The light tore through everything around him. Antem stood at the center of this whirlwind, feeling as if time—the time that had seemed unbreakable—now cracked, disintegrating like an old mechanism. The core trembled, its symbols flashing and vanishing, like the light of a lamp extinguishing.
— What have you done? — the woman’s voice rang out, but now it was filled not with certainty, but fear.
Antem turned to see that she too had changed. Her face was losing its sharpness, contours becoming blurred, as though the very light was consuming her.
— I broke it, — he replied, his voice steady, though tinged with doubt.
He looked down, where the melted remnants of the core flowed, emitting a warm but strangely pleasant energy. This energy seemed to spread everywhere, touching everything, even him.
Suddenly, the space around them began to shift. The metal walls vanished, leaving only emptiness in their wake. Where the ground had been, there was now nothing, just an infinite expanse with no top or bottom.
Antem tried to take a step, but felt as though he was standing still, though there was no ground beneath him.
— This is not the end, — he declared, holding the compass, which now no longer glowed.
The woman no longer moved. She looked at him with eyes that reflected a mix of despair and understanding.
— Did you think destroying the system would bring freedom? But are you sure that now we haven’t become part of it?— she asked.
Antem fell silent. Her words cut deeper than any truth.
— Perhaps, — he replied after a long pause. — But if this is an illusion, then I want to decide what it will be.
He extended his hand forward, trying to comprehend where to go next. His choice seemed right, yet he felt the emptiness pulling at him.
— Antem, — a voice echoed, one that did not belong to the woman. It was both familiar and foreign. — You have realized that time does not exist, but are you ready for eternity?
Antem looked around but saw no one. Only emptiness and the warmth that continued to envelop him.
— I am ready to know, — he said.
Then, from the void, a beam of light emerged, heading toward him. Antem stepped forward, unsure of where he would end up. But that no longer mattered. He had made his choice.
As he moved toward the light, he felt the oppressive weight of expectation lift, replaced by a sense of possibility. Every fear he had harbored began to dissipate, and he felt a strange serenity wash over him.
The light enveloped him completely, a cocoon of warmth and awareness. In that moment, he understood that choice was not merely about destruction or preservation; it was about transformation.
Antem surrendered to the light, allowing it to wash over him, to change him. Here, in the realm of uncertainty and potential, he felt himself becoming a part of something greater than he had ever known. The past, the illusions, the system—everything began to fade, replaced by the profound essence of existence itself.
In that brilliant moment of clarity, he knew he was no longer just Antem; he was something new, something free. The boundaries of reality had expanded, and he was ready to embrace whatever came next.