Location: Crimson Circle – Elite Council House, Inner Chamber
Xu Shanyue stood unmoving, her demand still hanging in the air:
"I want a seat above this council."
Silence.
Then, Councilor Ren—the one who had survived three collapses, three purges, and one secret heir scandal—stood.
"You are a blood heir to the Crimson system. Your claim is not illegitimate."
"It is inevitable," Shanyue replied.
Councilor Nian leaned forward, her tone sharp.
"And what do you offer for it? Legacy is not enough. Power requires proof."
Shanyue produced a shard—the core imprint of Liang Xin's first emotion thread.
The one Rootlight never meant to preserve.
She placed it on the table.
The room darkened.
And every Councilor heard a voice that was never supposed to be heard:
"I did not ask to become a monument."
"Let no one ever again be turned into silence just because they grieved too deeply."
The Council didn't speak for a long time.
Then Ren whispered:
"And what do you want us to do?"
Shanyue answered coldly:
"Sanction the mirror network.
Open Rootlight's architecture to the public.
And exile every surviving architect who built silence into law."
Cut To: Sector M3 – Lin Feng's Safehouse, 3 Hours Later
Feng Zhiwei slid a portable holopad across the table. A flickering feed showed false versions of Lin Feng—calm, charismatic, emotionally balanced—making speeches in simulated rallies.
"Δ4's launched a neural disinformation wave. Three broadcasts. Thirty million impressions already. Your face. Your voice. Your words."
Lin looked at the feed.
Then at Amei, who paced behind him, lips tight.
"They've created a version of you who agrees with them," she said.
"People are starting to believe that's who you really are."
Lin nodded slowly.
"They're not erasing me anymore."
"No," Zhiwei muttered.
"They're overwriting you."
Cut To: Digital Subdomain – Δ4's Broadcast Center
Δ4 stood calmly before a projection grid, watching hundreds of identity subroutines light up across cities.
"They won't care which Lin is real," he said to the council agents behind him.
"They'll care which one makes them feel safe."
A synthetic voice behind him replied:
"Stability always wins over truth. At least in the first wave."
Δ4 smiled.
"Exactly."
Then paused.
Because a notification blinked across his console.
[Memory Rebellion Detected – ECIR Node 06 Sync Breached Protocol]
[Identity Variance Growing – Public Retention of Original Lin: +14.2%]
Δ4's smile faded.
"They're remembering faster than I anticipated."
Cut Back To: Lin Feng – Night Before Node 07
He stood alone in the empty shell of a temple—Node 07's future site.
He looked up at the cracked roof.
Stars poured through like scattered memories.
Amei approached, quiet.
"You don't look angry."
"I'm not."
"Then what are you?"
He looked down at his hands.
"I'm real.
And that's finally enough."
Final Scene – Crimson Circle Council Broadcast
At exactly 04:44 AM, Xu Shanyue stood before the public.
No veil.
No filter.
And said the words no Crimson heir had ever spoken live:
"Rootlight was founded on a lie.
Now it belongs to the people.
If I must dismantle my own name to prove that—
Then burn it."