The council rotunda was awake when I arrived, lanterns glowing bright and currents carrying a sharp edge. I showed the guard my liaison band, still pulsing green-yellow, and pushed through the archway.
Elders and engineers filled the chamber. Yera waved me forward. "Kaelen, give them the numbers."
"The primary chamber's beat drift is eleven percent over safe levels. It's climbing. If we leave it, vent pressure will spike." I lifted my band. "My pearl's been picking up the change for hours."
She turned to the room. "You heard him. No more speculation."
Elder Shemril's voice was firm. "Seal the chamber completely. We cut the lungs and stop the risk."
High Artisan Fin shook her head. "Seal it, and half the reef loses coolant. We need to guide the bleed, not choke it."
Talos growled, "Exiles only want that bleed to steal from us."
Echo-Hand stood silently in the gallery, watching the pulse graph floating above the table, its line rising without pause.
The arguments grew louder until Yera slammed her hand down. "Enough. We need a plan, not shouting."
A tremor rolled through the walls. Lantern light flickered. A temple glyph lit up above us. Water shifted, pulled toward the ceiling crystal. A voice rumbled through every current: the demi-god.
"Guide the twin lungs, or drown as one."
The light dimmed. Silence held the chamber. No one spoke until Fin said, "We send a mixed crew. Controlled bleed."
Yera pointed at me. "Kaelen leads. Ashekan, Lis, Veshra, Saar, Echo-Hand, two shellguards, and an Exile medic. Move fast. Install a bleed conduit, sync the beats, and hold."
Orders were logged. The council finally agreed. We had two hours.
We met in the equipment bay. I slid my bad wrist into a reinforced brace while Veshra locked a fresh coil pack to my harness. "Sensor crystal," she said, slotting a clear shard on my chest plate. "Green means beats match. Yellow, they drift. Red, they spike."
Lis checked anchor lines. "I'm taking high cover."
Ashekan strapped coolant cylinders across his belt without a word. Echo-Hand unrolled mirrored cloth. "Use this if the chamber howls again."
I passed the nursery domes on the way to the tram. Blue night lights shimmered. Hatchlings drifted in their pods, tiny fins twitching. A caretaker glanced up. "Temperature's holding, but if there's another spike…"
"We'll stop it," I said, moving on. Their safety sat heavy on me.
The vein tram hummed under our fins. Frost clung to rail joints, currents colder than before. Saar looked over. "Your council moved faster than I expected."
"Fear works," I answered.
"Hope works better," he said. "We'll see which one lasts."
My pearl flickered green, then yellow.
Halfway down, the tram jerked to a stop. Warning glyphs on the rails burned red. Lis peered through the viewport. "Tunnel's cracked. Current's pulling coolant out."
A black swirl spun in the gap, dragging water into itself. "Shadow eddy," Echo-Hand said. "Decay made current. We either go around and lose time, or we clear it."
"We clear it," Ashekan said, spear ready.
We entered colder water. The eddy spun wide, pulling at us hard. Shredded vent fins rattled on the tunnel frame.
"Lis, anchor high. Ashekan, cut the side vents. Veshra, chill mist on my mark," I ordered.
We moved in tight formation. I shaped a spiral current, pushing crossflow against the eddy's draw. The water fought back, pulling at my brace. Lis fired her line, swung a stabiliser pack, and dropped it into the eddy's core. It burst, mist slowing the spin. Ashekan cut the bent fins, dropping suction. Saar's mirrored cloth scattered the dark center, breaking its form.
The swirl wobbled, then collapsed. Coolant currents settled. My sensor crystal blinked yellow, then steady green.
We climbed back onto the tram. No cheers—just relief.
The tunnel opened into the primary heart's antechamber. Cold fog hung thick. The sphere ahead glowed dull orange, its beats uneven and loud.
"We sync first, bleed second," I said. "No coolant until we see green."
Everyone spread out. Lis took high cover, the shellguards set anchors, Veshra primed the bleed conduit, and Saar floated with his mirrored cloth ready.
I swam to the control seam, pulse key in hand. Every beat rattled my chest. I matched my breath to the older rhythm, slow and steady. The disc clicked. My pearl burned but steadied. Lights on my chest turned green.
"Do it," I called.
Veshra opened the bleed valve a fraction. Coolant hissed. Pressure gauges dropped. The sphere's glow shifted to amber. Then the conduit bucked. Lung rings surged. My crystal flashed yellow. I forced the key deeper, twisting until the beats fell back in step. The glow steadied.
"Pressure is stable," Ashekan confirmed.
The liaison band pulsed green. For now, we'd won.
Back in the tunnel, Lis exhaled. "Next time, someone else gets to lead."
"No heroes," I said. "Just a reef that still needs us."
My pearl flickered calm green. I turned toward the tram. The current behind me stayed quiet, but we all knew it would not stay that way for long.