“You never finished it,” Léa said.

Her mother’s hand paused over the kettle. For a long moment, she didn’t turn around. Then she smiled—a thin, fragile thing. “Did you reach the lighthouse?”

Léa’s finger hovered over the controller. She looked at the save file’s completion data: Last played: October 17, 2001. Status: Incomplete. Note: “Je ne peux pas choisir.” — “I cannot choose.”

That night, Léa went back to the attic. She put the disc in again. She loaded her mother’s save. At the elevators, she didn’t choose. Instead, she walked Pierrot away from both doors, into the fog. The screen flickered. Colombe’s ghost appeared beside him. For one frame—one single, impossible frame—they held hands again.

Léa tried to go back. The game wouldn’t let her. She tried to call Colombe. No response.

But the save file was gone.