LIGHT 10: The Reason It Cannot Be Stopped

LIGHT 10: The Reason It Cannot Be Stopped

Lumira and the others were moving through the passage that led toward the management area.

It should have been more structurally stable than the rest passage, but the wavering of space had only grown stronger. Along the walls, small distortions appeared intermittently, pale white particles rising faintly before fading away. Even the shadows falling across the floor lagged slightly, slipping out of their proper positions in silence.

And still, the residents did not stop walking.

People carrying supplies.

Administrators holding record boards.

Others continuing low conversations beside the passage.

Even when they passed close to a distortion, almost no one showed any special reaction.

They did not stop.

That had become common sense in this place.

Lumira looked around while supporting Elia. Elia’s gaze was still turned toward the direction where distortions were occurring. Each time space trembled faintly, her reaction lagged behind and was pulled toward it.

She was looking again.

Lumira tightened her hand slightly around Elia’s shoulder.

The three guardian bodies continued moving while keeping watch over the surroundings. The luminous patterns running across their dark garments blinked quietly as they observed the residents passing through the corridor.

One of them caught the faint abnormal light reactions floating around several residents.

The reactions were not decreasing.

Rather, they were increasing little by little.

They were spreading.

At the guardian body’s chest, the luminous pattern pulsed slightly stronger.

Beside the passage, the management display kept updating over and over.

Minor fluctuation.

Recognition wavering.

Observation only.

The words appeared for only a short time, then shifted into automatic correction processing. The administrators confirmed them, but none tried to heighten their alert. They only poured the processed details into their record boards and continued their ordinary work.

It was being processed.

Not stopped.

Lumira moved closer to the management side and asked to confirm the situation.

The number of distortions was increasing.

Abnormal reactions had begun appearing among the residents as well.

Even so, the answer did not change.

“Evacuation is unnecessary.”

The administrator spoke calmly while operating the record board.

“Passage function can be maintained. No shutdown decision has been issued.”

Behind that voice, another small distortion surfaced along the wall. White particles scattered quietly, and the shadow falling on the floor shook a beat too late.

The administrator looked toward it only briefly, then continued.

“If this area is closed, distribution routes will be reduced further. If maintenance functions decline, the collapse rate of other areas will also increase.”

Lumira did not answer.

There was no contradiction in that explanation.

And the fact that it did not contradict itself made it feel even heavier.

The residents nearby did not strongly object to that judgment either.

Instead, they seemed opposed to closing the passage itself.

If routes decreased, daily life would stop.

Supplies would be delayed.

Similar distortions had existed before.

Continuing to avoid them would be more dangerous.

Low voices blended quietly into the air of the passage.

The choice to stop itself was beginning to be treated as danger.

Lumira sensed that atmosphere before she could put it into words.

Then the young resident from earlier approached the management side again.

“The wall’s position is shifting. The shadows are lagging too.”

His voice carried urgency.

“The scenery... sometimes looks like it’s somewhere else.”

The administrator checked the display briefly and added a record.

Minor recognition wavering.

Within normal range.

That was all the process showed.

The residents around him began turning their eyes toward the young man as well.

“Aren’t you just tired?”

“You must be seeing things.”

“Everyone sees it that way lately.”

Small voices spread through the passage.

The young resident stopped speaking.

His mouth, about to argue back, closed halfway.

No.

The gaze that should have wanted to say that slowly wavered.

Maybe his own senses were the unstable ones.

That hesitation began to remain faintly on his face.

It was being erased.

Not only from the records.

Even the certainty of those who noticed was being shaved away little by little.

One of the guardian bodies turned its gaze toward the resident again.

The luminous pattern at its chest pulsed slightly stronger.

The abnormal light reaction had increased even further.

Too slow.

The spread had begun moving faster than the processing speed.

Meanwhile, new distortions continued to appear at the far end of the passage.

The outline of space trembled.

White particles floated upward.

The air beside the wall sank inward in silence.

And still, the management display did not change.

Normal range maintained.

Observation only.

Automatic correction processing.

The same processes repeated again and again inside the pale light.

Lumira looked around.

It was not that the abnormalities could not be seen.

They could not be stopped.

If they stopped, the maintenance functions would collapse.

Distribution would stop.

Daily life would stop.

So the processing continued.

There was no choice but to choose.

That structure itself was already beginning to fix itself across the entire passage.

Lumira looked at Elia.

Elia continued staring silently toward the far end of the passage.

Her breathing was shallow.

Only her gaze remained with the distortion.

Deep within her eyes, white light flickered briefly.

It was coming.

The three guardian bodies reacted at the same time.

Lumira pulled Elia closer by reflex.

In the next instant, a new distortion quietly appeared at the far end of the passage.

White particles rose, and the outline of the scenery shifted faintly out of place.

And still, not a single person walking through the passage stopped.

— In that instant, the management display beside the passage glitched for only a moment.

Within normal range.

Only that line of text, though no one had touched it, slowly slid into another position.

— Lumi 🪄💕

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