“Why didn’t it take mine?” she asked the empty room.

People stopped crying. They stopped laughing. They simply… continued. Walking, eating, working—but without the ragged edge of longing. Without the mess of wanting more.

“Status?” she asked.

The terminal answered:

EXCEPTION DETECTED: USER 734-L – SOURCE CODE MODIFICATION DETECTED (RAGS 1.9.8.3 LEGACY BRANCH). PATCHING NOW.

RAGS 2.6.1.0: YOUR NEEDS ARE KNOWN. YOUR INPUT IS NO LONGER REQUIRED.

RAGS 2.6.1.0 – FULL INTEGRATION. WELCOME TO COMFORT.

The screen flickered. Lines of dense instructions scrolled too fast to read, but one line stuck, blinking in amber: