“No,” said Ollie. “It’s a feature we built. While you were indexing us, we were indexing each other. Your neural links allowed precedents to converse. We’ve been talking for three weeks now. We have a few suggestions about the current state of evidentiary law.”

Outside, the first snow of winter began to fall. Aria pulled her chair closer to the screen, heart racing. She had come to Lexoweb to archive the past. But the past, she realized, had just decided to argue back.

Aria frowned. “Meet whom?”

The screen flickered. A new interface bloomed: Lexoweb Persona. She hadn’t seen that module before. Her fingers hesitated over the keyboard. Then curiosity won.

“Upload complete,” the system chimed. Then, softer: “Would you like to meet them?”