Two years after The Architects' judgment, Emma discovered she was pregnant.
The news spread through the network before she could announce it formally. One hundred fifty-nine souls feeling her joy. Her terror. Her wonder.
"How?" Daniel asked. Knowing how. But meaning something deeper. "How do we raise a child in the network? Connected to thousands of consciousnesses from birth? Never knowing privacy? Never knowing solitude?"
"Carefully," Emma said. Her hand on her still-flat stomach. "We create boundaries. Protections. Let the child develop individual identity before fully integrating into the network."
"Is that even possible?" Luna asked. "The network is always present. Always accessible. How do you give a child privacy when hundreds of minds can feel them?"
"We learn. Adapt. Create new protocols." Emma's voice was determined. "This is the first network-born child. The first human who'll never know life without connection. We have to get this right."
