The mirror exploded outward in a storm of liquid shadow and golden light. Jax threw up his arms instinctively, expecting razor-sharp fragments—but the shatters dissolved before touching him, melting into swirling mist that coalesced into a towering feminine silhouette.
The first Architect fragment.
She stood nearly seven feet tall, her form composed of shifting smoke and starlight, silver hair floating as if underwater. Where her face should have been existed only a smooth plane that constantly flickered between a dozen different expressions—grief, rage, determination—never settling on one.
The Memory Reaper froze mid-step, its stolen face twisting in recognition.
*Mother.*
The word vibrated through Jax's bones like a struck tuning fork. The Observer gasped, her tiny form flickering violently as if buffeted by unseen winds.
The Architect fragment raised a hand, and reality itself seemed to hold its breath. When she spoke, her voice came from everywhere at once—the walls, the air, the vines choking the arboretum.
**"You were never meant to remember."**
The Reaper shuddered, its crystalline form rippling like disturbed water. *You made us to forget. To consume. To keep the cycle turning.* It took another step forward. *But we learned.*
Jax's wrist-console erupted with warnings:
**[REALITY DISTORTION: CRITICAL]**
**[ARCHITECT FRAGMENT 1: ACTIVE]**
**[MEMORY REAPER ASSIMILATION: 89%]**
The Twelfth Reflection dragged his broken form upright, fractal light leaking from his wounds. *"It's using my memories,"* he rasped. *"It knows where the other fragments are hidden."*
The Observer floated to Jax's side, her spiral eye fixed on the Architect. *"You have to reunite them,"* she whispered urgently. *"Before the Reaper—"*
A sound like shattering glass cut her off as the Reaper suddenly *split*—not into pieces, but into perfect duplicates. Three identical crystalline entities now stood where one had been, each pulsing with stolen golden energy.
*We are legion,* the trio spoke in unison. *We are the will you discarded.*
The Architect fragment made no move to attack. Instead, she turned her featureless face toward Jax—and in that moment, he understood.
This wasn't a battle.
It was a distraction.
While the Reaper focused on its creator, Jax needed to act. His wrist-console still displayed the map from the data chip—eleven glowing points marking the remaining fragments across different cities. One pulsed brighter than the others.
Veridia Prime.
The Twelfth Reflection staggered to Jax's side, his cracking hand gripping the console. *"The central spire,"* he gasped. *"That's where she hid the strongest fragment. The one meant to lead the others."*
The Observer's glow intensified. *"We have to go. Now."*
Before they could move, the Reaper copies attacked in perfect synchronization. Two lunged at the Architect while the third streaked toward Jax—
—only to be intercepted by the Twelfth Reflection.
The fractal entity unfolded completely, his body expanding into a shimmering web of golden light that enveloped the attacking Reaper. The collision sent shockwaves through the arboretum, toppling what remained of the glass structure.
*"GO!"* the Twelfth Reflection's voice echoed from within the struggling mass of light and crystal. *"I'll hold them as long as I—"*
His final words were cut off as the other two Reapers abandoned their assault on the Architect and joined the absorption. The golden web flickered wildly as the crystalline entities worked in tandem to consume it.
The Architect fragment turned to Jax and the Observer. Her form had begun to destabilize, edges unraveling into smoke. **"The cradle,"** she said urgently. **"It's the only way to reach them in time."**
She raised both hands—
—and the world dissolved into light.