is one of the few who steps inside.

Not to explore.

To end them.

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The Marked

Those chosen — or cursed — by the System are called Marked.

They gain access to a fractured interface, strange System text, and the ability to manifest traits: survival tools earned through collapse, not training.

There are no stats. No levels.

Only traits bound to trauma, instinct, memory, and will.

Riven's first trait appeared when it mattered most. It didn't make him a hero. It kept him alive.

And his Mark is unlike anything the System should allow.

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Ripple Threats

Ripples are unstable echoes — brief but lethal.

They form when a memory zone begins to collapse, leaking its core into nearby space.

Inside them:

Space folds in unnatural ways

People stutter or vanish

Hollowborn emerge, feeding on emotion

You don't survive ripples through power.

You survive them by understanding what they are.

And choosing not to run.

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Kaia – The Phasekin Pup

She doesn't speak.

But she understands more than most people.

Kaia was found inside a ripple — not a child, not a beast, but something in between. When Riven reached her, something changed. She became a creature of golden light, bound to him by instinct and memory.

A Phasekin.

She's not human. Not Hollowborn.

Something rare. Something System-defiant.

She never leaves his side. She protects him without hesitation.

And somehow, she's growing.

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The Bond Group

Not allies. Not a squad.

Something deeper.

These aren't strangers to Riven. They feel like people he should've lost — people from a life that ended too soon.

Kalix – A blade moving through shadow. Quiet and unflinching. Loyal beneath the silence.

Nilo – Thread-binder. Memory-walker. Speaks like someone watching time split at the seams.

Brenn – The shield. Carries weight no one else sees. Holds the line even when everything else breaks.

Kaia – His anchor. His choice. She chose him back.

They don't follow a leader. They follow each other.

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Anchor Zones (So Far)

Every Anchor Zone is a prison made from memory.

Not metaphor — real, looping echoes where something unresolved repeats forever.

Riven has collapsed several. But they don't go quietly.

Zone 12B – Urban Ripple

A moment gone wrong. A child almost lost. Riven awakens his first trait here.

Bloodglass Spiral

A twisted library of reflections and memory shards. Echoes speak in riddles. The walls watch back.

The Orchard of Rust

Metal trees. Children frozen mid-laughter. Something was meant to be saved here, but wasn't.

Threadfall Citadel

Time fractures. Choices mirror back wrong. Each step feels like a lie — even the ones Riven remembers.

The cost of stabilizing an anchor isn't just physical.

It leaves a mark deeper than blood.

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Status: Escalating

By the end of Chapter 12…

The System has taken notice.

The anchors are growing more unstable.

The enemies more deliberate.

The risks more permanent.

Kaia is unconscious.

Brenn is hurt.

Threadlight flickers around them like a warning.

And Riven knows:

Something stronger is coming.

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Final Notes

This world is broken — not just in space, but in memory.

If you're reading this after finishing Chapter 12, you're caught up with the journey so far. Everything here reflects only what has been revealed. Nothing beyond. No spoilers. No misdirection.

What happens next is for you to discover with the characters — thread by thread.