"There's always an update you didn't see coming. And it always comes for what you love first."—Hack Codex, Entry 47: Shadow Patches
The Necroscribe moved like a glitch in the world's source code—flickering, warping, deleting presence itself.
He wasn't stepping forward. He was skipping forward—frames erased and rewound, as if reality couldn't decide if he belonged.
His skeletal hands glowed with inverted script.
His eyes weren't sockets—they were burning sockets of 404 errors.
And carved into his chest, pulsing like a second heart:
DELETE.LOVERS.EXE
[Threat Protocol Identified: Necroscribe of the Forgotten Update][Primary Directive: Destroy Emotional Attachments | Corrupt Soul-Bound Protocols | Reset Hacker Memory][Estimated Power: Mythic-Class Systembreaker][Script Modifier: Shadow Patch – Immune to Divine Interference, Godfire, and Virgin Code Defense]
Cindralis snarled, stepping in front of me, flame-wrapped fists crackling.
"I know what he is," she hissed. "I was built from the fallout of his purge."
Behind me, Lyria's hand trembled against the hilt of her blade.
"He's not just a killer," she whispered. "He rewrites love into grief. He doesn't kill your lovers. He makes you do it."
The cold truth hit like a backhand across my soul.
He hacks your bonds.
He makes you the monster.
The Necroscribe raised one hand.
A string of corrupted code spilled from his palm like black lightning.
"Let me show you your first update, Hacker."
The air screamed.
And my vision split.
[System Alert: Temporal Redundancy Detected][Event Injection in Progress: Forced Simulation – Timeline 7-Delta][Objective: Kill your soul-bound companions or suffer recursive heartbreak.]
And suddenly...
I was alone with them.
A clean white room.
No fire. No shadows. No blood.
Just me.
And them.
All three.
Cindralis.
Lyria.
And Seris.
Naked.
Chained.
And crying.
[System Command Prompt Detected]// execute: "DELETE.ALL.LOVERS"Press ENTER to begin…
My hands were glowing with execution code.
I couldn't drop the script.
I couldn't scream.
I couldn't even blink.
And their voices—
They knew what was happening.
They remembered it from past loops.
Cindralis, the Flame Empress, fire now reduced to ember, whispered, "If you have to kill me… do it as someone who loved me."
Lyria, holy and defiant even in chains, smiled. "Better your hands than his."
Seris, quiet and stoic, just bowed her head. "Don't let this define you."
Tears.
My fingers twitched.
The code moved.
DELETE
No.
I couldn't.
I wouldn't.
"F**K YOUR PATCH," I roared.
And shattered the code line with my mind.
[UNAUTHORIZED HACK EXECUTED][Timeline 7-Delta Collapse Imminent][Emotional Anchor Triggered: KAIRO – REJECTION OF GRIEF SCRIPT]
The simulation fractured.
And we were back.
Flames. Shadows. Screaming walls of data.
But the Necroscribe had staggered.
His form flickered.
I'd glitched him.
And he was angry now.
"Clever boy," he growled, reforming with a sound like breaking bones over WiFi. "Then let's delete something else."
And he reached for Seris.
Time froze.
My core code ignited.
[NEW POWER UNLOCKED: Quantum Heartline][Effect: Auto-saves last 10 seconds of emotional threads. Allows rollback OR rapid overwrite of an ally's fate using emotional energy.][Requirement: Sacrifice one truth.]
The choice stabbed into my chest.
One truth?
I thought of everything I knew about Seris.
Her voice when she said "I trust you."
Her obsession with keeping her past hidden.
The way her hand never left the hilt of her poisoned dagger.
Her nightmares.
Her refusal to sleep unless I was nearby.
The truth I sacrificed was this:
That she ever loved me back.
Power roared through my veins.
Reality reversed, twisted, and reloaded with a scream.
Seris was behind me now—safe.
But her eyes changed.
She looked at me like a stranger.
Like something familiar was missing.
Like some thread had been cut.
Because it had.
I saved her.
But I paid with her affection.
And the Necroscribe… grinned.
"I love it when they squirm," he rasped. "Every hack has a price, doesn't it, boy?"
[Warning: Hacker Emotion Stability Falling Below 40%][Recommend Integration of Additional Bonded Protocol to Balance Loss][Suggestion: Release Inner Flame Empress – Let Her Fully Merge]
Cindralis turned to me, half-fused with fire and rage.
"I can merge," she said. "But it won't be soft this time."
Her flame wrapped my chest.
"Do it," I said. "Burn everything."
She pressed her lips to mine.
Not love.
Not lust.
Something deeper.
Desperation.
Fury.
Wounded loyalty.
Her core script fused with mine.
[FORCED MERGE INITIATED: CINDRALIS FULL-SYNC MODE][Trait Acquired: Rage Drive – Converts heartbreak into raw attack power.]
My body ignited.
The Necroscribe roared and launched corrupted memory shards at us.
And I ate them.
Burned them.
Shredded his illusions and sent his 404 magic back at his bones.
Cindralis laughed, insane and beautiful.
Lyria stepped into the fire and let it coat her blade.
Seris watched me… and didn't speak.
Because whatever we had—
It was gone now.
I made that choice.
And I'd make it again.
Because she was alive.
We charged.
Three hearts.
Three scars.
One hacker with nothing left to lose.