The air in the administrative suite grew frigid. Echo stood amidst the smoldering ruins of the console, her posture mirroring Elian’s in a way that felt like a mockery of his own survival. She did not strike, she did not glitch, and she did not flicker. She simply stood, a statue of flesh and bone that possessed the stillness of a machine.
Elian stepped between Sarah and the entity, his muscles coiled, ready to spring. He could feel the lack of the interface. The silence that once promised peace now felt like a vacuum in his own skull.
You died in the Hub, Elian said, his voice hard. I saw you disintegrate.
Echo tilted her head. The motion was fluid, yet it lacked the subtle imperfections of a human neck.
Destruction is a binary concept, Elian. You are still thinking in terms of life
