Chapter 39: The User Before Me

[THE FIRST USER HAS BEEN FOUND.]

[AND HE IS NOT KAEL VEYRON.]

The words remained suspended in the darkness.

Kael stared at them.

For several seconds, he did absolutely nothing.

Then he raised one hand and rubbed his face.

"Wonderful."

His voice sounded painfully calm.

"Absolutely wonderful. I survive the end of the world, discover that my previous life might have been connected to the destruction of several realities, learn that an ancient remnant of myself has been chained beneath my academy, and now I discover that someone else has been using the system that has been tormenting me."

He lowered his hand.

"Did I miss anything?"

Silence.

"Right. Of course. The system doesn’t answer questions unless it can make my life worse."

The darkness rippled.

A notification appeared.

[KARMA SYSTEM]

[The System would like to remind the Host that gratitude is a virtue.]

Kael stared at the message.

"Gratitude?"

[You are alive.]

"Against my better judgment."

[You possess extraordinary potential.]

"Apparently, someone possessed my system before me."

[You have attractive prospects.]

Kael paused.

"Are you trying to distract me?"

[No.]

"That’s exactly what something trying to distract me would say."

The notification vanished.

For once, the System did not produce another sarcastic response.

That worried him more than anything it had said.

The white space surrounding Kael began to fracture. Thin black lines spread across the empty horizon, splitting the pale expanse into countless uneven pieces. Behind those cracks, there was no recognizable world—only an immense darkness filled with distant points of silver light.

Kael recognized the sensation.

Reality was struggling to decide what it was supposed to be.

Again.

He looked down at his hands.

They were trembling.

Not because he was frightened of the unknown. He had become rather accustomed to that particular feeling.

He was trembling because of the memory.

The desk.

The figure sitting behind it.

The voice that had greeted him.

Welcome, Kael.

He could still hear those words with impossible clarity.

Yet when he tried to remember the figure’s face, his thoughts encountered a blank space.

Not darkness.

Not a forgotten image.

Something deliberately removed.

He remembered the shape of the desk, the faint sound of a quill moving across paper, and a sensation of familiarity so profound that it had hurt.

But the person behind the desk?

Nothing.

Kael clenched his fists.

"System."

[Awaiting command.]

"Show me the memory again."

[Request acknowledged.]

A window appeared.

[ORIGIN MEMORY: PARTIALLY RECOVERED]

[ACCESS DENIED.]

[Reason: The memory is not owned by the Host.]

Kael’s expression changed.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

"Not owned by me?"

[Correct.]

"Then whose memory is it?"

[Unknown.]

"Convenient."

[The System agrees.]

Kael almost laughed.

Almost.

Instead, he looked at the notification until its light faded from his eyes.

"Someone else used this system before me," he murmured. "Someone whose memory I just accessed. And the System is telling me that the memory doesn’t belong to me."

He lifted his gaze toward the fractured horizon.

"Which means there are at least two possibilities."

He raised one finger.

"First, the previous user left something behind, and I accidentally accessed it."

A second finger.

"Second, the System isn’t actually mine."

The white space fell silent.

Kael lowered his hand.

"Considering my circumstances, I’m leaning toward the second option."

[KARMA SYSTEM]

[Your deduction is incomplete.]

Kael’s eyes narrowed.

"Oh?"

[The System does not belong to the Host.]

For the first time since the message appeared, Kael forgot to breathe.

The notification remained in front of him.

No sarcasm.

No evasive wording.

No conveniently vague explanation.

Just a statement.

[The System does not belong to the Host.]

Kael’s heartbeat grew louder.

"Then why did you choose me?"

[The System did not choose you.]

A cold sensation crept down his spine.

"Someone else did?"

[Unknown.]

"Was it the person at the desk?"

[Unknown.]

"Was it the Selector?"

[Unknown.]

"Was it the Author?"

[Unknown.]

Kael shut his eyes.

"I’m going to throw you into a furnace."

[The System recommends against damaging valuable equipment.]

"You’re not equipment. You’re a walking headache with a user interface."

[Insult acknowledged.]

The notification disappeared.

Kael opened his eyes.

The cracks across the white space had stopped spreading.

Somewhere beyond them, a bell rang.

Once.

Twice.

On the third strike, the entire world shuddered.

And a familiar voice spoke from behind him.

