She thought of the name **Evelyn**. The crystal responded with a soft chime, and a lock disengaged. The maze opened, revealing a line of code, glowing green:
Mara looked back at the crystal’s core. The code glowed, waiting. She felt the pulse of Alexis’s memories—her hopes, her grief, her love for a daughter she could never hold again. She heard the faint echo of a lullaby, a song Alexis used to hum to Evelyn.
Lira smiled, a thin, cruel curve.
> *“Mara, abort. This is a trap.”*
> *“Then you become the one who stopped it. You can delete it. You can set a fail‑safe. You can become the guardian.”*













