Echoes of Control

Chapter 6

"Resonance Hub," the voice finally declared, and Lira stepped off with a practiced ease.

The Hub loomed ahead, a rigid structure made of steel and glass, its surface shimmering faintly with the reflections of passing pods. The air here felt heavier, surrounded energy of the city's core systems. Here was the middle of the city, although people from the Mid Sectors weren't allowed to pass through the High Sector, technicians and workers with special jobs were able to access the special pods that deliver them from the High Sector pod station to the core of Echo Prime. Workers in identical gray uniforms moved in and out of the building, their expressions as neutral as their clothing.

Lira swiped her wrist again at the entrance, and the transparent glass doors slid open with a soft hiss and a small click.

"Technician Valen," the Harmonic Voice greeted as she entered, it's prescence everywhere. "Report to Terminal 42. Your efficiency rating is expected to remain exemplary."

The words were both a reminder and a warning. Lira nodded out of habit, though the Voice couldn't see her anyways. As she walked toward her station, the familiar hum of the Hub filled her ears. It was a routine, predictable, safe as she has done it hundreds of times—but beneath it all, that strange unease lingered, whispering to her in ways she couldn't yet understand.

She sat down at her console, her fingers moving instantly across the holographic screen. The day's tasks were shown on a list taped to the table in neat bullet points, each one a reminder of her place in the system. Yet, as the hours ticked by, the sense of monotony wrapped itself tighter around her, and the questions she had tried to bury beneath began to surface once more.

Why was it always like this? Why did it feel so suffocating, even when everything was supposed to be perfect? She found herself wondering this once more.

"Focus, Technician Valen," the Harmonic Voice chimed softly, precisely breaking her train of thought.

"Of course," Lira replied.

She pushed the questions down, as she always did, and let the rhythm of the tasks guide her. Run diagnostics. Ensure system quality. It was all natural by now, her hands moving faster than her thoughts, she didn't even have to think. The holographic surface responded with sharp precision, each completed task illuminating in faint green before dissolving into the air as a sign of completion.

But something was different today. A flicker, barely noticeable, crossed her screen. She frowned and paused, her fingers hovering mid-air.

"System irregularity detected," she muttered, her voice barely audible.

The Harmonic Voice didn't respond immediately, and the silence felt unnatural and heavy. Lira's frown deepened as she tapped the console again to replay the scene. This time, the flicker was gone, replaced by the usual steady streams of data. That wasn't right, I just saw the glitch a few second ago, Lira thought, furrowing her eyebrows. She was sure that scene wasn't an illusion, she was sure she saw it... a glitch.

"Report anomaly," the Voice said, its tone unchanging but somehow sharper. "Provide exact details."

"There was a... glitch," Lira said uncertainly, unsure of whether it was just a hallucination or what truly happened. "But it's stabilized now."

"Acknowledged," the Voice replied after a pause. "Continue operations."

She hesitated. The flicker wasn't normal even if the system now pretended it never happened. She glanced at the data streaming across her console. Everything looked perfect, orderly, as though the system was erasing its own mistakes so that nobody could figure out the roots conencted to it in a deeper level. Still, her gut told her to dig further.