“Vidit eam placuitque et posita forgetta repente dicta fuga timidas inmisit in ossa sagittas et spectat sine fine: cupit formosa videri.” (Metamorphoses II.708–710) Sourced from Book II of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, this piece captures the moment of impact—not through contact, but through gaze. Mercury, already halted mid-mission, looks upon Herse with sudden, overwhelming desire. Their eyes lock across the silence—his, wide with longing; hers, steady and curious. In that gaze, time pauses, and the divine forgets his purpose. The machine remembers what we chose to forget. * This piece was initially AI generated and subsequently modified.