Chapter Twenty-Nine
It didn’t lash out immediately.
That was the first thing I noticed.
For something that had reacted so quickly before—tightening, pressing, correcting—it now held back.
Watching.
Waiting.
And somehow… that was worse.
Because silence from something that had always responded felt intentional.
Like it was deciding something.
I stayed where I was, my body still, my thoughts sharper than they had been in a long time. The air in the room felt heavier, like a storm that hadn’t broken yet.
“You’re quiet,” I said softly.
No answer.
But I felt it.
That faint pressure at the edge of my awareness—not pushing, not pulling. Just… there.
Present.
Calculating.
“You don’t like this,” I continued, my voice steadier than I expected.
Still nothing.
But the silence wasn’t e
