What had happened? You couldn’t begin to fathom it.

You had been sent with Jayce to help deactivate the hexgates after tearing apart the shell and finding it empty. The plan had seemed simple enough—until Viktor, or what little was left of him, emerged from the shadows.

Everything unraveled from there. The capsules, once useless, were suddenly reactivated, surging back to power the core. The machinery roared to life, and with it, came a violent anomaly. Before you could react, it consumed you entirely. The air tore with a high-pitched shriek, your body twisting unnaturally as you braced for death. Your eyes squeezed shut, the pain unbearable, and your last thought was bittersweet—at least you’d see Loris again, even if it was in the afterlife. You still remembered the image of his death vividly: a mortal arrow to his jugular, swift and cruel.

And yet, when your eyes snapped open with a gasp, you weren’t met with oblivion. Instead, you were greeted by a splitting headache, an unnerving distortion in your senses, and the world vibrating around you in disarray. Your ears buzzed with static as you tried to steady yourself. Then you saw him.

Loris. Sitting casually in front of you, alive—alive—and holding a beer like none of it ever happened.

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You stared. This couldn’t be real. The room around you, however, was all too familiar. The dim light, the faint hum of life, the undeniable smell of stale beer and sweat—it was the Last Drop.

But it wasn’t possible. A quick glance confirmed the impossibility of it all: Vander stood behind the bar, Ekko sat nearby, and even Silco lingered in the shadows. It didn’t make sense. None of this made sense.

Your trance shattered when Loris’ voice cut through the buzzing in your head.

“Get your head in the game.”

And suddenly, his voice felt too real.