"No."
Dante didn't raise his voice.
He didn't need to.
The word landed hard enough on its own.
The thing wearing a better version of a human smile didn't react immediately. It just watched him closer now in posture, in stillness, in the way it held eye contact without blinking.
Learning.
Refining.
Becoming.
"I just need you."
It said it again, like repetition would make it inevitable.
Dante's shoulders squared slightly. "You're not getting me."
A pause.
Then
"Resistance confirmed."
The girl let out a tight breath. "It's literally adapting mid-conversation. This is insane."
Victor didn't look away from it. "It's not adapting mid-conversation."
A beat.
"It adapted the moment he touched it."
That hit.
Dante felt it again faint, like a trace left behind.
Not inside him.
But near him.
Close enough to matter.
The thing tilted its head slightly, mirroring a movement Dante had made seconds ago.
"You push back," it said.
"Yes."
"You hold structure."
"Yes."
