Infinity did not descend like a god.
It did not tear the sky open or crush the world beneath its presence.
It whispered.
Aerion felt it the moment he crossed the boundary of sleep and waking—an unnatural stillness, as if existence itself had paused to listen. His eyes opened slowly, not to the Academy dorm ceiling, but to a vast white expanse that stretched endlessly in every direction.
No ground.
No sky.
No horizon.
Just white.
"Another mind-space?" Aerion muttered.
His voice echoed once… then vanished.
"You are not asleep."
The voice came from everywhere.
And nowhere.
Aerion's spine stiffened. He knew this presence. He had felt it his entire life—pressing, watching, defining.
"Infinity," he said calmly.
The white expanse rippled.
"That is the name you gave me," the voice replied. "I am not bound by it."
A shape began to form ahead of him—not a body, not a figure, but a distortion, like reality folding inward around an idea too large to define.
Aerion clenched his fists. "If this is a test, I'm done being examined."
"Incorrect," Infinity said. "You are the examination."
At the Academy, Elowen's eyes snapped open.
"Event detected," she said sharply.
Seris was already moving. "What kind of event?"
"Non-localized conceptual contact," Elowen replied. "He's not being attacked."
Nyxa frowned. "That's worse."
In the white expanse, Aerion stood his ground.
"You tried to erase me," he said. "You sent the Apostle."
"Yes."
No hesitation.
No denial.
Aerion laughed softly. "At least you're honest."
"You disrupted balance," Infinity continued. "You removed yourself from my equations. That is unacceptable."
Aerion tilted his head. "And yet I'm still here."
Silence.
Then—
"Explain," Infinity said.
Aerion blinked. "…You want me to explain?"
"You acted without source," Infinity replied. "Without mana. Without causality. Without me."
The distortion pulsed.
"That is not possible."
Aerion exhaled slowly.
"I didn't act without a source," he said. "I acted with choice."
The white expanse trembled.
"Choice is a subset of probability," Infinity replied. "Probability is governed by me."
Aerion shook his head. "That's where you're wrong."
He stepped forward.
"For you, everything is outcome. For us, it's decision."
Images flashed around them.
Aerion standing before the Null Apostle.
Infinity blocked.
Pain.
Fear.
And the moment he chose to stand anyway.
"I wasn't calculating," Aerion said quietly. "I wasn't defying you to prove a point. I just… refused to disappear."
The distortion slowed.
"…Refusal is irrational," Infinity said.
Aerion smiled faintly. "So are humans."
The white space shifted.
A new image appeared—countless timelines branching endlessly, worlds forming and collapsing like waves.
"You were created," Infinity said, "to end a previous deviation. You fulfilled that role. You died."
The image focused on a lone figure standing at the edge of nothingness, holding a blade of white fire.
Aerion's chest tightened.
"And then," Infinity continued, "you returned. Without authorization."
"That life is over," Aerion said firmly. "I don't want that power."
"Desire is irrelevant," Infinity replied. "Your existence alone alters outcomes."
Aerion's jaw tightened. "Then erase me properly."
The distortion paused.
"…I cannot."
Aerion's eyes widened. "What?"
"You are no longer fully defined," Infinity said. "You exist between states."
The white space cracked slightly.
"An anomaly that cannot be resolved."
Aerion felt a chill run through him. "So what now?"
Infinity answered after a long pause.
"I will observe."
Far below, in the Academy, Nyxa paced.
"He's been out too long," she muttered. "I don't like this."
Seris's gaze was fixed on Elowen. "Any sign of aggression?"
Elowen shook her head slowly. "No. But… Infinity has adjusted parameters."
Seris stiffened. "Adjusted how?"
Elowen hesitated.
"…It is learning."
Back in the white expanse, the silver-haired woman appeared beside Aerion.
This time, she was solid.
Real.
"You shouldn't have challenged it like that," she whispered.
Aerion didn't look away from Infinity. "It needed to hear it."
She smiled sadly. "You were always like this."
Infinity turned its attention to her.
"…Anchor detected."
Aerion's heart skipped. "Anchor?"
"She binds you," Infinity stated. "Emotionally. Conceptually."
The woman stepped forward. "I chose to."
"You are inefficient," Infinity replied. "Remove yourself."
"No," Aerion said sharply.
The space trembled violently.
Infinity focused on him.
"…Explain."
Aerion took a breath.
"She's my reminder," he said. "That I'm not a function. Not a weapon. Not a correction."
He met the distortion directly.
"I won't let you erase what makes me human."
For the first time—
Infinity did not respond immediately.
"…Very well," it said at last. "Observation will continue. No further Apostles will be deployed."
Aerion's shoulders sagged slightly. "That's it?"
"For now," Infinity replied.
The white space began to dissolve.
"One final query," Infinity said as reality faded.
"If not infinity… then what defines you?"
Aerion answered without hesitation.
"My bonds."
He woke up gasping.
Back in his dorm.
Sweat soaked through his clothes.
The infinity mark on his palm was faint—but intact.
Nyxa was already there, leaning against the wall.
"You always look like hell when cosmic beings talk to you," she said.
Aerion laughed weakly. "Good to know."
Seris entered moments later. "You were contacted."
Aerion nodded. "It's watching."
Elowen tilted her head. "…Conclusion?"
Aerion looked out the window at the rising sun.
"Infinity won't attack," he said. "Not yet."
"And later?" Seris asked.
Aerion's expression hardened.
"Later, it'll try to understand me."
Nyxa whistled softly. "That's terrifying."
Aerion closed his fist.
"Yeah," he said. "For it."
Far beyond perception, Infinity adjusted its endless calculations.
A new variable was added.
Not power.
Not fate.
Not infinity.
Human choice.
And for the first time since existence began—
The outcome was uncertain.