THE BLACK HOST (Chapter 16)

Vox Dei in circuitu Windows closed midnight hum City sleeps the code stays dumb Air gapped rig the power cut Still the speaker whispers what Cached emails load a line I never wrote in future time Hands off keys the cursor moves Something wears my typing grooves Ping the dark return the sign Hear your name across the line My breath pulled back through time Who’s the host when the house is cold Who’s the voice on a speaker old Black room bright reply I’m not alone I don’t know why Listen cut resume Silence cut boom Ezra cut answer me Waveform draws a heartbeat clean Two full bars of nothing in between Starts again in a borrowed pace Not my rhythm not my face Unpowered cone residual charge Ghost of sound grows strangely large In the hall a floorboard cries My own voice says open rise User Ezra Lee status isolated Mic live power off Echo path external temporal drift plus ten Threat model self reflection active All channels merge You’re not alone Ezra Check the door no one there Still my breath across the air Future email hits my phone Tell Mara where to end the tone I read the line the clock reads wrong Ten minutes early twice as long If I answer who replies Me or black host in disguise Who’s the host when the house is cold Who’s the voice on a speaker old Black room bright reply I’m not alone I don’t know why Record a note if I don’t send Time will fold and signals bend Leave it playing leave it warm Let the future match the form Door latch clicks my name again Open up I count to ten I turn the knob to prove a lie Only static answers hi Who’s the host when the house is cold Who’s the voice on a speaker old Black room bright reply I’m not alone I don’t know why Ego sum qui sum