V. III

[INTRO]

[Low static. A cockpit hum. A voice, tired, distant:]

"You ever wake up and forget why you're fighting? No? You will."

[A slow beat enters. Not aggressive. Just... present.]

---

[VERSE 1]

I used to believe in something
A flag, a cause, a name
Now I just watch the numbers climb
And nothing feels the same

They gave me augmentation
Said it'd make me more
But something in the surgery
Left something on the floor

I don't dream like I used to
Don't feel like I should
Sometimes I pull the trigger
And I don't know if I would've
Before

---

[PRE-CHORUS]

You think you're fighting for something
That's what they all say
Until the thing you're fighting for
Gets in the way

---

[CHORUS]

I'm V.III, the one who walked away
Not for a cause, not for a better day
Just woke up one morning and the fire was gone
And I didn't have the strength to pretend to carry on

They'll call me traitor, call me coward
Call me what you will
I'm just the one who stopped pretending
That the blood was worth the thrill

---

[VERSE 2]

I've seen the Coral burn
Seen what it does to men
Seen the ones who thought they'd save it
And the ones who'd kill for ten

I've watched the Vespers preen
In their white and gold
Pretending they're the answer
To a question no one told

But Snail's just chasing power
And Rusty's chasing ghosts
And I'm just chasing silence
The thing I want the most

---

[PRE-CHORUS]

You think you're different
That's what they all think
Until you're standing at the edge
And you're the one who has to blink

---

[CHORUS]

I'm V.III, the one who walked away
Not for a cause, not for a better day
Just woke up one morning and the fire was gone
And I didn't have the strength to pretend to carry on

They'll call me traitor, call me coward
Call me what you will
I'm just the one who stopped pretending
That the blood was worth the thrill

---

[BRIDGE]

[Track pulls back. Just a piano and O'Keeffe's voice, vulnerable.]

I don't know what I'm fighting for anymore
Maybe I never did
I just followed the orders
Did what I was told
Made what I was bid

But somewhere in the static
Between the fire and the smoke
I lost the thread, I lost the plot
I lost the reason I woke

So now I'm here, in the quiet
Watching the war from the edge
Not because I found the truth
Just because I lost the ledge

---

[FINAL CHORUS]

[Softer than before. Resigned. The fight left him long ago.]

I'm V.III, the one who walked away
Not a hero, not a villain
Just a man who couldn't stay

They'll forget my name in time
That's the way it goes
I'm just the one who stopped pretending
And let the silence close

---

[OUTRO]

[Static. The cockpit hum returns. O'Keeffe's voice, distant:]

"You ever wake up and forget why you're fighting?"

[Pause.]

"You will."

[Silence.]

Ambient, Lo-Fi Hip-Hop, male, Nerdcore