The exit from Zone C-17 wasn't marked.
No arch.
No gate.
Just a soft place in the threads — a spot where the world thinned enough for him to slip through.
Elian stepped into the light of the outer fringe.
And paused.
Everything looked the same — cracked stone, static-thread wind, pulsing walls in slow decay.
But his Threadsense flared instantly.
Something was off.
No.
Following.
He turned slowly. Nothing behind him.
But the threads curled in patterns he didn't recognize — like footprints left in thought.
Something had crossed over when he left the zone.
Not physical.
Not system.
Residual.
A presence that remembered him.
He didn't run. He didn't hide.
He waited.
And the threads began to shape a message — not from the system.
From something older.
You brought us out.
We were not meant to leave.
But now that we have… we remember.
[Residual Echo Attached – Unknown Entity (Bound to Author Seed)]
[Effect: Passive Thread Distortion – Local system threads degrade 3% faster when stationary.]
[Warning: Stability fluctuates. Potential side effects unknown.]
Elian clenched his fists.
This wasn't a trait.
It was a haunting.
But it was also leverage.
If it disrupted the system around him — even slightly — he could use that. Zones that would normally reject him might not recognize him in time. Surveillance nets might fail before activation.
A risk.
But one worth taking.
He turned his attention outward. Threads in the distance shimmered — different than before. Sharper. Controlled.
Not by the system.
By people.
Factions.
Seedborne were on the move.
And this time, they weren't just tracking his last echo.
They were heading for C-17.
Which meant they'd find the ash, the warning, the scar he'd left behind.
Elian smiled.
They wanted to follow him?
Then let them.
But they'd be following the version of him that came before.
And the one walking now?
Was something else entirely.
[Lucid Trait Sync: 29% → 30%]
[Threadbreaker Progress: 3.3% → 3.5%]
[Author Seed: 3%]
[New Status Added: Echo-Bound]