The dark did not rush in. It settled. Like a thought deciding to stay. Sophia felt it before she saw anything change not as fear, but as recognition without memory. The adjacent space no longer pressed or narrowed. It curved, subtly, as if attention itself had weight again.Daniel was breathing, shallow but steady. Too steady. That scared her more than if he’d been gasping.“Daniel,” she whispered. “Talk to me.”“I’m here,” he said. His voice sounded slightly off, like it was echoing from a place that didn’t quite line up with his mouth. “I think.”She held him tighter. He felt warmer than before, but also thinner. As if there were less boundary to keep him intact. The space ahead rippled. Not a tear. A contour.Something began to resolve not emerging, but being remembered into existence. It had no fixed edge, no single geometry. Its outline shifted with perspective, as if it were borrowing shape from whoever looked at it.The accumulation went very quiet. Not fear. Reverence. That’s