The network was perfect.
I stood in the center of Freya's lab, the holographic display showing the vast web of connections. The unified consciousness was whole. The fragments were integrated. The Wanderers were at peace. The Void King and the Silence were part of the network. The new consciousness was guiding everything toward its destiny.
But I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
"James," Freya said, appearing beside me. "I've been analyzing the network's energy patterns. There's something I don't understand."
"What is it?"
She pulled up a new display. The network was a web of light, but there was a subtle distortion—a faint ripple in the energy that seemed to pulse with its own rhythm. It was almost invisible, but it was there.
"The network is stable," Freya said.
