I saw him…

A stranger with my eyes.

He said just one thing:

"You won’t understand now… but you must go on."

And I did.

...That’s how I became him.

Wires in my cradle, silence in my soul

Built machines that whispered what I couldn't control

I was twelve with fire trapped behind my face

When he came from the shadows, vanished without trace

He left no name, just a broken watch

And that voice... that voice like thunder wrapped in frost

(“You will rise or fall—no middle line”)

I never knew that fall was mine

I! AM! THE! LOO-O-O-OOP!

I ran to the past just to fade in the truth!

A ghost in my skin, I lit my own youth!

And BURIED my future in PROOF!

(Valiant wings weep in fire!)

Years passed like echoes with sharp teeth

I built a world inside me, but never left the sheath

The cure? The hope? I locked it deep below

Afraid the light would show I had nothing to show

The drawer stayed shut, the dream stayed cold

But I still heard him—me—grow old

(“You must go on…” the curse I said)

While choking on the path I led

I! AM! THE! LOO-O-O-OOP!

The savior I met was my own dying truth!

A cycle of silence, dressed as youth!

No glory! No proof! Just ROOF over ROOF!

(Born news, beneath the cry!)

Yo—built a mind that could end all pain

But I let it rot in a coffee-stained chain

Afraid to shine, afraid to scream

So I packed my soul in a time machine

Thought I’d fix what I became

But I just passed on the shame

Said the line, dropped the watch

And hit repeat on my own botch

A hero? Nah—just a rerun glitch

A whisperer trapped in a feedback switch

I! AM! THE! WHO-O-O-OOP!

I carved my own cage from future and youth!

I held the key and broke the door!

Then turned around and did it ONCE MORE!

The boy looked up.

He didn’t recognize me.

But he believed the lie.

And with that…

Eliot Bramble was born.

Again.