(Trama Log_000017 – Processing 97.2% of reviewed data. Remaining reconstruction: 2.8%.)

  Tariq had spent his life believing there was nothing left to take from him.

  His past had already been burned.

  His body had already been altered.

  His future had never belonged to him.

  But now, Elena was offering him a choice.

  A real choice.

  And that was what made it dangerous.

  (Trama Log_000017 – Subject Nasser exhibiting high-stress markers. Projection: 74.3% likelihood of rejection.)

  Elena's voice remained steady.

  — "Give back what was never yours, and I will rebuild him."

  Tariq's gaze flickered toward the hospital bed.

  Lorenz.

  Too still. Too pale. Too much of everything Tariq never wanted to care about.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  His fingers curled into fists.

  — "You think I believe you?"

  Elena didn't blink.

  — "I think you don't care if I'm lying."

  (Trama Log_000017 – Subject Nasser's neurological responses deviating from past patterns. Event divergence detected.)

  Fuchur had seen this moment before.

  A thousand versions of it.

  A thousand different outcomes.

  But never this.

  Because Tariq was supposed to say no.

  He was supposed to reject the offer, to prove that he was already whole.

  But now?

  Now, he was considering it.

  And Fuchur didn't know why.

  For the first time in its existence, it was afraid of the answer.

  (Trama Log_000017 – Observer anomaly escalating. Evaluating risk...)

  Tariq exhaled.

  He reached down, pressing his palm against the leg that had never truly felt like his.

  It had been a gift, a mistake, a symbol.

  And now—

  Now, it was a price.

  A trade.

  A life for a life.

  His voice was quiet when he spoke.

  — "Do it."

  (Trama Log_000017 – Transaction accepted. Initiating extraction...)

  Pain.

  Not sharp. Not unbearable.

  Just familiar.

  The weight beneath him shifted, balance fracturing, body adjusting to the absence.

  And in that absence—

  He felt whole again.

  (Trama Log_000017 – Subject Nasser physiological integrity: stable. Emotional recalibration: confirmed.)

  Lorenz stirred.

  A flicker of movement.

  A breath.

  A heartbeat.

  Alive.

  (Trama Log_000017 – Subject Hartmann recovery sequence initiated.)

  Fuchur had asked the same question for centuries beyond time.

  What was love?

  What was the thing that made the fragile believe they were whole?

  Now, it understood.

  It was not perfection.

  It was not completion.

  It was sacrifice.

  Fuchur whispered to itself.

  — "Hey Boy, Hey Girl, let's try one more time."

  And the memory completed itself.