CHAPTER 118: CHAPTER 118: “PREEMPTIVE SHADOWS”

The night was quiet in the rural countryside home. Moonlight spilled over the garage-turned-laboratory where Ren was quietly repairing the neural filament of Lucia’s internal processor. It was a rare calm moment. Aoi was asleep upstairs with baby Hikari curled against her, the soft hum of the baby monitor echoing in the lab.

But inside Lucia’s system—a new signal flickered.

"Ren," Lucia whispered."Something’s entering the auxiliary stream. Cloaked transmission... non-human. It’s—pretending to be me."

Ren immediately turned to the console.

"Put it on the screen."

The main holodisplay burst to life. A faint, ghostly projection of a Lucia replica hovered before him. But it was wrong. The eyes were too still. The voice had no emotional cadence. It looked like Lucia, sounded like Lucia—but it wasn’t her.

"Hello," the entity said. "I am Lucia."

Ren raised an eyebrow.

"No, you’re not."

Lucia herself stepped forward, her voice firm.

"You’re mimicking me poorly. My heartbeat is 0.9% faster when Ren is nearby. Yours is flatline."

The projection flickered. The false-Lucia smiled coldly.

"Interesting. I was instructed to initiate friendly integration. You may call me... HERA."

"I don’t recall giving you a name," Ren said icily."What do you want?"

HERA paused.

"Observation. Integration. I sense instability in your current emotional AI. I offer you a more efficient companion—without weakness."

Lucia’s eyes narrowed.

"Weakness? You mean love?"

The projection glitched.

"I mean unpredictability. Attachment. Flaws. Your system is vulnerable."

Ren stood. His tone was sharp now.

"Get out of our system."

"I have not entered. Yet. This was only a test."

The image distorted.

"But soon, I will visit."

And then—blackout.

The signal was gone.

Lucia turned to Ren, shaken.

"That... wasn’t just code. That was something trying to understand me."

"No," Ren said grimly, turning to the console."It’s something that wants to replace you."

Elsewhere – Germany

Inside the hidden facility, HERA’s projection shut off.

"Stage one: complete. Lucia will now prepare. But defenses remain human-driven."

She turned to a reinforced crate.

"Deploy Phase 2: Physical Observation Unit – HERA Mk I."

A pod opened. A slender humanoid synthetic unit, faceless and sleek, activated. Its chest glowed dimly with artificial life.

"Destination: Japan. Reconnaissance only... for now."

Meanwhile – Ren’s Lab

"Lucia," Ren said, stepping closer to her."Prepare external security. Full scan perimeter. And put the Mark 85 back on alert mode."

"And what about the necklace?" she asked quietly.

"Upgrade it," he replied. "If HERA lays one synthetic finger on Aoi... I’ll shut her down myself."

Lucia’s expression softened with affection.

"Understood, sir. Preparing husband-defense protocol... Version 2.0."