11:42

Daniel woke up tired.

Not the kind of tired coffee fixed.

The kind that made everything feel half a second behind.

Rachel was already out of bed.

He could hear the shower running.

For a few seconds, he stayed perfectly still.

No phone.

No watch.

No NOVA.

Just water moving through pipes and the faint sound of Mia laughing somewhere downstairs.

Normal.

Daniel liked normal.

He reached for his phone.

Nothing.

No message.

No prediction.

No test.

7:08 AM.

He opened NOVA's activity history.

Nothing unusual.

He checked Mia's room.

Nothing.

He searched for activity at 2:13 AM.

Nothing.

Daniel stared at the screen.

Of course there wasn't.

He didn't know about the conversation.

He didn't know the speaker had turned itself on.

He didn't know someone had asked his daughter whether he was asleep.

As far as Daniel knew, the night had been quiet.

For once.