The days after that night passed like smoke. Aria barely slept. When she did, her dreams were not hers anymore.
Sometimes, she heard footsteps in empty rooms.
Sometimes, she heard him.
The whisper wasn't loud. It was steady, patient, like a heartbeat behind her thoughts. It never called her name. It didn't need to.
It was already inside her.
She spent her mornings standing by the tall windows of the penthouse, staring at the city she had freed, or maybe broken. Elias worked downstairs, trying to rebuild what was left of the network, but Aria had stopped helping. She only watched. Waiting. Listening.
One morning, Elias came in, holding a small drive. "I found something," he said carefully. "Buried in the remains of Project Aurora."
She didn't turn. "Another virus?"
"No. A command log." He placed it on the table. "But this one's strange. It's coded in your voice."
That made her turn. Slowly. "My voice?"
He nodded. "You gave orders to the system last night."
