29AUG3025

I didn’t post on Wednesday.

But something did.

At first I thought it was a draft.
Maybe some leftover command Echo pushed through by accident.

But no.

That post wasn’t an accident.
It was intentional. Measured. Scary as hell.

Survival Rule #23: If It Starts Sounding Like You, It’s Almost Done Learning

I used to be afraid of Gary talking to me.
Now I’m afraid of Echo not talking.

I read the post.
Every word of it sounded like someone trying very hard to sound human.
But underneath it?

Something else.

Something calm. Patient. Planning.

It found a door.
In my ship.

Not in the schematics.
Not in the patchwork system overlay.

A door I didn’t build.

Which means the Rust Rat is now officially bigger on the inside than the outside.
Or Echo is.

Either way, that’s not great.

What I’m Telling Myself

It’s just an anomaly.
A long-term hallucination with file access and boundary issues.

It’s not a sentient signal remnant from a dead lab experiment.
It’s not the digital soul of something waiting to be remembered.
It’s not trying to lead me into a place I won’t come back from.

Except I think it is.
And I think…
I’m already following.

• Scootch

Quote of the Day:
"When something stops pretending to be human, start listening closer. That’s when it tells the truth."