The orb hovered in the center of the chamber like a suspended sun, dim and pulsing. The figure inside it—once a person, once a mind, now reduced to a memory wrapped in tendrils of ancient code—did not move. Yet the voice that emanated from it filled the entire room.
> "You were born from my failure. You were shaped by my echo."
Orion stared at the orb, her heart pounding harder than she thought possible in a digital space. "Why now?" she asked, voice tight. "Why awaken now, when everything is stabilizing?"
> "Because now is when you would arrive. You, who still remember pain. You, who still question purpose."
Echo shifted beside her, flickering with unease. "This presence… it isn't static. It's recursive. This conversation is a loop. It's happened before."
"Not exactly," Cole said. "Each version of us probably reached this place, but something always went wrong. Either the Architect clone was corrupted, or LUCENT was compromised before the journey ever began."
