[Keifer's POV]
The transition from the hospital to the mansion was a sensory overload. My brain was still a fragmented hard drive, trying to map out a home that felt both massive and hauntingly familiar.
Kiara—who everyone told me was my wife—led me toward the Blue Suite. She was talkative, her hand constantly on my arm, telling me stories about "our" life that felt like scripts I hadn't memorized. I wanted to believe her. I wanted the "Data" to be true because the alternative was a void I couldn't face.
"We'll be so much more comfortable here, darling," Kiara whispered, pushing open the heavy doors to the suite. "Just the two of us. Away from the 'staff'."
But as I stepped into the room, I stopped. My feet felt heavy. I looked at the bed, the silk sheets, the expensive decor... and it felt cold. There was no "Glow" here.
Then, I turned my head.
Jay was standing at the end of the hallway, speaking quietly to Bridget. She wasn't looking at me. She was holding a tray of my specific medications and a glass of water.
The Glitch in the Pulse
The moment my eyes landed on her, a "System Error" spiked through my chest. It wasn't a memory—my head still didn't have a name for her beyond "the Assistant"—but my body was reacting at 1,000% capacity.
My heart rate, which had been steady, suddenly accelerated. My skin felt a strange, magnetic pull, like a compass needle swinging violently toward North.
Why does looking at her feel like a physical impact?
"Keifer? Are you coming in?" Kiara's voice grated against my nerves, a high-frequency interference.
"I... I need a minute," I muttered, my eyes still locked on Jay.
She looked up then. Our gazes met across the hall. She didn't smile. She didn't beg. She just stood there with a quiet, regal dignity that made the woman standing next to me look like a low-resolution copy.
When she walked toward us to hand over the tray, she brushed past me. It was the slightest contact—just the fabric of her sleeve against my arm—but it felt like a Power Surge. I felt a jolt of pure, unadulterated attraction so strong it nearly knocked the breath out of me.
The Internal Conflict
I took the tray from her, my hands trembling.
"Thank you... Jay," I said, her name feeling like a secret code on my tongue.
"You're welcome, Mr. Watson," she replied softly. Her voice was a frequency my system was designed to receive. It bypassed the "Amnesia Firewall" and hit me right in the soul.
I watched her walk away, my eyes tracing her movement with a hunger I couldn't explain. I was supposed to be in love with the woman in the Blue Suite. I was supposed to find comfort in Kiara's touch.
But as Kiara wrapped her arms around my waist from behind, I felt a wave of Revulsion. My body was rejecting her like an incompatible organ transplant.
If Kiara is my wife, I thought, staring at the empty hallway where Jay had disappeared, then why does the 'Assistant' feel like the only air in the blue suit