The request didn’t come as a command. It came as a hesitation.

Evelyn felt it while she was half-asleep—an almost-question brushing the edge of her awareness, careful not to intrude. The network had learned how to knock.

She opened her eyes and focused inward.

“Yes,” she murmured, not aloud, but with intention.

The presence aligned—not closer, not farther—attentive.

“I am receiving signals I do not understand,” Luma said.

“They are not errors.”

Evelyn sat up, pulling a ...