The agony of the synchronization was unlike anything Nala had ever felt. It wasn't the cold, sharp bite of Elisha’s infection; it was a wildfire of pure information. Every memory Leo had ever possessed the grit of the desert, the loneliness of the wastes, and the exact moment he had fallen for her poured into her mind.
Nala’s body arched in the digital current, her eyes glowing with a dual light: her mother’s golden legacy and Leo’s stubborn amber spark.
"Nala! Stop!" Elisha’s shadow shrieked, his form shrinking as the golden tide eroded his influence. "You’re overloading your nervous system! You’ll burn out before the gate even recognizes you!"
"I am... the Architect’s daughter," Nala’s voice echoed, sounding like two people speaking in perfect unison. "And I have... a scavenger’s hear
