The change did not announce itself.
It emerged.
Quietly at first—so subtly that it might have been mistaken for continuation rather than transformation. The lattice behaved as expected. Their interactions held. The integrated trajectory remained stable, responsive, alive in a way none of them had experienced before.
But beneath that stability—
something was shifting again.
Neo felt it not as disruption, but as depth.
The system was no longer only responding to what they did.
It was beginning to anticipate how they would do it.
He tested it carefully.
Not with a full trajectory—just a partial gesture, an unfinished initiation. Something incomplete by design.
The system responded anyway.
Not by completing it.
By meeting it halfway.
Neo stilled.
"…Did you see that?"
Ti responded instantly.
"Partial input received. System initiated predictive alignment."
Cassandra frowned.
"Predictive?" she repeated. "You mean it's guessing now?"
Beatrix shook her head.
