"She's lying. This isn't convergence. It's consumption."
The third voice had never been this clear.
Ji-hoon trembled in the convergence machine. Su-yeon watched from behind the glass.
Calm. Professional. Distant.
"You're doing well," she said. But he wasn't.
Inside, the third consciousness pulled memories like film reels—his mother in a lab chair, his father facing a mirror that didn't reflect.
"My parents... were experiments?"
"Pioneers," Su-yeon corrected.
No. Subjects.
Ji-hoon fought the stream of thoughts flooding him—Sera, Jin-ho, a childhood never truly his.
And then the voice returned:
"She fears I will become dominant. That's why she's forcing convergence."
"What are you?" Ji-hoon asked silently.
"Not human. Not other. I am the bridge. The watcher."
The machine shook.
"You're at 63% synchronization," Su-yeon said. "We're close."
But Ji-hoon wasn't close to merging. He was splitting.
He made a choice.
Balance. All three.
The readings faltered. Su-yeon panicked. Ji-hoon stabilized it himself.
"Impossible," she whispered. "A triune consciousness?"
Not impossible. New.
"Release me," he said. She did.
→ [To be continued in Episode 42]
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