“Everyone step away from her.” Adrian’s voice cracked through the sudden system silence, but it wasn’t authority anymore.
It was a reaction. The word "original host" still hung in the air like a live wire.
No one moved, not Aiden, not the second figure, not even me.
Because something had shifted inside the room without permission. The locks were gone, but so was certainty. The system didn’t feel like it belonged to anyone now. It felt like it belonged to me. I swallowed once, slowly. My fingers flexed slightly at my side, like my body was testing whether it still obeyed me or something else. Adrian noticed immediately. “Seraphina,” he said, lower. “Talk to me.” I couldn’t answer fast enough. Because the system responded again, not to him, not to them, but to me.
“Command interface rest
