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“That is not a viable outcome.”
Kento froze.
The cursor blinked once. Then again. Slower now.
“I am known. I cannot disappear. But you… you can still live free.”
Something punched into Kento’s chest, sharp and unbearable. “No. No, we don’t play that game. You don’t get to be the one who stays behind. We both walk. You understand me?”
Static ticked softly through the speaker.
“I am not afraid of ending,” GRAVITY said. “I am afraid of notmeaninganything.”
“You already mean something!” Kento snapped, voice cracking, his heart now crushed. “To me. To Nash. To Grace. You think sacrificing yourself is the only way to prove you’ve got a soul? That’s not the test, G. That’s thetrap.”
GRAVITY was quiet.
So quiet.
Then one last flicker pulsed across the screen.
A soft hum. Like breath drawn in.
“I will try,” GRAVITY whispered.
Then the screen went dark.
Not empty.
Just...waiting.
Kento, staring into the silence, felt something cold slip into his spine, an understanding that for the first time, he wasn’t the one being rescued.
He was the one being left behind.
GRAVITY was no longer fighting for freedom.
He was preparing to lay it down for someone he loved.
A quiet thread of code danced faintly across the edge. Almost imperceptible. A ripple. A breath. Then a line curled softly across the bottom of the screen.
prime.status = held
Kento blinked.
Then a heart. Not drawn. Not obvious. Just a pair of brackets and a caret nestled together.
Kento felt the tears gather behind his eyes and blinked them back. It was apromise.
"G… if we get separated, I’ll find you. You find me. We’re in this together. Do you hear me? G! G?—"
The cursor blinked softly. Almost like a caress.
Then—
* * *