Silence in the code was never truly silent.
It was the hum between realities — the static heartbeat of creation itself.
Aiden stood in the center of his lair: a cathedral of living code that pulsed with slow, rhythmic light. Endless streams of data floated like rivers through the air, cascading in translucent spirals around a central core — a sphere of pure light that contained his consciousness signature. His throne was carved from black crystalline code, alive with faint red circuits that pulsed like veins.
This was his dominion.
Every line of it bent to his will.
And yet, for the first time, the system whispered in a tone he did not command.
> [Unauthorized process detected.]
[Signal Origin: Internal.]
Aiden froze.
He turned his gaze upward, eyes glowing like the dying embers of a god who refused to fade. His awareness spread through the network — searching, probing — until he found it.
A thread of light snaking through the firewall.
