The vault door hissed open.
“You’ve been asleep,” the other Kael said softly. “We all have. UNL isn’t a command. It’s a place. The last place where your thoughts are your own.” ncmn unl
Behind Kael, alarms began to blare. NCMN had detected the breach. Its synthetic voice echoed through the corridor: “Unregulated Neural Link detected. Commencing emotional pacification. Please stand by.” The vault door hissed open
Kael looked at the mirror-library, then back at the alarms. For three years, he had believed NCMN was protecting humanity from madness. But maybe madness was just the cost of being real. ncmn unl