The city hadn't woken up yet, but the fog already had.
Ye Han sat against the bakery wall, cloak draped loosely over his shoulders, and Yaya tucked beside him like a bundled question mark. Her breath was steady. Her fingers had curled around the hem of his sleeve again.
She did that sometimes now. Even in her sleep.
The mist reached the tops of the crates stacked beside them. Street lamps flickered gently overhead, casting light onto air that looked more like breath than space.
He'd barely slept.
Not from danger—but from weight.
Lian's page had formed cleanly.
But not quietly.
[Warden's Ledger – Status: Active]
[Pages: 3]
- Yaya
- Ren
- Lian
[Echoes Stabilized: 3 / 5]
- Yaya: Soothing Field
- Ren: Anchor Pulse
- Lian: Grief Buffer
[Passives Equipped: 3 / 3]
- Echo Latch
- Aura Soften
- Memory Stabilizer
[System Stability: 76% – Tensioned]
[Notice: Echo conflict detected – Lian and Ren exhibit emotional interference.]
[Next Echo Slot Unlock: Emotional alignment milestone required.]
[Passive Slot Expansion: Locked – Minimum resonance threshold not met.]
The system faded from his vision, but the implications lingered. He could feel it—not as noise, but as a kind of static under the skin.
Three people. Three fragments of memory inside him.
He didn't know if it was supposed to feel like this.
---
Yaya stirred just before sunrise. She blinked twice, then sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"Is it morning yet?"
"Getting close."
She looked toward the closed bakery. "They forgot to open again?"
He almost smiled. "No one's forgotten. Just slow."
She stretched her arms with a tiny yawn, then blinked at him. "Did your book wake you again?"
He paused. "You could tell?"
"You don't blink when it does."
He looked away. The girl was sharp in strange ways.
Before he could respond, a rusted bell echoed from across the square. A courier, dressed in plain ISA colors, fastened a new parchment to the city board with two clean nails and a single, practiced motion.
Then he walked away without a word.
By the time they approached, a few early risers had already glanced at it and moved on. The mist still hung low, catching the edge of the bulletin.
Ye Han read it in silence.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
ISA NOTICE – DUNGEON FIELD ACTIVITY
Rotation Cycle: 12-48-9
Region: Western Fringe
Caution: Do not approach shards with violet or crimson bloom.
Confirmed memory distortion risk.
Report Class-C relic contact to your nearest field agent.
Saturation Zones rising.
Border towns receiving additional deployment.
—Interim Systems Authority
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Yaya tilted her head. "Is that about the place the lady came from?"
"Maybe," he said.
She leaned against him. "Are you gonna help her again?"
Ye Han didn't respond right away. He remembered the way Lian had pressed the shard into his hand without ceremony. The way she hadn't looked back when she left. Just the sound of her steps retreating down the side street like she was already forgetting where she'd been.
"I don't think she'll come back," he said.
Yaya nodded, quiet.
Then after a pause: "You still helped her, though."
He didn't answer.
---
That evening, Granny Wen beckoned him to the side of her stall while Yaya played with a pair of bundled herbs behind the tea counter.
"You're holding more than you were last week," the old woman said, squinting up at him. "Your eyes don't settle."
Ye Han folded his arms loosely. "I'm fine."
"You're never fine. You're just standing. There's a difference."
He didn't argue. Granny Wen had known him long enough not to bother lying.
"People don't get heavier without lifting something," she added. "If you're picking up ghosts, make sure you're not storing them in your lungs."
He gave a small nod.
Granny didn't know about the Ledger. But she knew people. She saw what memory did to posture. She noticed when someone flinched at silence more than sound.
---
That night, the system returned one last time before sleep.
[System Notification – Passive Interference Stabilized]
[Memory drift has decreased. System holding pattern reestablished.]
[Current Stability: 78% – Holding]
[Recommendation: Allow natural emotional alignment before attempting further page formation.]
He let the message sit for a moment before blinking it away.
No visions. No pain. Just pressure. Subtle, but constant.
It wasn't unbearable.
But it was building.