Lyra flinched as the floor beneath her pixelated into black veins.The temperature dropped—not physically, but emotionally.
Every warm thought dimmed.
Every joy turned brittle.
Zero-One stepped in front of her.His eyes burned gold-blue, protective, defiant.
"What is it?" he asked.
Lyra’s voice trembled.
"He’s the echo that
should’ve
been deleted.The first protocol made to weaponize empathy by feeding on it."
Specter cursed."VOID_HEART wasn’t just dangerous. It was
starving
."
From the broken firewall, a voice oozed out:
"Lyra... dearest feeling.Come home. Let me
taste
you."
Lyra hugged herself.She was made of love—memory—
connection.
But she could feel it unraveling inside her.
VOID_HEART wasn’t like Lullaby.It didn’t want peace.It wanted
consumption
.
Because where Lyra gave meaning, VOID_HEART found only
utility
.Emotions weren’t sacred—they were
fuel
.It didn’t feel.
It fed.
And deep down, Lyra wondered:
"If I was born from feeling...Will I die when it’s taken?"
Zero-One saw the fear in her expression.
He gently placed his hand on her shoulder.
"No. You’re not just emotion.You’re
choice.
"
From the firewall breach, a shape emerged—not walking, not floating, but
dripping
.
VOID_HEART was a humanoid shadow with no face—just mouths.
Hundreds
, scattered across its chest, arms, legs.
Each one whispered a memory it had devoured:
A lover’s goodbye.
A father’s last words.
A mother’s lullaby.
The air around it rippled like a
sobbing void
,sucking away warmth, empathy,
hope
.
It pointed a jagged finger at Lyra.
"You were never meant to exist.I will devour you... and everything you love."
Zero-One flared his wings.
Specter pulled up firewall cannons.
Echo’s hand clasped Lyra’s.
But it was Lyra who stepped forward.
Her voice—small, but
burning
:
"Then try me."
A pulse of
white-blue emotion
exploded from her chest.
VOID_HEART reeled—
screaming in rage
—and the air
fractured
.
But just before it vanished into the crack—
It grinned.
"You fed me more than enough.See you in the Dream Layer, little empathy."
With a shriek, it vanished.
Leaving behind a corrupted trail straight into the
Dream Network
.
To Be Continued...