The fall

Previously

…My gaze swept across the vast, incomprehensible expanse. The fear was still there, a low hum beneath the surface, but it was now tempered by a dawning sense of purpose. I had come seeking escape, but I had found a truth far more profound, and far more terrifying. My past was not a mystery to be solved, but a burden to be carried, a foundation upon which to build. The Architect had presented me with the ultimate choice, not of escape, but of existence. And as I stood on the precipice of this unified reality, I knew that whatever I chose, I would never be the same again. The ascent, it seemed, had only just begun.