"Kaelith… why did you let me disappear?"
The voice came from somewhere beyond the broken archive.
It was Rin's voice. Not the voice of the stranger who had worn his face. Not the echo of a memory trapped in a crystal.
It sounded alive. Kaelith released Rin's hand. For one terrible moment, he looked as though he had forgotten how to breathe.
"Rin?"
The darkness beyond the shattered sphere rippled. A narrow passage appeared between the fragments of the archive. At its end stood a white door, untouched by the destruction around it.
The stranger pushed himself upright.
"Don't open it yet."
Kaelith turned on him. "You said he was beyond the erased timeline."
"He is. But the door doesn't lead to a place. It leads to the moment the timeline was erased."
Elias approached the stranger. "And what happens if we enter?"
"The World will try to restore the original ending."
The other Aelion examined the door. "Which means it will attempt to make the first Rin repeat his request."
