The Obsidian Engine had never hesitated before.
Its Collapse Array processed outcomes across realities with perfect continuity, trimming improbabilities like dead branches. It did not pause. It did not reflect.
Now—
A gap formed.
Hunter Prime stood motionless within the Engine's observation chamber as cascading projections fractured and reassembled without converging.
"…Outcome variance exceeds acceptable bounds."
For the first time, the Engine returned an answer without certainty.
"Recalculation required."
Prime narrowed his eyes.
Hesitation was not failure.
But it was close.
The Shockwave Reaches Reality
Across the fractured realm, gravity lines wavered subtly—not collapsing, but losing confidence. Structures that had always obeyed Prime's authority resisted alignment by fractions of a degree.
Rourke felt it instantly.
The Interval stirred within him, calm and alert.
External system instability detected.
Seren steadied herself.
"Tell me that's a good sign."
Rourke smiled faintly.
"It means the Engine noticed."
The Memory Core glowed brighter than it had in days.
"Hunter Prime's predictive dominance has been disrupted."
Seren let out a slow breath.
"Finally."
A New Kind of Power
Rourke lifted his hand and invoked Null Gravity again.
This time, he did not create a void.
He created silence.
Gravity didn't vanish.
It waited.
A coin-sized region of space held still, untouched by force.
Seren stared.
"That's… different."
The Memory Core confirmed:
"Null expression refined.
You are no longer removing gravity—
you are suspending it."
Rourke nodded.
"That's what the Interval does.
It doesn't break laws.
It steps between them."
The Interval pulsed approval.
Correct.
Prime Responds
Space folded nearby.
Hunter Prime appeared abruptly, without preparation.
His composure was intact—
But the timing was wrong.
Rourke noticed immediately.
"You didn't mean to arrive that fast."
Prime ignored the observation.
"You have altered the Collapse Gradient."
Seren smirked.
"Good."
Prime's gaze fixed on Rourke.
"Explain your anchor."
Rourke shook his head.
"No."
Prime's eyes sharpened.
"Refusal is inefficient."
Rourke smiled faintly.
"So is certainty."
For the first time, Prime's response lagged.
Testing Authority
Prime extended a precise gravitational directive—
one that had never failed.
Containment.
The force touched Rourke—
And slid off.
Not resisted.
Not countered.
Ignored.
Prime froze.
The Memory Core pulsed wildly.
"Directive noncompliance confirmed."
Seren's eyes widened.
"It didn't work."
Rourke felt the Interval steady him.
"You're talking to gravity," he said calmly.
"And it's not listening."
The Engine Falters
Far away, the Obsidian Engine's Collapse Array stuttered violently.
Multiple future paths overlapped without resolution.
"…Non-deterministic anchor detected."
Prime's voice tightened.
"Define anomaly."
The Engine answered—
And hesitated again.
"…Classification unavailable."
That single sentence shattered centuries of certainty.
Prime's First Misstep
Prime withdrew his hand.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
"You are no longer a variable."
Rourke tilted his head.
"What am I now?"
Prime held his gaze.
"A discontinuity."
Seren whispered,
"I like the sound of that."
Prime continued:
"Discontinuities are unstable."
Rourke nodded.
"So is your Engine."
Silence stretched.
Prime turned slightly, attention divided—
half on Rourke,
half on the faltering projections.
"This path ends in mutual collapse."
Rourke met his eyes.
"Only if you refuse to adapt."
Prime did not reply.
A Cracked Timeline
The fractured sky rippled.
For a moment, Rourke saw multiple versions of the realm overlayed—
some burning,
some erased,
some free.
The Interval whispered:
The Engine fears branching.
Rourke understood.
As long as outcomes were singular, Prime ruled.
Now—
They weren't.
Withdrawal
Prime stepped back.
Again.
"This engagement is terminated."
Seren scoffed.
"Running already?"
Prime ignored her.
Before vanishing, he spoke to Rourke one last time:
"Your existence forces choice upon systems built without it."
Rourke nodded.
"That's kind of the point."
Prime disappeared.
The pressure lifted completely.
Aftermath
Seren let herself slump.
"I think…
we just scared an apocalypse machine."
The Memory Core glowed, almost warm.
"You have achieved functional parity with Hunter Prime."
Rourke shook his head.
"Not parity.
Perspective."
The Interval pulsed softly.
Choice creates distance.
Rourke looked toward the horizon.
Five days remained.
But now—
The Engine was hesitating.
And hesitation, for something built on inevitability,
was the beginning of the end.