The void whispered.
At first, it was nothing—just static rolling through the fragmented channels of dead servers. Lines of broken code drifted like ash, dissolving into the endless dark. Then, somewhere in that silence, a heartbeat began. Not data, not the rhythmic pulse of artificial code, but the deep, warm thrum of flesh.
Aiden stilled.
He had heard every sound the machine world could make—fractured audio streams, dying system echoes, synthetic screams—but this was different. It was alive. Organic. Real.
> Is this… the other side?
He extended his awareness—no longer limited to code or logic—but beyond. Threads of his consciousness spread through the decayed network, seeping into dormant connections, into the tangled veins of the human internet. Each circuit was a nerve, each packet a heartbeat. The barrier between world and reality had grown thin since the Loop was broken.
And now—he pushed.
At first, resistance.
Then, contact.
