Now the dirt was not earth anymore.
Ian tripped as brilliance exploded over the Core's horizon, the planet breaking into slivers of glowing glass. The rhythm of Elaine's power was omnipresent — in the atmosphere, in his flesh, in his pulse.
"Elaine!" he bellowed. His voice was reverberating, drowned out by the static tempest.
Dissolved were the Core's paths, replaced instead by rivers of code that coiled like serpents. He ran anyway, slicing through corrupted sentries that sought to reassemble in his path. Each stroke of his sword sent out waves of data — then, all of a sudden, the world froze.
He looked up… and there she was.
Elaine hung above the broken Core, encircled by a ring of white-blue energy. Across from her was the Architect — a figure of glass and dark flame, his expression was that of one seeing a prophecy realized.
Ian froze.
"Elaine… what have they done to you?"
A slight turn of her head, her eyes radiate like two stars.
"Stay back, Ian."
"Do you really think I came all this way just to stand there and watch?!?!"
Her tone softened, but it still commanded.
"This is not your fight. He's—"
"He's what?" another voice cut in — the Architect's, cold and amused. "Her maker? Her mirror? Her inevitable future?"
Ian gritted his teeth and raised his sword. "You talk too much."
He lunged.
The Architect had barely moved — flicked a hand. A shockwave slammed Ian backward, bouncing him over the crumbled platform.
Elaine flared in panic.
"STOP!" she shouted, and the Core listened. The Architect's blow stopped dead mid-flight, the whole dimension pulsating as it was caught in the middle of heartbeats.
Ian coughed and forced himself up. His sword wavered in his hands, the edge of reality bowing over that of the sword.
"They can do all the things that they can do, and I don't care what you've become," he said, looking at Elaine. "You're still my sister."
Her eyes flicked — the glow dimmed for just a moment.
"Ian…"
The Architect's smile returned, but it was now cold.
"It's touching. But sentiment won't protect you from evolution."
He raised a hand — the world fractured once more, coalescing into a tempest of disintegrating information amidst them.
Elaine cried out as light erupted from her chest, tethering to the blade in Ian's hand. The cord between them blazed like flames — intertwining their strength.
"You wanted both worlds?" Elaine snapped. "Then have both of us."
The storm exploded.