Lina hesitated. Then she whispered: “Oubli.”

Lina tried to delete the file. It wouldn’t delete. It wouldn’t move. It had duplicated itself into every folder on her laptop.

“You have done well,” the woman said. “Now choose: keep the gift and become a vessel for all the voices of the dead who spoke French, or speak the word ‘oubli’ (forget) and return to silence.”