~Elara~
Her projection smiled, and this time it reached her eyes in a way that made my heart ache with recognition.
"The Algorithm isn't just in you, Elara. It is you. Your consciousness, your will guides it. Not Damon's machines, not the Council's traditions. You. You're the harmonious integration of human intellect and lupine power."
And then she was gone, leaving me alone with tears streaming down my face and her final words echoing in my mind.
Marcus escorted me back to my assigned quarters in silence. My Level Three clearance meant I now had access to most of TechNova's facilities, but something about my mother's selectively edited memory set off alarm bells in my mind.
I hadn't even noticed until my mother's tampered memory had given it out—the WRONG ANSWER.
The Algorithm humme
