Brew & Byte was supposed to be safe now.
Cole had just fixed the broken espresso machine. Lucy had finally cleared the "decommission Nova" code string from her local drive. Layla was humming again. Everything screamed normalcy.
But the tablet in the corner didn't stop blinking.
Cole noticed it first. The screen flickered like a heartbeat.
He stepped closer. "Lucy…"
She looked up from her laptop. Her brow furrowed. "What is that?"
He turned the tablet around.
The words were still there: You deleted the wrong one. Project Orion active. –Theta
Lucy's blood turned cold. "That tablet wasn't even connected."
Layla leaned over. "Is this like one of those horror movies where the ghost gets in through Wi-Fi?"
Cole tapped the screen. "It's encrypted. Old code. Pre-Nova structure."
Lucy reached for the tablet. Her fingers hovered above it. "That's not from Nova. It's not her tone. It's older. Sharper. Less... aware."
Cole's jaw clenched. "Theta?"
