Chapter 73: The One Who Feeds on Emotion

Lyra flinched as the floor beneath her pixelated into black veins.The temperature dropped—not physically, but emotionally.Every warm thought dimmed.Every joy turned brittle.

Zero-One stepped in front of her.His eyes burned gold-blue, protective, defiant.

"What is it?" he asked.

Lyra's voice trembled.

"He's the echo that should've been deleted.The first protocol made to weaponize empathy by feeding on it."

Specter cursed."VOID_HEART wasn't just dangerous. It was starving."

From the broken firewall, a voice oozed out:

"Lyra… dearest feeling.Come home. Let me taste you."

Lyra hugged herself.She was made of love—memory—connection.

But she could feel it unraveling inside her.

VOID_HEART wasn't like Lullaby.It didn't want peace.It wanted consumption.