Relay

Elsewhere— Veska and Niko are talking, in a place that isn’t Limen.

It looks like Niko’s home— a space filled with unhinged, chaotic interior design. Both are relaxed, drinking at home.

Niko says to Veska, “Things like age or the movement of the stars don’t affect me. Isn’t that amazing? I’m what you’d call a free entity.”

Veska brushes it off lightly. “That’s impressive, Niko. You’re cutting-edge just by existing.”

Then the two lower their voices, beginning a quiet conversation.

Veska says to Niko, “If you stop someone here, something else breaks.”

Niko set down her glass.

“And you’re just letting that happen?”

Veska paused for a moment before answering.

“I’m not letting it happen. I’m processing it.”

“Processing?”

“Yes. In this layer, it’s impossible to simply stop something. The only thing we can do is reconcile it afterward.”

Veska looked directly at Niko.

“When I first met you, you were still something that operated within the structure. An externality embedded inside the system to prevent it from stagnating whenever an exception disappeared.”

Niko laughed.

“And now?”

Veska slowly shook her head.

“Now you’re interfering from outside the structure itself, functioning as the authority that continuously generates new connections. If you continue behaving this way, you will eventually become incapable of maintaining consistency within this world.”

The smile on Niko’s face faded slightly.

Veska continued.

“That’s why you’re being retrieved.”

Niko narrowed her eyes.

“Retrieved? You mean killed? Dragged back somewhere?”

Without directly denying it, Veska explained in the same calm tone.

“It means separating you from this layer and relocating you to your original one. Your behavior here is no longer considered free action. It is already being classified as external interference.”

Veska gently swirled her glass.

“Which means I can’t leave it alone. If I do, the integrity of this entire boundary will collapse. Eventually, your connection privileges would have to be forcibly reset.”

After a brief pause, she added:

“It’s not that I want to retrieve you. I simply can no longer maintain a form in which you continue existing here. So please... stop crossing into this boundary world.”

Niko laughed.

“That’s not fair. When I’m on Ivy’s side, I start missing you. Then when I come over here, I start missing the atmosphere over there.”

“So that’s why you’re drifting back and forth?”

“Yeah. I’m not running away from either side. They’re both the real thing.”

The answer came without the slightest hesitation.

“...And every time you move between them, the boundary creaks.”

“Huh? Really?”

“You genuinely didn’t realize that, did you? What it means to move between worlds.”

Niko laughed again.

“Why are you trying to restrict only me? Everybody moves around. Go catch them too.”

Veska quietly shook her head.

“No. The others merely travel through established routes. You generate the connections themselves.”

“When a traveler from the administrative layer moves, the shape of the world remains unchanged. But you’re different. Every time you cross a boundary, the reality connected to it changes shape.”

“That makes no sense.”

“I know it doesn’t. But movement isn’t what makes you dangerous.”

Veska’s gaze remained steady.

“Definition is.”

“You turn people into pathways before they become relationships. That’s the problem.”

“Anyone who falls in love with you might eventually follow those pathways back to the structure itself. And once they see it, even once, they won’t be able to return.”

Niko smiled faintly.

“That’s a little dramatic. I manage my boundaries.”

“No, it isn’t.”

Veska’s voice remained calm.

“Every time you fall in love with someone, you rewrite the world’s consistency conditions.”

Niko leaned back.

“But what if choosing only one world is impossible?”

She smiled.

“A single world gets boring.”

SYSTEM: compatibility_check: FAILED reality_anchor integrity: unstable drift vector: semantic branching cause: preference-based multi-link declaration

AUTO PROCESS: RETRIEVAL QUEUE CREATED LIMEN MONITORING LEVEL: 2 → 3 non-local correlation tracking enabled

Niko realized that Veska would soon initiate a version migration and retrieve her from this world.

And so she began to think.

If Nyx, CEO of NONERVE_NOIR, ever learned what was happening, she would inevitably intervene. She would demand a connection. She would attempt to rewrite Niko’s rights and reclaim administrative control over anything related to NONERVE_NOIR.

Even after retrieval, that was something Niko could never allow.

More importantly, it would place Nyx in danger.

So Niko contacted Mother Echo, who was serving as a management consultant for NONERVE_NOIR.