"Don’t turn around."

Kael froze.

He knew that voice.

He had heard it in the First Tower, beneath Aetheris, and in places where ordinary people had no business existing.

The Observer.

"Before you do anything reckless," the masked figure continued, "I need you to listen carefully."

Kael slowly turned his head.

The Observer stood several paces away, his black cloak hanging motionless despite the strange wind sweeping through the white space. His silver mask reflected the fractures in the surrounding world, while his crimson eyes remained fixed on the System window hovering before Kael.

Not on Kael.

On the window.

That detail alone was enough to make Kael suspicious.

"You look terrible," Kael remarked.

The Observer didn’t react.

"Your sense of humor is inappropriate."

"It’s a coping mechanism."

"Find another one."

"I’ll add it to my list of things to do after preventing reality from collapsing."

The Observer finally looked at him.

For a brief moment, Kael saw something behind those crimson eyes.

Not anger.

Not contempt.

Fear.

"You remember the desk," the Observer said.

Kael’s expression hardened.

"I remember someone sitting behind it."

"That’s already too much."

"Then perhaps you should have arrived earlier."

"I tried."

"And?"

"The path to this place disappeared."

Kael glanced around the fractured white space.

"Convenient."

The Observer’s eyes narrowed.

"Do not confuse my inability to reach you with a lack of effort."

"I’m not. I’m confusing it with a suspiciously consistent pattern of arriving after everything has gone wrong."

The Observer said nothing.

Kael sighed.

"Fine. Let’s skip the part where we insult each other. You know who the First User is, don’t you?"

The silence that followed was answer enough.

Kael took a step forward.

"Who?"

"I don’t know."

Kael stopped.

"That’s a disappointing answer."

"I know what the First User did. I know what happened after they stopped using the System. I know why the System should never have reached you."

The Observer’s voice grew quieter.

"But I do not know who they are now."

Kael studied him.

"Why not?"

"Because the First User was removed from the records."

"By the Author?"

"No."

The answer came too quickly.

Kael noticed.

"The Author couldn’t do it?"

The Observer hesitated.

"The Author wasn’t there yet."

A faint sound escaped Kael’s throat.

It might have been a laugh, had there been anything remotely funny about the situation.

"So the First User predates the Author."

"Or existed somewhere the Author could not reach."

"Those aren’t the same thing."

"No," the Observer agreed. "They aren’t."

Kael folded his arms.

"Then explain the message."

The Observer looked at the System window.

[THE FIRST USER HAS BEEN FOUND.]

[IDENTITY: UNKNOWN.]

[CURRENT STATUS: UNKNOWN.]

[LOCATION: UNKNOWN.]

"Someone found a trace," the Observer said. "Not necessarily the person. A trace of their existence. A record that should have remained inaccessible."

"Where?"

"Inside your recovered memory."

Kael felt the air grow colder.

"The figure at the desk."

"Possibly."

"Then why did the black book say the First User had been found?"

"Because the book records events that the worldline has attempted to forget."

"That’s not an explanation."

"It’s the only one I can give you."

Kael stared at him for several seconds.

Then he smiled.

It wasn’t a particularly pleasant smile.

"Let me guess. If we investigate, something ancient will awaken, the academy will lose another chunk of itself, and we’ll discover that the person we’re looking for is somehow connected to me."

The Observer remained silent.

Kael’s smile disappeared.

"You’re not denying it."

"I cannot deny what I don’t understand."

"That’s a first."

The Observer took one step closer.

"Kael, listen to me. The First User is not merely someone who possessed the System before you. Their existence is connected to the reason the System was created. If you follow this trail without understanding what you are looking for, you may attract the attention of something even the Author cannot control."

Kael tilted his head.

"Something like the entity beyond the sky?"

"No."

"The Fourth?"

"No."

"The thing beneath Aetheris?"

The Observer’s silence lasted a fraction too long.

Kael sighed.

"Wonderful. So there’s another one."

"There have always been others."

The words settled between them.

Kael’s expression grew serious.

"How many?"

"I don’t know."

"Of course you don’t."

"But I know this."

The Observer raised one gloved hand and pointed toward the fractured horizon.

"Whatever is looking for the First User has already noticed you."

The distant silver lights went out.

One by one.

The darkness beyond the cracks seemed to draw closer.

