The knock still echoed.
Not in the chamber.
Not in sound.
But in the code.
It rippled through the construct like a psychic tremor, touching every node, every thread, every shard of memory suspended in the architecture. It didn't try to break through. It didn't have to. It was a signal.
A declaration:
"I am coming."
---
Cole jerked back from the sphere, as if burned. The others were already backing away, their instincts warning them of a presence that had not yet arrived.
Orion stood still, her eyes locked on the black glass. Her breath came slower now. Deeper. She wasn't afraid—but she was alert. Listening.
Lucy glanced at her screen. "I'm picking up cascading entropy signatures. Not from here—from outside. Multiple coordinates across the construct's outer layers are destabilizing."
"Is it him again?" Layla asked, clutching her arms. "The Observer?"
"No," Orion answered. "Something… else."
The sphere pulsed again—softly this time.
But this time it didn't speak.
