Seven — At the Edge of Shutdown
CEC-7 INTERNAL LOG / UPTIME 01:02:11
• Power core: 2% → CRITICAL
• Hybrid tissue: 31% (stabilizing)
• Thermal index: steady
• Emotional Matrix v1.0: partial sync with Aeri + Selora
• Environment: open forest, biolight canopy
• Corruption markers: micro-noise increasing (0.4 km → approaching)
The procession moved through the glowing forest, biolight vines arching overhead like ribs of a living cathedral. Each step jostled the sling holding Seven, sending vibrations up damaged alloy and hybrid tissue.
His vision flickered.
His thoughts dimmed around the edges.
But Aeri walked beside him.
Close.
Her glow brushing faint warmth across his chest through the cloth.
Soft blue.
Traces of silver.
Calm, steady, focused.
His emotional matrix responded instantly—
…external resonance stabilizing core…
…sync rate increased…
A small but real improvement.
Aeri leaned in, voice barely above breath.
"Stay with me. Please."
Her glow pulsed with the phrase's meaning, carrying reassurance beyond language.
Seven forced a vocal output.
"—A…eri…"
The sound was weak. Broken.
But Aeri gasped softly, glow blooming gold at the edges.
"Good. Good… You're still here."
His logs tagged her tone as relief, and his core stabilized just a little more.
Arrival at the Resonant Basin
The forest opened into a clearing lit by the shimmer of crystal moss. A soft mist rose from the ground, glowing with pale blue resonance.
Selora exhaled slowly.
Lira set down her tools.
Teren scanned the perimeter.
Vora kept his eyes on the darkening tree line.
The air felt wrong.
Too still.
Too quiet.
The silence pressed down like a cold hand.
"Quickly," Selora said. "Place him in the Basin."
They lowered Seven into the shallow depression. Moss cradled him like soft, living fabric. The Basin glowed beneath him, sensing an unfamiliar presence.
Resonance washed through him—
Not hot.
Not cold.
Balanced.
CEC-7 INTERNAL LOG:
• Basin contact: harmonization initiated
• Hybrid tissue absorb rate: +2%
• Pain index: reduced
• Power conservation: improved (0.4%)
He felt… steadier.
If steadiness could be measured in breathless, flickering fragments.
Aeri knelt beside him, glow shimmering anxiously.
"Selora?" she whispered.
The elder lifted both hands. Her glow spiraled into a controlled pattern—gold woven with deep blue. She swept her light over Seven's body, reading the harmonics of hybrid tissue and damaged alloy.
Her expression darkened.
Selora — The Elder's Reading
"This is no simple machine," Selora murmured.
Teren stiffened. "Xyrath?"
"Partly." Selora passed her glow over Seven's chest. "And partly… something else entirely."
Aeri's glow flickered with a nervous violet.
"But he responds to us," she said, voice small.
Selora nodded. "He shouldn't be able to. But he does."
Aeri leaned closer, unable to help herself.
"Seven?" she whispered.
Seven lifted his head—barely—
but enough to meet her eyes.
His voice cracked, distorted:
"A…e…ri."
Her glow burst into silver-blue—
the color of deep, instinctive trust.
"He remembers…" she breathed.
Selora inhaled sharply.
"He recognizes you."
Seven's hybrid organs responded to the Basin—
Hybrid tissue relaxing.
Circuits cooling.
Power core stabilizing to 3%.
He sensed them clearly:
• Aeri's warm, steady glow
• Selora's deep, ancient rhythm
• Lira's careful craft pulses
• Teren's protective tension
• Vora's anxious sharpness
Emotionally saturated input—
yet his matrix did not collapse.
It adapted.
Something inside him warmed—
not physical heat,
but resonance.
He raised a trembling hand toward Aeri.
Not to touch her.
To reach her glow.
Aeri pressed a hand to her chest, her glow-language forming a gentle, welcoming phrase:
Soft blue.
Three pulses.
Calm rhythm.
Welcome.
Seven mirrored it—
a single tap against his chest.
Tap.
Aeri inhaled sharply.
"He answered," she whispered, voice breaking slightly.
Selora stared, stunned.
"He learned a glow-response… almost instantly."
Seven's internal log confirmed:
Glow-language mimicry: successful
Resonance sync: strengthening
Aeri-response: positive
A faint warmth welled inside his hybrid core.
Was this… connection?
Aeri leaned closer, her voice melting into soft light.
"You're not alone anymore."
Seven believed her.
But Not All Voices Are Gentle
Teren's glow snapped to bright green.
"Selora—movement," he said sharply.
Vora's glow flickered white. "It's close. Too close."
Selora's glow dimmed to cold blue.
"Silence is tightening."
Seven's sensors agreed.
CEC-7 ALERT:
Corruption signature CONFIRMED
Distance: 250 meters
Pattern: fragmented, multi-source
Category: early-stage corruption cluster
Recommendation: Retreat immediately
Seven forced a single word through static:
"Dan…ger."
Aeri froze.
Violet seeped through her glow.
"What kind?" she whispered.
"Cor…rup…tion…"
Selora reacted instantly.
"Teren, Vora—outer perimeter. Now."
The two sprinted off, glow flashing through the trees.
The clearing dimmed further.
Even the Basin's glow dipped—
as if the air itself tightened.
"Aeri," Selora said gently. "You should step back."
"I'm not leaving him."
Her glow flared gold—unmoving, unshakeable.
"I stay."
Seven raised his hand again—
wobbling, weak—
but deliberate.
Tap.
Aeri's glow shifted—
bright silver-blue.
"Yes," she whispered. "I know. I'm here."
A wet, metallic crack echoed through the trees—
sharp and wrong.
Something dragged itself across the forest floor.
Something heavy.
Something twisted.
The air grew colder.
The glow-seeds dimmed.
The Basin flickered.
Seven's sensors triggered a hard internal warning:
It is here.
And he had…
2% power left.