Page 35 - DivineSparkRising II-TheMirrorofSilenceFinal

Nicholas Boothman
Chapter 3: Carolina’s
Return
The rain had been falling for three days in Porto,
soaking the cranes along the Douro and washing
the graffiti from the warehouse walls.
Inside one of those warehouses, Carolina
Rodrigues stared at a forest of old Chorus servers
humming on backup power.
The smell of hot metal and mildew reminded her of
the early days, when they still believed language
could heal the mind.
Now, each machine held ghosts—half-corrupted
fragments of the world Sofia left behind.
“Fracture in Zone 12,” a technician called from
the far end. “Speech recognition down fifty
percent.”
Carolina crossed the floor, eyes on the flickering
monitors. Each showed the same pattern: clusters
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