Nothing Owed Deserves Eternity
Something twisted deep inside me.
The person lying there was no longer me.
A short while later, the woman on the bed slowly opened her eyes. She turned her gaze toward me and forced an awkward smile.
"Host," she said softly. "Long time no see."
Sadness flickered through me. In this world, she alone could still perceive my existence.
"NODE, I lost," I said.
The woman on the bed sighed. "The settlement had already been completed. Your mission is still considered finished."
NODE, the Neural Outcome Determination Engine, paused before she continued in a calm, precise tone, "I intervened this time. If you fail to exit this world at the next node and another non-natural death occurs, no one will b