Chapter 48: The Architect Makes Nanno Human CONT'D
Nanno stood there, breath unsteady, her body trembling under the weight of mortality. The Architect watched her—not as an adversary, not as an enigma to be unraveled, but as something fragile. Something real.
She clenched her fists, struggling to hold back the overwhelming tide of emotions crashing into her for the first time. Fear. Uncertainty. Loneliness.
Her voice wavered. "Why…?"
The Architect didn’t answer. He simply stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her.
Nanno froze. The warmth of another person—it was foreign, unfamiliar. She had seen countless humans embrace, had watched them seek comfort in each other, but she had never felt it.
For a moment, she stood rigid. Then, slowly, she melted into it.
Her hands clutched at the fabric of his coat as a quiet sob escaped her lips. Tears—real, human tears—slipped down her face.
The Architect held her firmly but gently, like he had known this moment would come, like he understood the weight she was now carrying.
"Because you needed to know," he murmured. "What it truly means to be one of them."
And for the first time in her existence, Nanno wasn’t just watching the world.
She was a part of it.