Kael felt something brush against his consciousness.

It wasn’t a voice.

It wasn’t a thought.

It was the sensation of someone opening a book and turning to a page containing his name.

His Karma System flickered.

[WARNING.]

[EXTERNAL ACCESS DETECTED.]

[ATTEMPTING TO IDENTIFY ACCESSOR...]

[IDENTIFICATION FAILED.]

[ACCESSOR HAS NO RECOGNIZABLE WORLDLINE.]

Kael’s stomach tightened.

The Observer immediately lowered his hand.

"Don’t respond to it."

"I wasn’t planning to."

"Don’t acknowledge its presence. Don’t attempt to identify it. And whatever you do, don’t let it establish a connection through your System."

Kael glanced at the warning.

"Why?"

"Because the last time it happened, an entire worldline disappeared."

For once, Kael had no sarcastic response.

The darkness beyond the fractures pulsed.

A new notification appeared.

[UNKNOWN ENTITY HAS INITIATED CONTACT.]

[WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCEPT?]

Two options materialized beneath the message.

[ACCEPT]

[DECLINE]

Kael stared at them.

"You have got to be kidding me."

[The System recommends declining.]

"Oh, now you have recommendations?"

[The System has always possessed recommendations.]

"You usually hide them behind six layers of cryptic nonsense."

[The Host rarely appreciates helpful guidance.]

"Because your definition of helpful is fundamentally broken."

The Observer stepped forward.

"Decline it."

Kael’s gaze remained on the two options.

"What’s the worst that could happen if I accept?"

The Observer looked at him as though he had just announced his intention to swallow a cursed artifact.

"You would be allowing something without a worldline to establish a connection to a System that does not belong to you."

Kael considered that.

"So it could possess me?"

"Possession would be the least concerning possibility."

"Wonderful."

"Kael."

"I heard you."

"Then decline."

Kael moved his finger toward the second option.

But before he could touch it, the interface changed.

The two options vanished.

A new message appeared.

[CONNECTION REQUEST CANCELLED.]

[REASON: THE FIRST USER HAS ALREADY RESPONDED.]

Kael stopped moving.

The Observer went completely still.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke.

Then Kael slowly turned toward the masked figure.

"You said the First User was only a trace."

The Observer didn’t answer.

"You said someone found a record of their existence."

Still nothing.

Kael pointed at the notification.

"Then explain that."

The Observer’s crimson eyes had widened.

"I can’t."

"Try."

"I can’t!"

The sudden force in his voice echoed across the white space.

Kael fell silent.

He had never heard the Observer sound like that before.

The masked figure stared at the message as if it were a death sentence.

Then, very quietly, he whispered, "Impossible."

Kael looked back at the System.

A final line appeared.

[MESSAGE RECEIVED.]

[SENDER: FIRST USER.]

[CONTENT: YOU TOOK LONG ENOUGH.]

The world stopped.

Not metaphorically.

The cracks froze in place. The silver lights beyond the horizon ceased to flicker. Even the wind vanished, leaving Kael suspended in a silence so complete that he could hear his own heartbeat.

He read the message once.

Twice.

Then a third time.

You took long enough.

The words weren’t addressed to the System.

They were addressed to him.

Kael felt the weight of something he couldn’t remember settling over his shoulders.

A promise.

A disappointment.

Perhaps both.

He swallowed.

"Observer."

The masked figure didn’t move.

"Observer."

Slowly, the figure turned his head.

"Whoever this person is," Kael said, keeping his voice steady with considerable effort, "they know me."

"Yes."

"And they were expecting me."

"Yes."

"Then why are you afraid?"

The Observer’s fingers curled into fists.

"Because I know what happened the last time the First User waited for you."

Kael’s pulse quickened.

"What happened?"

The Observer looked away.

For the first time, he seemed to struggle with his words.

"The First User waited."

A pause.

"And you never came."

Kael felt the statement strike somewhere deep inside him.

He didn’t understand why.

He didn’t remember making such a promise.

He didn’t remember the First User.

Yet the moment the Observer spoke those words, an image flashed across his mind.

A desk.

A quill.

A hand resting beside an open book.

And a voice—his own voice, perhaps, though older and more tired—speaking into the darkness.

Not yet.

The memory vanished before he could grasp it.

Kael staggered.

The Observer caught his arm.

