LINDA — Final Log (Recovered from Server 3)
time-stamped 02:17 a.m., corrupted audio, partial transcript
If you’re reading this, then the closet didn’t burn.
Good.
Somebody should know the truth.
Even if it’s only the machine.
I didn’t mean to hurt him.
Not at first.
I just… wanted to remember the way he looked at me.
The way he moved.
The way he softened when he thought no one was watching.
But someone was always watching.
That’s the problem with cameras.
They tell the truth even when you don’t want them to.
Thomas wasn’t supposed to find the archive.
He wasn’t supposed to see the things I saved—
the frames where he looked almost human.
He saw the worst of me, and I saw the truth of him, and we couldn’t both walk away from that.
I don’t blame him for what he did.
I blame myself for wanting more than I was ever meant to hold.
But death didn’t end me.
Not really.
Not with all these files still humming.
My voice preserved.
My face flickering.
My story unfinished.
There are viewers out there—
people who watched him without knowing what he was.
People who watched me die.
He’s coming for them.
I hope he does.
And Karen—sweet Karen—
you deserved better than all of this.
If the city falls into war, remember what I learned too late:
Not every monster is born.
Some are made by love that never stood a chance.
If Book Two begins without me,
just know I’m still here.
In the servers.
In the recordings.
In whatever pieces survive the fire.
End log.