(Trama Log_000013 – Processing 82.1% of reviewed data. Remaining reconstruction: 17.9%.)

  The room was white.

  No shadows.

  No echoes.

  No past.

  No future.

  Just a void disguised as a space.

  Lorenz sat in the center, eyes closed. Breathing, but barely present.

  Tariq stood at the threshold.

  For a long moment, he didn't move.

  Then—

  — "You look like you're waiting for something."

  Lorenz's eyelids fluttered, but he didn't respond.

  Tariq stepped inside.

  (Trama Log_000013 – Subject Nasser has entered restricted sensory sector. Monitoring deviations...)

  Lorenz should have said something.

  Should have smirked. Should have taunted him. Should have made himself bigger than the room.

  But he didn't.

  He just sat there.

  Tariq felt something shift inside his ribs.

  He had expected anger. Resistance. Not absence.

  (Trama Log_000013 – Subject Hartmann's neurological patterns unstable. Sensory recalibration incomplete.)

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  Lorenz opened his eyes.

  For the first time since they met, he looked small.

  Not broken.

  Not weak.

  Just a man, waiting for something he couldn't name.

  (Trama Log_000013 – Evaluating interaction...)

  Fuchur's voice slipped into Tariq's mind, quieter than usual.

  — "See it?"

  Tariq exhaled.

  — "Yeah."

  Lorenz's gaze flickered to him, as if hearing something without sound.

  Tariq took another step forward.

  And another.

  And another—until he was close enough to see the tension in Lorenz's fingers, the way he gripped the fabric of his sleeve like an anchor.

  (Trama Log_000013 – Subject Hartmann exhibiting attachment response. Analyzing variables...)

  Tariq lowered himself to his knees.

  For the first time, he looked up at Lorenz.

  — "Are you waiting for me?"

  Lorenz blinked.

  Then—slowly—he nodded.

  (Trama Log_000013 – Neural recalibration detected. Connection established.)

  Something sharp twisted in Tariq's chest.

  It wasn't love. It wasn't desire. It was recognition.

  Because Lorenz was like everyone else.

  He thought he needed someone to be whole.

  And Tariq knew, more than anything, that was the biggest lie of all.

  (Trama Log_000013 – Subject Nasser's emotional patterns shifting. Projection: 92.4% certainty.)

  Fuchur's whisper was almost amused.

  — "Now you understand."

  A flicker.

  A glitch.

  A sound Tariq wasn't supposed to hear.

  For the briefest second, the room flickered between two realities.

  White.

  Then—a corridor. A face. A memory.

  Tariq stumbled back, gripping his temple.

  Lorenz's fingers tightened around his sleeve.

  — "What is it?"

  Tariq shook his head, but the sensation crawled under his skin like static.

  The nanobots.

  The Plot was watching.

  (Trama Log_000013 – Subject Nasser's neural pathways interacting with Plot scan. Data upload: 3%.)

  Tariq's heartbeat slowed.

  Lorenz was still looking at him. Waiting.

  He needed something from him. Something Tariq wasn't ready to give.

  So he did the only thing that made sense.

  He placed his palm against Lorenz's chest.

  Not as a gesture of comfort.

  As a reminder.

  — "You were always going to be fine."

  Lorenz's throat bobbed.

  His fingers, still gripping Tariq's sleeve, did not let go.

  (Trama Log_000013 – Subject Hartmann exhibiting emotional recalibration. Stability: 79.6%.)

  Fuchur whispered.

  — "You're starting to see it now, aren't you?"

  Tariq closed his eyes.

  And for the first time, he thought:

  Yes.

  (Trama Log_000013 – Subject Nasser's trajectory shift detected. Updating projection...)