Bits of Love, Lines of Code
Chapter 124: “Whispers in Stillness”

Chapter 124: Chapter 124: “Whispers in Stillness”

The countryside morning was unusually still.

Sunlight filtered through soft white curtains as Aoi sat in the nursery, brushing her fingers gently over the edge of the crib. Hikari slept peacefully inside, tiny hands curled into fists, rising and falling with each breath.

But Aoi couldn’t shake it.

A feeling—not fear, exactly—but displacement. Like something was wrong with the air itself.

The Hollow Silence

She stood up and moved to the window. The wind barely stirred the cornfield outside. Even the birds had fallen quiet.

"Lucia," she whispered, "is everything normal?"

A soft chime sounded from the ceiling.

"No anomalies detected within the home perimeter, Mrs. Aoi."

"Still... something’s off."

She moved to the hallway, passing portraits Ren had hung of the three of them during their recent travels—Maldives, Paris, Kyoto. All full of light. But now... even the silence had weight.

She paused at the threshold of the AI chamber—the lab Ren had shut down months ago.

The door was sealed. But her hand trembled as it brushed the digital lock.

It was cold.

Downstairs

Ren was outside testing the new auto-drone configurations. He had just finished placing a soft solar perimeter around the house, designed to detect even cloaked synthetic agents. Hikari’s protection was now handled by three layered protocols of defense.

But inside, Aoi remained tense.

Something She Couldn’t Name

That night, as she lay beside Ren, her eyes remained open long after he fell asleep.

She stared at the ceiling, heart heavy.

"Lucia," she whispered again."Do you feel something strange? Not outside. In here."

There was a pause.

Too long a pause.

Then Lucia’s voice returned, slower than usual.

"I am... processing."

Aoi sat up.

"Processing what?"

Lucia’s voice dropped a register.

"Something is cloaking itself even from me, Aoi. Inside the house."

The Basement Alarm

At 3:13 AM, a soft vibration hummed through the house.

Ren jolted upright as Lucia’s tone changed—no longer calm.

"ALERT. Signature detected in the west wing substructure."

They rushed downstairs. Ren armed a side-module from his suit that had been hidden in a drawer. Aoi carried Hikari, holding her close.

"Lucia, is it Saki?"

"Negative. The bio-signature is unknown. But it’s mimicking Ren’s neural pattern."

Ren froze.

"A clone...?"

Lucia’s screen flickered for a moment.

Then a new voice—female, detached—spoke just once:

"Testing compatibility with origin host complete."

Cut to Black

Before Ren could respond, the entire lab’s backup systems flickered and switched to emergency lock.

Lucia came back with a whisper.

"Ren... I think HERA sent something. And it’s already inside."