There were still too many questions in Mikel's mind.
What exactly was the crystal he was supposed to fill?
What would happen when the Blood Chain consumed another shard of the Mourning Eye?
Where did Doom actually come from?
What became of the previous bearer of the Protocol?
And why had Doom crashed when analyzing the Type X entities?
Mikel didn't have answers, just fragments.
But two things he did know: one was, signing his first Phantom Contract was the next step forward. Doom had said it would unlock progress and earn his first true ally.
Second, his progress was directly tied to Doom. which explained the crash.
Still, something didn't sit right with him. There were details—gaps—that felt intentional. Maybe Doom was restricted by the Protocol, or maybe it was choosing not to tell him everything.
Either way, Mikel wasn't going to let that stop him.
The deeper he pushed, the more the Protocol would unravel — whether Doom liked it or not.
***
