Silence had always been powerful.
But now, it was shattered—and from its shards rose the impossible.
Where the red door had glowed with forbidden answers and the silent door had hidden dormant power, both now stood open, torn from their hinges by Kei's refusal to follow rules.
And standing in the center of the chaos…
Was a being that made even the Architect pause.
Chains trailed behind its feet—rusted, ancient, and screaming with memories too loud to forget. Its form flickered between child and god, between a shadow and a sun. Its face was blurred, like it had been erased from existence by time itself.
And when it spoke, the Prison of Time shook.
"You finally found me."
Kei—every version of him—instinctively stepped back.
"Who are you…?"
The being looked up. Its eyes were voids, yet in them were universes begging to collapse.
"I am the First Prisoner. The one who was locked away before the prison even had walls. Before time even knew it could loop."
The Architect's voice cracked with urgency.
"You weren't supposed to awaken."
But the First Prisoner smiled.
"Neither was Kei."
A pause. The void pulsed with ancient tension.
"He's more than a glitch now," the First Prisoner continued.
"He's the convergence. The proof that free will can evolve beyond programming. That even paradoxes can become gods."
Then the First Prisoner turned to Kei.
And whispered, "But are you ready to see what lies beyond the walls of the Prison? Not just time. Not just memory. But the Source?"
Kei's core-self, the one who had become part of the Neuromancer system, spoke for all:
"Show me."
The First Prisoner raised his hand—and reality peeled away.
Behind it?
Not code.
Not timelines.
But an ocean of pure origin. The Canvas of All Things—blank, waiting, ancient.
And floating within it…
A throne.
Unclaimed.
Unseen.
Until now.
> [FINAL SYSTEM MESSAGE:]
[KEY HOLDER DETECTED.]
[PRISON CORE DISCONNECTED.]
[YOU ARE NOW OUTSIDE TIME.]
And the Architect, watching it all collapse around him, whispered to himself—
"It has begun again."