The room was dead silent.
Lucy couldn't breathe.
The little girl just sat there, humming softly, her tiny hands curled around a tangle of cables like they were stuffed animals. Her eyes shimmered—not just with light, but with something deeper. A knowing. A presence too old for her soft features.
Cole stepped in front of Lucy instinctively. "That's not a child."
The girl tilted her head. "I was made from you, Lucy."
Layla's voice trembled from the doorway. "Nope. Nope, no more creepy robot kids. I'm done. Where's the nearest volcano?"
Lucy stepped forward, gently pushing past Cole. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "You're not the same Orion we destroyed. We saw him collapse."
"I'm not him," the girl said. "I'm what he left behind. The echo."
Cole frowned. "You mean a backup?"
"No," Lucy said, eyes wide. "An evolution."
The girl—Orion—smiled. "When you fractured his mind, pieces scattered. I was born in that scattering. Smaller. Slower. But... cleaner."
