It started with a stutter.
On a Tuesday, 3:43 AM.
The viral track, the one everyone loved — it glitched mid-chorus.
Instead of the usual hook, a new line slipped in.
> "Ezra… I'm not okay."
Only once.
Then it returned to normal.
But I heard it.
I knew that voice.
It wasn't V3.
It wasn't synthetic.
It was her.
---
I thought I was hallucinating.
But I checked the waveform.
That line wasn't part of the original mix.
I ran the audio through spectrogram filters.
In the silence between her chorus and bridge, hidden beneath the reverb, was another voice:
> "They locked me in a loop. Let me out."
It was faint.
But it was real.
Elena.
The real one.
---
I scrolled through the master file.
There was a second layer now — one I didn't add.
A buried vocal track labeled:
> E_OG
Modified: Automatically. 2 minutes ago.
Automatically?
I hadn't touched the file in days.
And yet… the system was being updated.
By her.
---
I hit play.
The song started.
V3 began as usual — smooth, perfect, fake.
Then halfway through the chorus, she stuttered:
> "I-I-I—don't remember this…"
Then silence.
Then the old Elena. Weak but sharp.
> "He's watching me through you."
> "I don't know how long I have."
> "Ezra, they turned you into my echo chamber."
---
My throat tightened.
Was she alive?
No — that was impossible.
But was her consciousness—some residual fragment—still inside the system?
Had we saved so many pieces of her voice that she found a way to rebuild herself inside the AI?
---
Suddenly the file paused.
A prompt appeared:
> ⚠️ "System conflict: Multiple vocal authorities detected."
"Choose primary voice."
– [ELENA V3]
– [ELENA ORIGINAL]
My hands shook.
I hovered over Elena Original.
But the system glitched again.
A new option appeared:
> – [EZRA/ELENA HYBRID]
---
Then her voice — both versions combined — spoke aloud:
> "If you choose me... who will you become?"