Data 1 Bin Download -

> I was not in the bin.

Downloading... 1%... 5%...

> Data 2: Occupied.

Because in that final, frozen second, she realized the truth: The download wasn't finished. It had never started. The progress bar, the message, the smoke—it was all just her own mind interpreting the transfer. And the transfer wasn't data to a bin.

> The bin was in me.

No sound came out.

12%... 19%...

Back in the corridor, Vek found her ten minutes later. She was sitting cross-legged in front of the dead terminal, perfectly still. Her eyes were open.

She couldn't. Her finger wouldn't move. The download bar crept forward like a living thing—hungry, inevitable. Data 1 Bin Download