~Elara~
Silver coursed through my veins like liquid starlight as they wheeled me onto the demonstration stage. The theater-style auditorium buzzed with anticipation—corporate executives in tailored suits, military personnel with rigid postures, and select journalists clutching tablets, all waiting for Damon Marx's grand revelation.
I kept my eyes half-lidded, playing the part of the compliant subject while my consciousness split between the physical world and the digital realm flowing through me. The Algorithm pulsed with every heartbeat, no longer foreign but fully integrated with my being. Not as Damon had intended—as a vessel for control—but as something entirely new.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Damon's voice boomed across the space, his charisma dialed to maximum as spotlights found him