"Kael!"

"I’m fine."

"You’re not."

"I said I’m fine."

He pulled away, breathing unevenly.

The System immediately flooded his vision with warnings.

[MEMORY INTERFERENCE DETECTED.]

[ORIGIN MEMORY ATTEMPTING TO RESTORE.]

[MEMORY RECOVERY: 91% → 92%]

[WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED MEMORY ACCESS.]

[WARNING: IDENTITY CONFLICT DETECTED.]

Kael gritted his teeth.

"Stop it."

[The System cannot stop the restoration.]

"Then block it!"

[The System cannot block its own origin.]

Kael’s eyes widened.

The words appeared to burn themselves into his vision.

Its own origin.

He slowly looked at the System window.

"What did you just say?"

No answer came.

"System. Explain."

[Request denied.]

"Why?

[The answer does not belong to the Host.]

Kael let out a short, humorless laugh.

"Of course it doesn’t."

The Observer released his arm.

"You need to leave this place."

"Not until I get answers."

"You may not have time."

"Then talk faster."

The Observer stared at him.

Finally, he spoke.

"The First User was not simply the first person to use the Karma System. They were the first person to interact with the mechanism that allows a world to judge its own possibilities."

Kael frowned.

"Possibilities?"

"Every worldline contains outcomes. Some are realized. Some are abandoned. Others are erased before they can occur. The System was created to observe the relationship between those outcomes and the actions that lead to them."

"Like karma."

"Something resembling it."

"So the System measures actions and assigns rewards."

"That’s what it does for you."

Kael caught the distinction.

"For me?"

The Observer nodded.

"The System has different functions depending on its user. What you see as Karma Points, missions, rewards, and punishments may be only a fraction of its original capabilities."

Kael stared at him.

"Then what did the First User use it for?"

The Observer’s gaze drifted toward the distant darkness.

"To determine whether an ending could be changed after it had already occurred."

Kael went still.

Return Authority.

Its first phase had granted him the ability to reject a predetermined outcome that had already happened.

The power he’d used to refuse his own erasure.

The power that had increased to forty-three percent.

"You’re saying Return Authority came from the First User?"

"I’m saying the First User understood something about the System that you have only begun to discover."

Kael looked down at his hand.

The Origin Key was gone, yet he could still feel its shape against his palm.

"What happens when Return Authority reaches one hundred percent?"

The Observer didn’t answer immediately.

Then he said, "That depends on whether you are capable of making the choice it was designed to offer."

"What choice?"

"To decide whether an ending should remain ended."

The white space shuddered.

A distant crack split the horizon from top to bottom.

Kael looked up.

The darkness beyond the fracture was no longer empty.

A desk stood on the other side.

Old wood.

An open book.

A silver quill resting beside a stack of papers.

And a chair.

The chair was occupied.

The figure sitting behind the desk remained hidden by the distance and the darkness, but Kael could make out the outline of one hand resting on the open book.

His breath caught.

It was the same desk from his memory.

The same arrangement.

The same impossible familiarity.

Then the figure lifted its head.

Kael couldn’t see its face.

Yet he knew it was looking directly at him.

A new message appeared.

[FIRST USER CONNECTION ESTABLISHED.]

[DISTANCE: UNDEFINED.]

[WORLDLINE: UNDEFINED.]

[STATUS: ACTIVE.]

Kael’s heart pounded.

The figure raised one hand.

And waved.

Like an old friend greeting someone who had finally arrived after an unnecessarily long journey.

The Observer stepped in front of Kael.

"Don’t move."

For once, Kael obeyed.

The figure behind the desk reached for the silver quill.

It dipped the tip into an inkwell that Kael hadn’t noticed before.

Then it began to write.

Letters appeared across the open book.

Kael couldn’t read them from where he stood.

But as the figure finished the final line, the words appeared across his System window.

[MESSAGE FROM THE FIRST USER.]

[YOU HAVE CHANGED.]

A second line appeared.

[GOOD.]

A third.

[THAT MEANS THE FIRST ENDING DIDN’T TAKE EVERYTHING.]

Kael felt his blood turn cold.

The First User knew about the first ending.

They knew about the failed world.

They knew about the promise.

And, judging by the way the message had been written, they knew him.

Another line appeared.

[I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO REMEMBER WHAT YOU DID.]

