The Pulse Fades

(from Richard's point of view) [Intro] They said we were designing futures. But we were drifting backward. Each image we painted Was memory in disguise. They said we were alive. But I feel I’m standing In the moment before the light goes out. And all that’s left— Is the echo Of what we thought we were. [Verse I] Time begins to bleed. Walls dissolve into breath. Emma cries out—but the sound Is water, Pouring from a wound in space. David reaches, But there’s no gravity, no ground. Only a promise they once made Still floating In the half-light of forgetting. [Verse II] Selene is still singing. But her voice isn’t sound. It’s a shape. A pattern I once knew In another lifetime. We were rivals. We were lovers. But love is a thread — And this world is unraveling. Carole lifts her brush— And the sky becomes paint. Even the air has turned to pigment. [Bridge] Jo sees it coming. Not with fear— But with the resignation of an archivist Who has catalogued too much truth. Geoffrey turns to Solana, As if history could still be rewritten. As if apology could hold form. But nothing holds now. Even guilt evaporates. [Verse III] In the tower— Augustus stares through walls that no longer exist. He speaks my name. Not in blame. Not in love. Just... a sound he once needed. [Chorus] We weren’t building worlds. We were escaping one. The pulse that fades Isn’t the end— It’s the question We all outran. [Verse IV] Geneviève is singing. Not with lips, But with light. She sings the shape of time. She sings what was forgotten. She sings… us. [Final Bridge] The pulse is slow now. Like a choice being made From somewhere deeper than thought. Not goodbye. Not survival. Something… older. [Final Chorus] If this is death— Let it be a garden. If this is life— Let it be worth the return. If this is somewhere in between— Let me remember Why I was ever born. [Final Line] The pulse fades. And still—I listen.