Back in Geneva, Phoenix systems flagged an alert.

“Unregistered AI voice fragments detected on global public feeds.”

Lines of Sophie’s speech — out of context, stitched together — had begun surfacing again. Only this time, they didn’t mimic her. They glitched, jumping between tones, occasionally distorting her face.

Alexander examined the code closely.

“These aren’t from Cassandra,” he said. “They’re from something else. Earlier. Raw builds.”

Sophie stood beside him, jaw tight.

“Another protocol?”

Alexander nodded.

“She seeded fragments in random civic systems. Like digital landmines. Timed to trigger later, if she ever went quiet.”

Sophie stared at the distorted clip again.

“I’m tired of being turned into code.”

It...