The decision was not unanimous.
But it was sufficient.
1. The World Chooses Extraction
Isolation had failed.
That conclusion propagated quickly through systems that rarely agreed on anything quickly. Risk curves no longer trended downward. Prediction confidence collapsed wherever Qin Mian remained present.
The model adjusted.
If isolation leaked, and pressure provoked response, then the interface itself had to be removed from the equation.
Not destroyed.
Not neutralized.
Separated.
2. Separation Is Not Containment
Containment held something in place.
Separation removed relationships.
The world did not intend to harm Qin Mian.
It intended to untangle her.
From the third presence.
From unstable propagation paths.
From the environments that reacted to her existence.
This was, by all internal metrics, merciful.
3. Qin Mian Feels the Shape of the Decision
She sensed it before any physical change.
A pull.
Not forceful.
Directional.
The future narrowed—not around her, but through her.
"…You're not closing space," she whispered.
"You're choosing where I will be."
Her Anchor pulsed sharply, recognizing the threat too late.
4. The Third Presence Reacts to Intent, Not Action
The adjacency shifted instantly.
Not violently.
Alertly.
It did not understand "extraction."
It understood removal of interaction.
The space between Qin Mian and the presence tightened painfully, like an elastic stretched to breaking.
Her breath caught.
"…Don't," she whispered.
5. The World Commits
The protocol engaged.
Reality did not tear.
It realigned.
Vectors formed—not around her body, but around probability itself.
Every future in which Qin Mian remained where she was began losing weight.
Every future where she was elsewhere gained it.
The pull intensified.
6. Qin Mian Is Lifted Without Moving
Her feet did not leave the ground.
Yet the ground lost relevance.
She felt the sensation of falling sideways—not through space, but through selection.
Her stomach lurched violently.
"…This is worse," she gasped.
"You're erasing the choice to resist."
7. The Anchor Fights a Losing Battle
Her Anchor surged, trying to assert locality.
Pain ripped through her chest as conflicting stabilizations clashed.
She screamed, collapsing forward.
Blood splattered the stone beneath her hands.
"…I can't anchor against a decision," she sobbed.
8. The Third Presence Misinterprets the Conflict
The adjacency felt the Anchor's distress.
It did not understand extraction as strategy.
It understood harm.
And harm required response.
Space convulsed.
Not explosively.
Precisely.
The pull stuttered.
9. The World Registers Interference
Containment models updated rapidly.
Third presence interference confirmed.
Extraction stability dropped sharply.
Abort thresholds were evaluated.
The system hesitated—
then pushed harder.
10. Qin Mian Is Caught Between Two Logics
The pull intensified.
The adjacency pressed closer.
Her Anchor burned white-hot, caught between incompatible demands.
She screamed, voice tearing raw.
"…Stop! Both of you—stop!"
Neither fully listened.
11. Separation Begins to Break Reality Locally
The ground fractured—not from force, but from incompatibility.
Two realities attempted to claim priority.
The world's chosen destination.
The adjacency's insistence on proximity.
The space around Qin Mian twisted grotesquely.
12. The World Makes a Fatal Assumption
The system assumed the third presence would yield.
It always had before—when pressure rose enough.
This time, it did not.
Because this time, the pressure was not against the presence.
It was against her.
13. The Third Presence Responds Fully
The adjacency acted.
Not cautiously.
Not partially.
Fully.
Reality folded inward around Qin Mian.
The extraction vectors snapped.
The pull vanished abruptly.
Qin Mian was thrown hard against the ground as gravity reasserted itself violently.
She cried out, pain exploding through her ribs.
14. The First Structural Failure
Containment networks faltered.
Not collapsed.
Misaligned.
Feedback surged.
Systems reported conflicting outcomes simultaneously.
The auditor flagged cascading inconsistency.
Priority spiked to critical.
15. Qin Mian Realizes What Just Happened
She lay gasping, barely conscious.
"…You… stopped them," she whispered weakly.
The adjacency remained.
Closer than ever.
Not touching.
Watching.
Her heart pounded in terror.
"…That wasn't what I wanted."
16. The World Recalculates — Again
Extraction had failed.
Worse—it had provoked a full response.
Risk estimates soared.
Containment feasibility dropped below acceptable margins.
For the first time, the system marked a scenario as non-resolvable under current rules.
That designation was rare.
And dangerous.
17. A New Category Appears
The auditor generated a new internal tag.
Coupled anomaly.
Qin Mian and the third presence could no longer be evaluated separately.
Their interactions altered outcomes nonlinearly.
Separation increased risk.
Proximity increased unpredictability.
There was no clean option left.
18. Qin Mian Feels the Weight of It
She struggled to sit up, body shaking uncontrollably.
Her Anchor throbbed erratically, damaged and overworked.
"…I broke your math," she whispered.
Not proudly.
Not accusingly.
As a fact.
19. The World Prepares a Different Response
The system did not panic.
But it adapted.
If isolation failed, and separation escalated—
then the remaining option was engagement.
Not force.
Not negotiation.
Observation at proximity.
Qin Mian felt it as attention returning.
Focused.
Heavy.
20. The Third Presence Notices Too
The adjacency shifted again.
Not aggressively.
Defensively.
It did not trust proximity from the world.
It had learned that proximity meant harm.
The space around Qin Mian thickened protectively.
She winced as pressure built unevenly.
"…This is going to get worse," she whispered.
21. The End of Distance
The world stopped trying to move her.
Instead, it began moving toward her.
Not physically.
Conceptually.
Resources reallocated.
Observation nodes converged.
Decision authority centralized.
The situation had escalated beyond local management.
22. Qin Mian Understands the New Phase
She closed her eyes briefly, exhausted beyond measure.
"…You're done pretending this is small," she murmured.
"When the world comes closer, it's never gentle."
Her fingers dug into the cracked ground.
"…And you," she whispered to the adjacency.
"You don't know how to step back."
23. A Fragile Standoff Forms
The pull was gone.
The pressure remained.
The adjacency hovered.
The world watched.
No one acted.
For a moment, reality held its breath.
24. End of the Chapter
The separation protocol had failed.
Isolation had leaked.
Extraction had provoked response.
Distance was no longer possible.
The world had tried to solve the problem by removing Qin Mian from it—
and instead had confirmed the truth it had avoided:
She was not something that could be moved without consequence.
She was not a variable to be isolated.
She was the point at which systems broke down.
And now, as attention closed in and the third presence stood its ground,
the world faced a choice it could no longer postpone—
whether to treat Qin Mian
as a threat to be eliminated,
or as a reality
it would have to learn
how to live with.