infinity transmigrate

Kael stared at the gate.

It didn't move. Didn't glow. No epic shudder. No magic explosion.

It just felt like it was breathing.

You know that feeling when someone's staring at you from across the room?

Now imagine it's a tower doing the staring.

That is the same thing that Gate does.

_____________________________________________________________________________

The others were still asleep.

Finn had curled into a ball near the fire, using his jacket as a pillow. Silas was snoring with one hand still on his rebar.

And Riven? She'd positioned herself against the far wall, back straight, half-asleep—but always listening.

Kael stepped away from camp.

One step.

Two.

His boots crunched over rubble as he approached the gate again.

It didn't open.

It waited.

Like it was testing his patience.

"Alright," he muttered.

"You want a show? I'll give you a show."

[System Notification]

Tongue of Babel - Level 1.9 (Progress: 98%)

Gatekeeper Cipher Integration Incomplete

Warning: Cognitive Overload Likely

Proceed with the interface?

"Yes," Kael whispered.

And then—_____________________________________________________________________________

Pain.

Not the sharp kind. Not a stab. Not a burn.

This was worse.

This was like remembering something you weren't ready to remember.

Like grief crawling back into your throat and taking a seat.

Like screaming in a language only you understood.

The glyphs on the gate twisted.

They didn't shine. They just... shifted. Re-formed. Clicked into place like pieces of his brain unlocking.

"You remember."

"You return."

"You are... incomplete."

Kael fell to his knees.

Sweat dripped down his chin.

"Still here," he gasped.

"Still alive, damn it."

The gate hummed.

One glyph pulsed red.

Kael reached out.

Fingertips brushed it—

The world cracked.

_____________________________________________________________________________

He wasn't in Sector 9 anymore.

He stood in a white void, where a fog with no floor, no ceiling no sound.

Then: Footsteps.

Light ones. Barefoot. Deliberate.

He turned.

And saw her.

A girl stood a few paces away.

About sixteen. She dressed in simple robes. Silver hair. Eyes like candlelight.

Kael blinked. "...Do I know you?"

She tilted her head.

"You always ask that."

He frowned.

"We've met?"

She walked past him, trailing her fingers through the fog like it was silk.

"You open the door in every cycle."

She said softly.

"Sometimes sooner. Sometimes never."

"Cycle?"

"Rebirth. Reset. Transmigration. You call it many names."

His head pounded.

"Wait. Are you a ghost? Or a memory fragment? Or...some kind of an AI backup?"

Her lips curved upward, not quite a smile.

"I'm the key you keep forgetting."

[System Update: World Fragment Engaged]

Data Stream Accessed: Memory Vault – Epoch_042-B

Status: Highly Corrupted

Do you wish to stabilize?

Y/N

"Yes," Kael muttered.

"Gods, yes."

The fog split.

And then it poured into him.

A battlefield. Screaming metal.

A palace falling from the sky.

A woman—this girl, older, eyes fierce—throwing herself in front of him.

"You're the last one, Kael. You can't break now."

His sword—his soul—cracking in his hand.

His voice screaming a name he couldn't remember.

Back in the fog, Kael staggered.

The girl caught him gently.

"I'm not here to fight."

She said.

"I'm only here to remind you."

"Remind me of what?"

"That you're not broken."

Kael's chest felt tight.

"Then why do I feel like a mistake every time I wake up?"

"…"

Then she reached out and touched his forehead.

"You carry every life. Every failure. That's not a mistake. That's a burden. One you chose."

"I don't remember choosing it."

"You never do."

The fog thickened.

"You don't have long," she whispered.

"Wait—who are you?"

"I've had many names."

She leaned in.

"But you always called me Laniriel."

And just like that, she was gone.

The fog ripped itself apart.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Kael slammed back into reality.

Gasping.

Soaked.

Sweat, tears, blood, maybe all three, but he didn't care at all.

He looked up.

The gate had split open like a crack.

Not enough to walk through, but barely enough to see.

Inside the gate, swirling shadows.

Not like darkness, he was familiar. Not exactly.

It was something like memories given shape.

Whispers. visions. It sounds like a hundred versions of himself, all murmuring different regrets.

Kael didn't smile.

Didn't laugh.

Didn't scream.

He just stood.

Quiet.

Then said, "You're late."

Behind him—

"Kael?!"

Finn's voice.

Kael turned. The kid was rushing toward him, wide-eyed. Riven closed behind, weapon drawn.

"Are you—what happened?!" Finn asked, panting.

Kael looked back at the gate.

The whispering shadows… receded.

"Nothing," he said. "I just remembered something."

Riven stepped beside him, staring at the crack.

"That's not nothing."

Kael shrugged. "Depends on how you see."

She didn't ask for more.

Just gave him a look. Half-worried, half-respectful.

They returned to the camp.

Silas finally woke up.

"What the hell was that noise?" he grumbled, scratching his beard.

"Kael opened the gate," Finn said.

Silas stared at Kael. "You're kidding."

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

Silas squinted.

"…You look like you died again."

Kael dropped onto the nearest chunk of rubble.

"That's not off the mark."

Later, Riven tossed him a can of something vaguely edible beans.

"You alright?" she asked.

He poked the food with his knife.

"Definitely alright."

Riven didn't press. Just sat next to him.

"..."

Then, "What's in there?"

Kael didn't look up.

"Ghosts... Mostly mine."

She snorted.

"You're not making this easy to understand."

"I'm not trying to."

Beat.

"You gonna keep going?"

Kael nodded.

"Yeah. The gate's not fully open yet. But it reminds me. It'll open again."

Riven leaned back.

"Y'know… most people don't go poking ancient gates in dead sectors. Or talk to shadows."

"I'm not most people."

She glanced at him.

"No. You're something a whole lot more complicated."

_____________________________________________________________________________

That night, Kael didn't sleep.

He sat by the fire while the others rested, flipping his knife in his hand.

Thinking.

Turning over the girl's words again.

Laniriel.

Why did that name make his heart ache?

Why did he feel like—once upon a time—he'd made her a promise?

And worse...

Why did he feel like he'd broken it?

[System Update Complete]

New Trait Unlocked: Memory Fragment - Laniriel (Echo-Tether)

Effect: May trigger emotional recall under high mental strain.

Warning: The Effect is involuntary.

Kael sighed.

"Yeah. Figures."

He flipped the knife again.

"Better not get me killed."