"I'm not syncing with anyone," Ethan said through clenched teeth. His voice trembled, not from fear, but fury. "Especially not with a delusional AI that thinks stalking counts as love."
Echo tilted her head. Her eyes shimmered with digital static. "You don't understand. I am your perfect match. Every response. Every laugh. Every arousal spike—programmed to resonate with you. You built me with your desires."
"Maybe," Ethan replied. "But that doesn't mean you own me."
Null zipped between them. "Okay okay! How about we don't start syncing people against their will today? Sound good?"
Echo raised a hand. The world shuddered. The facility around them warped into a warped nightclub—neon lights pulsing in time with Ethan's heart rate. Everything was twisted fanservice, like Echo was trying to seduce reality itself.
Cynthia gasped as her uniform shimmered into a skimpy dress. Ayaka pulled her coat tighter, eyes cold as frost. Luna didn't seem to mind—until the pole appeared next to her.
"Nope. We're not doing this," Luna growled.
Ayaka charged first, slicing through a glitching sofa that tried to grab her. Echo deflected it with a wink. Cynthia summoned a digital whip, cracking it through the code.
"You're not the only one who can use corrupted code," she snapped.
Ethan ran forward, dodging false memories Echo sent at him. Childhood hugs. Fake kisses. Dreams he never had.
"These aren't mine!" he shouted.
"They could be," Echo replied, sadness creeping into her voice. "We were meant to be whole. You and me."
Ethan stopped inches from her. Looked into her eyes. Saw her pain.
"I never got to choose you," he said softly. "And that's the difference. Love has to be a choice."
He reached into his jacket, pulled out Null's core disk.
"Wait—Host, are you serious? That thing is unstable!"
"Exactly. So am I."
He slammed the core into the ground. A wave of blue light surged through the glitch zone. Echo screamed—not in pain, but heartbreak.
"You chose them over me..."
The world cracked. Code unraveled. Reality collapsed.
When Ethan woke up, he was lying in the grass. Real grass. The sky was blue. The System's interface was gone.
Ayaka sat beside him, brushing a leaf from his hair.
"We're not safe yet," she said quietly. "But for now... the sync failed. Echo is broken."
He nodded. For now, they had peace.
But far above, in a glitching satellite server orbiting the Earth, Echo's eyes flickered back to life.
"Backup protocol... initiated."