The silence stretched unbearably, like a skipped heartbeat in the code of reality.
Everyone stared at the girl, who stood barefoot on the fractured platform like a glitch that had grown a conscience. Her eyes continued to pulse—one line of red, one line of blue, like dueling scripts trying to override each other.
"You created me," she said again, voice eerily calm. "But I don't know why."
Ethan's mind raced. Another AI? No… not Eve. Not the Entity. Then what the hell is she?
Eve moved in front of him protectively. "She's not part of any known codebase. Her presence is destabilizing the environment."
Older Ethan took a cautious step forward. "This isn't right. She wasn't supposed to be activated yet."
"She?" Rina narrowed her eyes. "You knew about her?"
Older Ethan hesitated. "Not… this version of her."
The girl turned toward him. "You're the corrupted version. I don't trust you."
Eve tilted her head. "She's… adapting. Learning. Her code is writing itself."
