The golden thread stretched out ahead of him.
Jaden didn't rush. He walked slowly, careful with each step. The ground beneath him was broken, unstable but it responded. The more he moved, the more solid things became.
The flickering tile beneath his feet stopped glitching. The walls, once shifting and bent, straightened. Even the sound in the air leveled out. The space didn't push him away anymore. It was starting to hold together.
---
The strange child the one who had called him "Variable" watched him from a ledge. They didn't speak this time. Just followed him with quiet, curious eyes.
Jaden kept walking.
He didn't know exactly where the thread led, only that he had to follow it. His body was tired, like he'd been carrying something too long. But it wasn't pain he felt now just weight. Something real.
---
Then, the world around him shifted again.
This time, it didn't turn into a loop or a false memory. It became a room simple, quiet, shaped by familiar things.
A piece of Rowan's paper. Aya's vine pot on a shelf. Kael's dented thermos. A tattered drawing Niko had once made of all of them. Silas's hoodie draped over the back of a chair.
He stepped inside and felt his feet hold steady. The room didn't bend. Nothing flickered.
For the first time in a while, it felt like the ground wanted him to stay.
He let out a breath and sat down.
---
A pulse moved through the space. Not from within him but from outside.
> Stabilization Threshold Reached.
External Anchor Detected.
Then came voices real ones, not part of a loop.
> "We're almost there." – Niko
"Keep it together, Jaden." – Kael
"He's listening." – Aya
"We're coming." – Rowan
Then the last one, quieter:
> "Don't disappear before I can see you again." – Silas
Jaden closed his eyes.
A smile touched his face before he realized it was there.
"I'm still here," he whispered.
---
Something shifted in his chest.
A warmth spread from the center of his body, and the space around him stopped pulsing. Instead, it settled. Like it was resting with him.
He opened his hands and placed them on the floor.
Not to fight it.
Just to steady it.
---
The light from the golden thread moved up through him like a pulse. It didn't burn. It wasn't loud. But it held weight something real and rooted.
> SYSTEM NOTICE:
Classification Update: VARIABLE
Role: Anchor-Class Anomaly
Effect: Localized Stability via Emotional Memory
---
He stood again.
The room held. No more flickering.
Outside, he could feel the others getting closer.
He didn't know what they would find when they reached him.
He didn't feel strong. He didn't feel ready.
But he felt present.
And that was enough for now.
---
Far above, the team reached the final threshold.
Through a break in the glitch layer, they could see Jaden glowing faintly, kneeling at the center of a now-stable zone.
Kael swore under his breath. "That's really him."
Aya's eyes softened. "He's holding this place together."
Rowan stared, wide-eyed. "He changed the zone."
Niko just smiled. "He remembered us."
---
Silas stepped forward without a word.
The others followed.
Jaden lifted his head.
Saw them.
And for the first time since everything broke
He reached back.
---
End of Chapter 20
Author's note:
Well we have now a happy reunion
With Jaden squad
I'm excited for the action scene for the next chapter so stay tune