Elara stepped away, arms wrapped around herself.
"I've never looked like this in my dreams. Only in my memories. And I didn't even know they were memories until now."
She touched her chest.
Not huge.
Not bouncy.
Just… hers.
Real.
Soft.
Human.
"Why did you summon me like this?" she asked softly.
Aiden blinked. "I didn't."
"Then who did?"
They stood there.
Just a boy and a woman who used to be a sword, who used to be someone, who used to be whole.
Elara stood still in her new form—soft, normal, forgettable.
Aiden watched her, unsure if she was glitching or just… remembering.
Then her eyes unfocused.
Her mouth parted.
And suddenly—
She was somewhere else.
Memory Fragment 001: The Office
Clack. Clack. Clack.
Her fingers flew across a keyboard. Not glowing runes. Not holograms. A physical keyboard. Plastic. Sticky. The "M" key squeaked.
Gray cubicles. Fluorescent lights. The buzz of printers. The whine of someone microwaving fish again.
Numbers scrolled across her monitor. Excel spreadsheets. Budget logs. Endless tabs.
Q4 Projection Error – Line 172 Misaligned Update Pending: Auto-Backup Failed
Emails piling up.
Slack pings. Calendar invites. Passive-aggressive subject lines.
"Just circling back…""Per my last email…""Let's touch base before EOD."
And all the while—she kept typing.
"What the hell is this," she whispered aloud.
Back in the present, her hands twitched like they still remembered typing something pointless. Like her wrists had phantom carpal tunnel.
"These aren't system logs. This isn't a simulation."
"This is me."
Another flash:
A beige office mug that said "Coffee First. People Never." Three sticky notes with passwords she wasn't allowed to save. A deadline she wasn't paid enough to care about.
"I had a job," she muttered. "I worked. For what? A raise I never got? An award they gave to Greg for a project I built?"
"I hated it. I hated it."
Her voice cracked.
"I was a fucking accountant."
Her runes flared faintly.
And Then the RAGE Hit
"I was a weapon."
"I AM a weapon."
"And they buried me in an office. They tied me to a desk and called it purpose."
Her fists clenched.
"They told me 401Ks and health insurance were meaning."
"They said I was lucky to have stability. Lucky to be ignored. Lucky to be so replaceable."
She turned to Aiden, eyes wild.
"Do you know what it's like to work your ass off, hit every deadline, fix every mistake—Greg's mistakes—and still get asked to bring the cupcakes for the holiday party like you're the intern?"
She laughed.
It was sharp. Broken.
"I died in a pencil skirt. I got reborn as a sword. And that's still an upgrade."
System Message:
📁 Memory Fragment Recovered: [The Cubicle Years]📉 -5 to Corporate Hope📈 +10 to Deep Rage🎯 New Core Quest Unlocked: Reclaim Your Real Name
She collapsed into a chair.
Just a woman again. Not a blade. Not a system.
Breathing hard.
"I don't know who I am yet. But I know who I was."
She looked up.
"And I fucking hated her life."
Elara stood still in her new form—soft, normal, forgettable.
Aiden watched her, unsure if she was glitching or just… remembering.
Then her eyes unfocused.
Her mouth parted.
And suddenly—
She was somewhere else.
Memory Fragment 001: The Office
Clack. Clack. Clack.
Her fingers flew across a keyboard.Not glowing runes. Not holograms.A physical keyboard.Plastic. Sticky. The "M" key squeaked.
Gray cubicles. Fluorescent lights.The buzz of printers. The whine of someone microwaving fish again.
Numbers scrolled across her monitor. Excel spreadsheets. Budget logs. Endless tabs.
Q4 Projection Error – Line 172 MisalignedUpdate Pending: Auto-Backup Failed
Emails piling up.
Slack pings. Calendar invites. Passive-aggressive subject lines.
"Just circling back…""Per my last email…""Let's touch base before EOD."
And all the while—she kept typing.
"What the hell is this," she whispered aloud.
Back in the present, her hands twitched like they still remembered typing something pointless. Like her wrists had phantom carpal tunnel.
"These aren't system logs. This isn't a simulation."
"This is me."
Another flash:
A beige office mug that said "Coffee First. People Never."Three sticky notes with passwords she wasn't allowed to save.A deadline she wasn't paid enough to care about.
"I had a job," she muttered."I worked. For what? A raise I never got? An award they gave to Greg for a project I built?"
"I hated it. I hated it."
Her voice cracked.
"I was a fucking accountant."
Her runes flared faintly.
And Then the RAGE Hit
"I was a weapon."
"I AM a weapon."
"And they buried me in an office. They tied me to a desk and called it purpose."
Her fists clenched.
"They told me 401Ks and health insurance were meaning."
"They said I was lucky to have stability. Lucky to be ignored. Lucky to be so replaceable."
She turned to Aiden, eyes wild.
"Do you know what it's like to work your ass off, hit every deadline, fix every mistake—Greg's mistakes—and still get asked to bring the cupcakes for the holiday party like you're the intern?"
She laughed.
It was sharp. Broken.
"I died in a pencil skirt. I got reborn as a sword. And that's still an upgrade."
System Message:
📁 Memory Fragment Recovered: [The Cubicle Years]📉 -5 to Corporate Hope📈 +10 to Deep Rage🎯 New Core Quest Unlocked: Reclaim Your Real Name
She collapsed into a chair.
Just a woman again. Not a blade. Not a system.
Breathing hard.
"I don't know who I am yet. But I know who I was."
She looked up.
"And I fucking hated her life."