Location: Sector H7 – ECIR Node 05 Installation Site
The air went still.
Amei instinctively reached for the disruptor baton, but Lin raised a hand. His eyes locked with Δ4—sleeker now, refined, his features carved from Lin's original emotional scans but emptier.
Δ4 took a single step forward.
"No weapons. No traps. Just an offer."
Lin's voice was flat.
"You died."
"I was recompiled. By those who still believe in the dream you gave up."
Amei hissed.
"You mean the lie."
Δ4 ignored her.
"They don't want control anymore. They want clarity. Rootlight can't guide them unless it reclaims its shape. You gave them chaos. They want order again—through you."
Lin stared.
Δ4 extended a drive.
"You become the symbol again. We erase the past few days. Keep the mirrors… but tether them. Controlled memory. Managed truth. You get your legacy. They get their comfort. Everyone wins."
Amei looked ready to explode.
But Lin just… looked tired.
"You still don't understand."
"Understand what?"
"That if I say yes, I'm not me anymore."
Δ4 smiled faintly.
"No. You're just the version they want to survive."
Cut To: Crimson Circle – Central District Plaza
Xu Shanyue walked alone.
No guards. No entourage.
She ascended the marble steps of the Elite Council House as a thousand lenses turned.
The guards at the door hesitated.
But they stepped aside.
Inside, the five remaining elites waited in silence.
The Chairman had not returned.
Shanyue stepped into the center ring.
"You lied. About Rootlight. About grief. About lineage."
One woman stood.
"And yet the system still stands."
"For now," Shanyue replied.
"But it's bleeding. And you can't cauterize a wound you refuse to admit exists."
The older man beside her leaned forward.
"What do you want?"
"A seat."
The room stilled.
"On this Council?"
Shanyue shook her head.
"Above it."
Cut Back To: Sector H7 – Lin and Δ4
Δ4 placed the drive on the ground.
"One activation. One broadcast. You step forward, say you were misled, that you'll 'guide the healing.' You don't even have to lie."
"But I would," Lin said quietly.
"Because the truth doesn't need a face. It just needs to be remembered."
Δ4 tilted his head.
"Then you choose extinction."
Lin picked up the drive.
Looked at it.
Then snapped it in half.
Δ4 blinked, shocked—not by the act, but by the finality of it.
"You really won't go back."
Lin smiled, softly.
"I didn't come here to win. I came here to be seen."
"Then I'll show them a better version."
"Good luck," Lin said.
"They've already seen me."
Final Scene – All Sectors, 02:04 AM
Across every ECIR node, a pulse synchronized.
The mirrors lit up.
And the people stepped forward—not to riot, not to obey—but to tell.
Old stories.
Banned names.
Quiet grief.
For the first time in decades, Rootlight's logs were being filled by the people.
Not filtered.
Not approved.
Just remembered.