They came for her without urgency.
There were no sirens. No public spectacle. Just quiet footsteps in a corridor and a polite knock on her door.
Mara didn't resist.
The holding chamber was white. Clean. Familiar.
They explained her crimes in neutral tones: unauthorized access, data manipulation, destabilization of public truth. High treason against societal order.
The sentence was already decided.
Before the execution, they offered her a courtesy.
A Witness Echo.
Her own.
"To confirm the truth," they said.
Mara understood.
This wasn't about justice.
It was about compliance.
The Echo began.