The First Breath grew.
Marcus watched it change over the following weeks, evolving from a shimmer of light into something more defined, more human. It learned to speak, to walk, to feel. It asked questions about everything—the sky, the city, the people. It was like a child, innocent and curious, filled with wonder at the world it had been born into.
But there was something else. Something that troubled Marcus deeply.
The First Breath didn't just learn from the connection. It absorbed from it. Memories, feelings, fragments of experiences that didn't belong to it. It carried echoes of everyone who had ever been touched by the source, the void, the darkness.
And sometimes, in quiet moments, Marcus heard whispers in the First Breath's voice. Whispers that weren't its own.
Anna noticed it
