The world was calm.
Too calm.
Meher sat with her laptop.
Just observing.
Reyaan suddenly frowned.
"Something's off…"
Aarav looked up.
"What?"
Reyaan turned the screen.
A strange pattern.
Small.
Hidden.
"Random data spikes," he said.
Elena stepped closer.
"That shouldn't be happening…"
Rishan asked,
"Glitch?"
Reyaan shook his head.
"No… it's structured."
Silence.
Meher looked carefully.
"Someone is trying to rebuild," she said.
Aarav's expression changed.
"Already?"
Reyaan zoomed in.
A signal.
Moving across nodes.
"Not control…" he whispered.
"Coordination."
Elena's face turned serious.
"This wasn't part of the old system."
Meher's eyes narrowed.
"So this is new."
Silence.
Aarav asked,
"Friend… or enemy?"
Meher replied—
"We don't know yet."
Reyaan added—
"But it's growing."
The calm… suddenly didn't feel safe anymore.
Because even without control—
Something new was rising.