Later that morning, a private message appeared on Sophie’s MirrorGhost feed.

From Ethan.

Unfiltered. No mask.

“You don’t have to lose everything. Admit LUX overstepped. Shut down TRACE. Walk away. I disappear.”

“Or hold your ego… and everything you built becomes ash.”

Attached: a blurred preview of “THE PROTOTYPE” folder.

It showed the original MirrorGhost schematics — with early Phoenix code merged directly into LUX’s foundation.

If it got out, it could appear that Sophie built LUX on ethically grey tech.

Even if she didn’t know.

Even if it wasn’t true.

It could look like a cover-up.

Rachel sat across from Sophie that afternoon, quiet.

Sophie finally broke the silence....