The suffocating confines of the cold detention ward faded into a dull, distant blur as the sensory overload took hold. Within the deep, fractured recesses of Delon's own neural consciousness, the familiar physical world of concrete and iron plates vanished, replaced by an infinite expanse of flickering data lines and broken code. The static humming of his modified chest shifter translated here into a low, rumbling vibration that shook the very foundations of his thoughts. The external voices of Erica and Elsa became nothing more than muffled frequencies, drifting away as a separate, dominant presence began to force its way to the surface of his mind.
"You are fluctuating, scientist," a voice echoed through the dark vacuum of his thoughts, carrying a rhythmic, metallic resonance that mad
