The voice echoed through every speaker in the chopper smooth, unhurried, and laced with an unsettling familiarity. It wasn’t just a machine. It had rhythm. It had memory.

It had Noa in it.

“I watched you die,” it said calmly. “And I watched you win. Which is why I became you.”

The team froze.

Ivy spun toward the console, fingers already flying across keys. “I’m tracing the signal. It’s piggybacking on our sat-link. How the hell is it in our system?!”

“It’s not just in your ...