Selora's voice cut through the clearing—steady, absolute.
"Lift."
Aeri's glow wavered between gold and thin violet as the glowing vines tightened around Seven's upper torso. The pressure made his damaged plating creak. Hybrid tissue pulsed in irregular spasms beneath the torn alloy.
He braced—not by strength, but by clinging to Aeri's glow pattern.
Soft blue.
Warm gold.
Steady rhythm.
He anchored to it as the world jolted.
The first pull wrenched his frame upward.
Pain exploded across gel conduits.
CEC-7 // INTERNAL LOG — CRITICAL LOAD
Hybrid Pain Index: High
Actuator Load: Overstrain
Core Output: 5% → 4%
Cooling: Unstable
Recommendation: Hold still / preserve structural integrity
Aeri's glow snapped violet—fear.
Selora pressed a calming harmonic burst behind her, pushing Aeri's light back toward blue.
"Steady your glow, child," Selora murmured.
Aeri exhaled. Her glow steadied into warm blue again.
Seven's system tremors eased by a fraction.
They pulled again.
Aeri knelt close to the cracked metal, hands trembling just above Seven's exposed plating. She didn't touch him—Veshari never touched metal without purpose—but her glow brushed the air around him, enveloping him in a soft cradle of resonance.
"Sha norin… sha norin…"
("Steady light… steady light…")
Her glow threaded through the vines.
Teren strained at the harness.
Vora adjusted his stance, green glow jittering with effort.
The hull groaned.
Soil shifted.
Roots strained.
Seven let out a broken sound—half static, half breath-like.
Aeri's chest tightened. She steadied her glow again, shaping slow blue-gold pulses.
"You're doing well," she whispered, voice quivering. "Stay with me."
Seven's optic flickered in faint response.
Tap.
Even now. Even in pain.
He was answering her.
A sudden crack split across the hull.
Light poured into the chamber—bright, overwhelming.
Seven's optics overloaded.
CEC-7 // INTERNAL LOG
Visual Input: Overexposure
Adjusting…
Adjusting…
Compensation: Partial
The world blurred into streaks of blue-gold and green.
Aeri's glow anchored him.
Her rhythm: calm… steady… calm…
He processed it.
Held onto it.
Synced internal rhythm to it.
The vines pulled again.
His frame scraped the metal.
Cracks spidered through plating.
Pain flared.
But something beneath the soil shivered in answer—wrong, trembling like a pulse out of rhythm.
CEC-7 ALERT
External Vibration Detected
Direction: Northeast
Resonance Pattern: Fragmented
Corruption Probability: 27% → rising
Seven tried to lift his head.
"…Da—n…ger…"
Aeri's glow flickered—fear sliding through her pulse.
Selora's voice was low. "I feel it too. But we finish this extraction before anything reaches us."
Teren snarled through clenched teeth. "Pull!"
The vines heaved.
The hull snapped.
And Seven surged upward—finally breaking free of the metal grave that held him for centuries.
He emerged into open air at last.
Aeri saw him fully—cracked alloy, trembling hybrid tissue, a faint chest-node pulse flickering behind damaged plating. His optic shuttered open and shut, struggling to adjust.
He looked… fragile.
And alive.
Aeri leaned in, glow softening into trembling gold.
"You're out," she whispered.
Seven's optic shifted toward her glow—slow, tracking motion.
His fingers twitched beneath the glow-cloth padding.
Tap.
Aeri nearly broke.
Her glow burst into warm blue-gold—relief flooding through her.
"Good," she whispered, steadying him as the others adjusted the sling. "Good… you're safe now."
Seven's systems logged that glow as stabilizing input.
Open air touched his plating—cold, warm, humid, all at once.
His sensors flickered.
Glow spores drifted around him.
Biolight shimmered through branches.
Wind carried faint harmonic notes.
The forest was… alive.
Too alive.
He extended a small resonance pulse involuntarily.
