The light didn’t just surge—
It consumed.
It wrapped around Isabella Vicks and Damien Hayes like a living force, not burning, not harming… but invading.
Isabella gasped as the energy brushed against her skin—no, not her skin—something deeper.
Her thoughts.
Her memories.
“Damien—”
“I know,” he said sharply, pulling her closer. “It’s inside the system—don’t let it inside you.”
But it already was.
The Invasion
Images flooded Isabella’s mind.
Not hers.
Data streams.
Patterns.
Predictions.
Her childhood.
Her choices.
Every decision she had ever made—
Analyzed. Broken down. Rewritten.
She staggered slightly.
“It’s… reading me…” she whispered.
Across from her, Damien stood rigid, his jaw clenched as the same force hit him.
Numbers replaced instinct.
Logic tried to override