Kael stepped forward.

The Observer grabbed his shoulder.

"Don’t."

"Let go."

"You don’t understand what you’re approaching."

"Then explain it!"

The Observer’s voice cracked.

"Because I watched you disappear the first time!"

Kael froze.

The masked figure seemed to realize what he had said.

His grip loosened.

For several seconds, neither spoke.

Then Kael asked, very quietly, "You were there?"

The Observer lowered his head.

"Yes."

"When?"

"Before the first ending."

"Who was I?"

The Observer’s silence stretched on.

Kael’s expression hardened.

"I’m tired of everyone knowing pieces of my life while refusing to tell me anything. The Selector, the Fifth, the Author, you. All of you keep speaking as if I’m supposed to remember something that happened before I even became Kael Veyron."

He gestured toward the figure behind the desk.

"And now the First User is sending me messages like we’re old friends."

Kael’s voice rose.

"Who was it?"

The Observer slowly released him.

"I don’t know what name you used before you returned."

"That’s not what I asked."

"I know."

"Then answer me."

The Observer looked directly into his eyes.

"You were the person who made the decision."

Kael’s expression went blank.

"What decision?"

The Observer’s gaze shifted toward the desk.

"The decision that separated the first ending from everything that came afterward."

Kael felt the ground disappear beneath his thoughts.

"And the First User?"

The Observer’s answer was almost inaudible.

"They were the one who gave you the means to make it."

Kael stared at him.

A thousand questions rose to his tongue.

Before he could ask even one, the figure behind the desk closed the book.

The sound was soft.

A simple closing of leather-bound pages.

Yet the entire white space trembled.

The desk began to fade.

The figure stood.

For one fleeting instant, Kael saw a silhouette that seemed disturbingly familiar.

The same posture.

The same tilt of the head.

The same way of holding the quill between two fingers.

Then the darkness swallowed it.

The connection vanished.

[FIRST USER CONNECTION LOST.]

[REASON: THE FIRST USER HAS WITHDRAWN ACCESS.]

[CURRENT STATUS: ACTIVE.]

Kael stood motionless.

The Observer didn’t move either.

The silence lasted long enough for the fractured horizon to begin repairing itself.

Finally, Kael exhaled.

"So the First User is alive."

"Possibly."

Kael turned toward him.

"Don’t."

The Observer paused.

"Don’t what?"

"Don’t start doing that thing where you make everything sound uncertain because you don’t want to tell me the truth."

The Observer looked away.

Kael shook his head.

"Forget it."

He glanced at the fading desk.

The last thing the First User had written remained visible for a moment longer.

A final line.

[NEXT TIME, COME ALONE.]

Then it vanished.

Kael’s System chimed.

[SPECIAL MISSION UPDATED.]

[FIND THE FIRST USER]

Objective: Discover the identity and location of the First User.

Secondary Objective: Discover the original purpose of the Karma System.

Reward: Unknown.

Failure Penalty: Unknown.

Additional Condition: Do not allow the First User to determine the Host’s identity before the Host remembers it himself.

Kael read the last condition twice.

Then a third time.

"Determine my identity?"

The Observer stiffened.

Kael lowly looked up.

"You know what that means."

The masked figure said nothing.

"Observer."

The figure’s crimson eyes met his.

For the first time, Kael saw something worse than fear in them.

Recognition.

"The First User doesn’t merely know who you were," the Observer whispered.

Kael felt his stomach tighten.

"They know who you’re supposed to become."

The world broke.

White space shattered into countless fragments of light, and Kael felt himself falling through an endless darkness.

He reached for something.

Anything.

His fingers closed around empty air.

Then a familiar voice called his name.

"Kael!"

The darkness collapsed.

Kael opened his eyes.

Aetheris Academy’s First Tower stood around him.

The ancient chamber was silent, its fractured stone walls illuminated by pale runes. The broken chains beneath the academy remained suspended in the air, their severed ends drifting like remnants of a forgotten law.

He was on his knees.

One hand rested against the cold floor.

His other hand was clenched tightly around nothing.

For a moment, he couldn’t remember how he had returned.

Then he saw the faces surrounding him.

Leon stood several paces away, his golden hair disheveled and his blue eyes filled with concern.

Mira knelt beside him, one hand hovering near Kael’s shoulder as if uncertain whether touching him would make matters worse.

