I stare at the hologram. The golden, healthy geometry of Asher’s lattice is being slowly, inexorably consumed by a creeping, sickly violet rot.
"It’s trying to understand human emotion," Morgan explains, her eyes shining with a profound, scientific terror. "It’s trying to synthesize love, grief, and pain into a mathematical equation. If it succeeds, it will be able to bypass your emotional paradox. It will be able to walk through the door without Asher having to open it."
"Then we don't let it learn," I say, my physical voice steady, carrying the quiet, unshakeable authority of the Luna. "We cut the feed. We sever the connection between his mind and the lattice."
"We can't," Elara says softly. Her dual-voice echoes strangely in the quiet room, carrying the vast, ancient clarity of the B
