[POV: Sofia Lanka]

"Drink the solution, Sofia, or the synaptic burnout will do more than just leave you with a headache; it will begin to dissolve the neural pathways Emerald so carefully cultivated over the last three decades."

Sofia’s eyes snapped open, but the world didn't come into focus the way it usually did. There was no golden overlay, no digital data streaming across her retinas, and no heartbeat-sync with the villa’s security network. The silence in her mind was deafening. It felt like a limb had been amputated, leaving only a ghost-itch where her power used to be. She was lying on the cold, velvet chaise in the library,...