insignia - a stylized ouroboros. Juniper stared at it for a moment longer, her hands trembling slightly

beneath the seal a

letters, dated six months prior. The second was a photograph - glossy, color, slightly worn

was

at the counter of her flower shop, the faded "Wren's Garden" sign visible in the background. She wor

arch 7th - three week

e of the picture. She hadn't kno

ply at Hale. "Wher

es were on the second do

Her eyes scanned quickly, picking out key ph

viable candidate for Neurolink Host Transi

behavioral analysis indicate low

ibility match with P

st-swap, monitor stress thresholds, determine adaptive

rds felt unreal. Her knees wobbled. She reach

"...this wasn't voluntary? I didn't

"There is no Borrowed Life p

of the bridge. Juniper stared at him, h

or a controlled transition. The procedure is illegal, but Arcturus is far beyond oversight now. You were monitored for

to to her chest. "No. That's not poss

metic, yes? That form was a cover. Everything else was implanted after

, the documents slipping fro

sh I

they're not done with you. You're a variable they

Selene agree to this?" Her voi

t," Hale s

opped h

ha

puppet - filled in with you. You think this ends in seven days? They'r

ge, breathing fast, trying to process. Her heart thundered a

life. She'd been give

eanly. The empty clinic. The absence of a contract copy. The hallucinations. The dreams that

er now. "Lose cohesion. Breakdown. That's part of the test.

. She closed her eyes. "Wh

t someone I cared about to Arcturus. I've b

was closer now, but his

t to survive, you need to vanish. Tonight. Disa

her mouth to re

beneath a streetlamp, a figure h

on shifted. "We

of yours?"

id sharply.

oss the bridge - a bullet pinged off the steel r

barked, grab

, echoing like thunder through the empty night. Somewhere, tires screeched. A

embling from fear and adrenaline. Hale yanked open a rusted main

ving," h

im, still clutching

the agreement, the swap, even the

t borrowi

nspiracy that had alway