The screen didn't show a menu or a window. Instead, the amber cursor from Part 03 returned, now steady and bright. A line of text appeared, typed out letter by letter:
“Observation acknowledged. We have been waiting for someone to complete the bridge.” Elias typed back, his fingers trembling: “Who is 'we'?”
The reply was instantaneous: “The architecture you inhabit. You found the fourth pillar, Elias. Now,”
The archive wasn't just a file; it was a beckoning door. And Elias realized, with a chill that reached his marrow, that he wasn't the one extracting the data—the data was extracting him.