The moment the system confirmed convergence, Bella felt it.
Not pain.
Not light.
Something softer.
Like a thread pulling tight deep in her mind.
She blinked once.
Then again.
The rooftop looked the same.
Leo still stood across from her.
The man in the coat had moved back into the projection glow, watching them like a finished experiment.
But something had shifted.
Bella pressed her fingers to her temple.
“What did you do to us?”
The man answered calmly.
“Link stabilization has begun.”
Leo exhaled slowly.
“I can feel it,” he said.
Bella turned sharply. “You can feel it too?”
He nodded once.
Not surprised.
That bothered her more than anything.
She hated being the last to understand what was happening to her own life.
The projection un
