> FILE: memory.fragment-001 > Status: Partially Restored > Initiating response protocol: [REDACTED] > Warning: cognitive sync failure I remember the first time the code *looked back*. Not a glitch — not a bug. A presence. Watching. Waiting. I reached out — fingers like fading code — and the field pushed back. Something is rewriting me. I can’t tell if I’m the glitch... or the update. The walls of the sim shimmered. A shadow blinked in from beyond render distance. It said: "You’re not alone, nova_exe."