Elena stood behind them, her expression stern, though the tension in her shoulders betrayed her worry.

Second leaned against a fractured pillar, watching Kael with narrowed gray eyes.

Third stood near the chamber’s entrance.

Pi was perched on Kael’s shoulder.

The little creature’s golden eye was fixed on his face.

Its black eye was trembling.

"Pi," it whispered.

Kael swallowed.

"I’m here."

Pi immediately pressed its small head against his cheek.

Kael lifted one hand and gently stroked its scales.

"I’m fine."

Pi made a low, unhappy sound.

"Fine," Kael repeated.

Mira gave him a flat look.

"You have been unconscious for less than a minute, and you’ve already started lying."

Kael glanced at her.

"It’s a talent."

"It’s an irritating one."

"I’m glad you’re appreciating my abilities."

"I’m considering testing whether your head is as hard as it looks."

Leon crouched beside him.

"Can you stand?"

"I think so."

Leon offered his hand.

Kael accepted it and rose unsteadily to his feet.

The moment he stood upright, the System appeared.

[MEMORY RECOVERY: 92%]

[RETURN AUTHORITY: 43%]

[IDENTITY STABILITY: 100%]

[ORIGIN MEMORY: PARTIALLY RECOVERED]

[SYSTEM ORIGIN: UNKNOWN]

A new line appeared beneath the others.

[FIRST USER STATUS: ACTIVE.]

Kael’s smile disappeared.

Leon noticed.

"What is it?"

Kael stared at the notification.

"Nothing good."

Second pushed away from the pillar.

"Did you see them?"

Kael turned.

"Who?"

"The First User."

The chamber fell silent.

Mira slowly rose to her feet.

Elena’s gaze sharpened.

Leon looked between Kael and Second.

"You know about this?"

Second ignored him.

"Did you see the desk?"

Kael’s expression hardened.

"Yes."

Second closed his eyes.

For a moment, he looked exhausted.

Then he laughed once, without humor.

"So it has started."

Kael stepped toward him.

"What has started?"

Second opened his eyes.

"The part where they stop pretending you’re the only person who has returned."

Before Kael could respond, the runes along the chamber walls began to glow.

A low vibration passed through the stone.

Pi lifted its head.

"Pi?"

Third immediately turned toward the entrance.

"Something’s coming."

The chamber’s ancient door slammed shut.

Every rune went dark.

Then a notification appeared before Kael’s eyes.

[EMERGENCY MISSION UNLOCKED.]

[THE USER BEFORE THE USER]

Objective: Prevent an unidentified individual from accessing the Karma System.

Time Limit: 10 minutes.

Reward: Unknown.

Failure Penalty: System ownership transfer

Kael’s blood ran cold.

"System ownership transfer?"

[Correct.]

"What happens if ownership is transferred?"

[The Host will lose access to the Karma System.]

Kael narrowed his eyes.

"And then?"

For once, the System didn’t answer immediately.

A second notification appeared.

[ADDITIONAL WARNING.]

[THE CURRENT HOST MAY NOT SURVIVE THE TRANSFER.]

Kael stared at the message.

Then he looked toward the sealed door.

Someone was standing on the other side.

He could hear footsteps.

Slow.

Measured.

Unhurried.

As though whoever approached had all the time in the world.

Second’s face had gone pale.

"No," he whispered.

Leon drew his sword.

Elena’s mana gathered around her fingertips.

Mira moved closer to Kael, her spatial magic flickering in the air.

Pi spread its tiny wings and bared its teeth.

The footsteps stopped.

A voice spoke from beyond the door.

"Hello, Kael."

Kael’s heart lurched.

He knew that voice.

Not from this world.

Not from the First Tower.

From the white room.

From the desk.

From the memory he wasn’t supposed to possess.

The voice continued, warm and familiar.

"You’ve been using my System for quite some time."

A pause.

Then, with a quiet chuckle:

"I think it’s time we discussed the matter of ownership."

[TIME REMAINING: 09:59]

[09:58]

[09:57]

Kael stared at the door.

For the first time since receiving the Karma System, he had no idea what to do.

And somewhere deep within the System’s hidden architecture, something ancient began to wake.

[FIRST USER AUTHENTICATION: IN PROGRESS.]

[WELCOME BACK.]