Delvin repeated the ritual — the same precise sequence of gestures he'd performed with George just an hour earlier. His fingers moved with mechanical certainty, but his mind was anything but calm. The air felt heavier now, like the room itself was holding its breath.
Then it came.
A voice — flat, synthetic, devoid of warmth — vibrated through Delvin's molars before it reached his ears. It wasn't sound so much as sensation, like static crawling across bone.
"The Zombie System requests integration with your body. Do you accept or decline?"
Delvin flinched. Not because it was speaking — but because it wasn't speaking to him.
Brenda's lips didn't move. Her eyes, wide and glassy, locked onto something invisible — a holographic interface projected behind her pupils. Her throat bobbed once, dry. Her chest rose and fell in shallow bursts, ribs trembling like plucked strings. The silence around her was suffocating.