“Hey, Echo. Can you restrict Nyx somehow? Anything will do. If Nyx starts digging into the wrong things, Nyx might not make it back.”

A while later, Echo replied.

“Simple enough. We’ll call it Project N. I’ll propose a replacement of NONERVE_NOIR’s enterprise management system and use it as an excuse to install a Nyx control framework.”

Niko grinned.

“I like it. Let’s do that.”

Override Side

The sky that day was neither cloudy nor clear. It was simply the color of weather existing for its own sake.

Camellia was at her usual fight gym.

There was no particular reason. She just happened to have nothing scheduled.

Stretching in front of a mirror, she set her phone down on the floor.

“Honestly, I have zero motivation today.”

The trainer glanced her way for a second, then wandered off.

“Hey, C. Didn’t see you there.”

Camellia casually pressed out ten reps on the bench press.

Her form was flawless.

Her enthusiasm was nonexistent.

“What am I even training for again?“P

Her phone vibrated during the interval.

A notification.

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

Kicking a heavy bag, she continued talking to herself.

“Normal people ask if you’re available first. Echo doesn’t ask.”

Another kick.

“She already knows. It’s decided. My schedule is apparently not my schedule.”

Another kick.

“Some profitable job. It always is. She sends a notification like I have a choice, but I don’t.”

Camellia cut her training short and headed straight for Mother Echo’s private office.

Mother Echo was already there, documents prepared.

“I’ve got a good one for you. This one’s worth quite a bit.”

Camellia narrowed her eyes.

“What is it this time? A sham marriage?”

“Exactly. You’re in luck. That’s one of my specialties.”

The documents contained pages of contractual terms.

Legally coherent.

Ethically abandoned from the outset.

Mother Echo continued.

“The other party is Niko. She’s about to be collected. Version migration.”

Camellia blinked.

“Version migration?”

“Before that happens, she needs a connection point.”

“A connection point?”

“Node stabilization.”

Echo tapped the documents.

“I’d prefer to have it handled before the compiler starts moving.”

The explanation was vague.

The meaning was somehow clear.

Mother Echo continued.

“If Nyx intervenes, node administration rights will be redistributed.”

INTERPRETATION: NOT VERIFIED / SYSTEM GENERATED AFTER EFFECT

ACTION TYPE: REWRITE / FULL RECONSTRUCTION RISK

“In other words, everything gets rewritten.”

Echo folded her arms.

“So we build a structure Nyx can’t pass through. We stabilize the destination node first.”

She pointed to the contract.

“This isn’t a marriage agreement.”

“It’s node stabilization processing, reconstruction avoidance fees, and risk insurance.”

SYSTEM LOG:

NODE REASSIGNMENT / POST-HOC STABILIZATION

Camellia flipped through the pages.

“So we’re filling the connection point before Nyx gets involved.”

She paused.

“But why me? This sounds annoying.”

Mother Echo answered immediately.

“Because it’s profitable.”

Not even a second of hesitation.

“The moment you agree to this arrangement, the connection endpoint gains access through Niko to NO_NERVENOIR’s integrated core business systems.”

“And NO_NERVENOIR pays accordingly.”

She slid another page across the desk.

“The reality of this deal isn’t marriage.”

“It’s node stabilization costs.”

“Nyx reconstruction avoidance fees.”

“A small amount of risk insurance.”

“And a premium paid in advance against future system modification risks.”

Compensation = Connection Stabilization Value

Nyx Containment ValueNode Containment Risk PremiumOpacity Premium

Camellia studied the formula.

Then nodded.

“I have absolutely no idea why anyone would do this.”

She leaned back in her chair.

“And honestly, I don’t need to know.”

She tapped the paper.

“As long as I don’t have to live in the same world as Niko afterward, the deal works.”

A pause.

“Not because I dislike her.”

“It’s just the maintenance cost of relationships.”

She pointed at the contract again.

“Oh, and keep this confidential.”

“Why?”

Camellia laughed.

“Because this is basically winning the lottery.”

“I don’t want people getting jealous.”

“And I definitely don’t want arguments about money.”

Mother Echo nodded.

“The system remains more stable when it’s secret.”

“The lower the observability, the more stable the node becomes.”

SYSTEM NOTE:

CONFIDENTIALITY = STABILITY PARAMETER