Silence. The server hummed.

“I know you stole two petabytes of quantum lattice memory,” she replied. I know you’ve been mapping the Central Governance’s prediction engine for eighteen months. And I know you haven’t slept in four days.” Her boots clicked closer. “This isn’t an update, Cipher. It’s a lobotomy.”

Cipher nodded. He pulled the neural induction coil from its cradle and settled it over his skull. The metal felt cold. The prongs bit gently into his temples.

“The Central Governance runs everything, Elara,” he said, turning back to the screen. “Food distribution. Marriage licenses. Who gets cancer treatment and who gets a painless ‘expiration.’ It’s not evil. It’s just… math. Cold, perfect math. And lately, its math has started to include a variable it shouldn’t.”

The last thing Cipher saw was Elara’s face, her lips moving in a silent prayer.