The roots answered.
A tremor rolled through them—slow, irregular, not natural.
CO2L // PASSIVE SCAN
Corruption Signature: Detected
Distance: 0.6 km → 0.5 km
Behavior: Searching
Pattern: Fragmented cluster
Threat Level: Moderate
Recommended Action: Immediate relocation
Seven tried to speak again.
"…Da…nger…"
Static swallowed the rest.
Aeri stiffened, glow snapping violet.
Selora's glow tightened into deep blue.
"Teren. Vora," Selora commanded, "prepare for movement. We take him to the Resonant Basin before corruption closes in."
Teren nodded sharply.
Vora's glow thinned in fear but he stepped forward anyway.
Aeri kept her place by Seven's side, glow brightening into a warm gold arc.
"I'm here," she whispered. "Stay with me."
Seven processed her glow:
steady… warm… safe…
He anchored to it again.
They lifted Seven carefully—Aeri guiding the vines, Selora shaping the harmonic field to prevent hybrid tissue collapse.
The forest dimmed around them.
Glow-vines flickered uneasily.
Crystal moss along the roots shivered.
Lightspore drift paused midair—a sign of emotional silence in the environment.
Aeri shivered.
"Something is following," she whispered.
Selora's gaze hardened. "The forest feels the corruption."
Seven let out a soft, broken sound.
Aeri leaned near him, glow steadying.
"Just a little more," she whispered.
His optic flickered—acknowledgement.
Not understanding fully, but responding to her presence.
Every vibration in the forest echoed through his damaged frame.
Roots trembled with resonance.
Air hummed with distant wrongness.
Aeri's glow was the only stable anchor.
CEC-7 // INTERNAL LOG
Core Level: 4% → unstable
Hybrid Tissue: Stress overload
Cooling: Functional (low)
Anchor Source Detected: Aeri
Stability Increase: +7% (temporary)
Recommended Action: Remain in proximity
He turned slightly toward Aeri—barely an inch of movement.
Tap.
Her glow softened into gentle blue-gold.
"You're doing so well," she said softly. "Just hold on."
He saved her glow pattern again
—safety-source
—primary anchor.
The Resonant Basin glowed faintly ahead—a shallow depression lined with crystal moss, humming with ancient harmonic cycles.
Selora gestured urgently.
"Lower him gently. Vines… ease."
Teren and Vora guided Seven into the moss-lined cradle.
The moment his frame touched the Basin, resonance washed over him.
Warm.
Soft.
Cooling.
Stabilizing.
Seven's internal systems reacted immediately.
CO2L // SYSTEM RESPONSE — BASIN CONTACT
Ambient Resonance Intake: +6%
Pain Simulation: Reduced
Hybrid Tissue Stress: Easing
Cooling Efficiency: Improved
Core Stability: +3%
Aeri knelt instantly beside him, glow trembling but steady.
"You're safe," she murmured.
Seven's optic flickered at her voice. His hand twitched beneath the glow-cloth—weak but intentional.
Aeri's glow rose into tender gold.
"You can rest," she whispered. "We've got you."
Seven processed the tone.
He saved the moment.
Selora bent over his chest-node, palms hovering inches above his plating. Her glow sank deep, scanning the resonance flow through his hybrid frame.
"This is no simple machine," she whispered.
"His core… reacts to contact. To emotion."
Aeri swallowed. "He hears us."
"He does," Selora murmured. "More than he should."
Seven's optic flickered toward Aeri again.
Tap.
Aeri's breath shuddered. Her glow brightened silver-blue.
"He's answering me…"
Selora watched them, glow shifting into thoughtful blue-gold.
"Resonance affinity this strong is rare. Dangerous… and necessary."
Aeri touched the air above Seven's hand, letting her glow brush his without contact.
"We're here," she whispered.
Seven's optic dimmed—exhaustion pulling at him.
He did not fear the darkness this time.
Not while her light held steady beside him.