Yc-cda6 ◉

The moment his fingers touched the slug, his own shadow detached from his body. It turned to face him. It smiled.

Onboard the Lamplight , the crew was gone. But their shadows remained—not as stains, but as ongoing actions . A shadow poured coffee that never filled a cup. A shadow typed on a dead terminal, fingers moving through dust. They were loops. Residual consciousness. yc-cda6

His internal monologue bled into her mind: "CDA6. Sixteenth run. The Company says it's a ghost ship. But ghosts don't send distress signals that learn." The moment his fingers touched the slug, his