Silence.
Too perfect, too artificial.
Even the wind here sounded fake.
He stood in the middle of a dead city.
Skyscrapers without windows, streets without people. Everything frozen, as if the world had held its breath... forever.
No sun, no moon in the sky — only a gray, soundless dome, like the ceiling of a forgotten prison.
Black mist trailed from his figure. It didn't move — it breathed.
It pulsed. It scorched the asphalt beneath his feet.
From under his hood, two glowing white eyes shimmered. No pupils, no expression — only light. Cold, alien.
His clothing was all black: like the void itself. No bright accents. Everything merged with the darkness, as if he was born from it.
At his waist — empty sheaths.
"You won't find her here," said a voice behind him.
He didn't turn. He knew: it wasn't her.
Just another ghostly whisper, another artificial intelligence of this world. Another program pretending to be a god.
"I know," he answered quietly.
"Then why did you come?"
"To be sure. To cross off another one."
His face showed no emotion.
But deep inside — a stir. Barely noticeable, but real.
He could feel... a remnant. A faint trace. Not her — but a connection to her.
This world once knew her presence.
But now it was empty. Cold.
"Leave," he whispered.
The world did not obey.
It tried to resist. Mechanisms activated, buildings stirred, debris began to fall from the sky like a rain of metal.
Artificial sentinels, built to guard these digital ruins, awakened from their slumber.
He sighed.
And the world cracked.
First — the air. Then — space. And finally — the very essence of this reality.
He didn't strike. He didn't use force.
He simply thought: This world is not the one.
And that was enough.
Everything began to fall apart. Outward and inward. Towers collapsed like paper toys. The ground vanished beneath his feet. The wind turned into the scream of a dying simulation.
He stood at the center. Unmoving.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "You were close. But not here."
Silence returned. Real this time.
And somewhere in that silence, he heard her.
A barely audible whisper. "Keep searching…"
He lifted his head. Smiled — a terrible, predatory smile, like a beast awakened for a moment.
"I'll find you," he said. "Even if I have to burn this entire world to the ground."
And he stepped forward, into the void that led to the next world.