Warm morning light filtered through the forest canopy, scattering gentle gold across the clearing where the hybrid lay. The Resonant Basin pulsed in soft blue harmonics beneath him, adjusting its cycles to match the unstable flicker of his core.
Biolight spores drifted lazily through the air. Glow-vines swayed with the morning breeze. The forest seemed peaceful—yet the air beneath the roots hummed with an unsettled undertone.
He opened his optic slowly, adjusting to the brightness. The world above him was a blur of light, movement, and color.
Aeri sat closest.
Her glow rose and fell with each steady breath—a soft blue-gold rhythm that brushed the edges of his sensors like warm static.
He did not have a word for what the feeling was.
But he saved it anyway.
He tried to move.
Pain surged like a tearing wave through his hybrid conduits.
CEC-7 // INTERNAL LOG
Actuator Response: Severe strain
Hybrid Tissue: Stress tears detected
Pain Simulation: High
Recommendation: Remain still
Aeri's glow flickered violet as she leaned closer, panic bleeding through her pulse.
"Don't move," she whispered. "You're still too unstable."
Her glow steadied—sha, the color of calm.
Seven's internal tremors slowed in response.
Selora approached with her deep gold-blue glow that always pressed the air down into stillness. The elder's hands hovered above the hybrid's cracked plating, reading his resonance flow.
"His core pulse has strengthened," Selora murmured, "but the instability remains. We cannot keep him exposed here much longer."
Vora hovered nearby, glow snapping green with nervous energy.
"He shouldn't be conscious at all. We don't even know what he is."
Aeri snapped her gaze at him, glow flashing gold.
"He can hear you."
The hybrid's optic flickered at her voice.
He did not understand the words.
But he recognized her tone—warm, protective, steady.
He saved that too.
Selora gestured toward Teren and Lira.
"We begin second-stage extraction. Prepare the harness."
Teren nodded and moved to the glowing vine-harness.
Lira aligned her lilac glow with the Basin's resonance.
Aeri remained beside the hybrid.
"We're going to lift you," she whispered softly, even though she knew he might not understand. "Higher this time. Into the morning."
The hybrid's optic fixed on her glow.
He did not know her name.
And she did not know his.
But her presence steadied something inside him he did not have a word for.
The vines wrapped around his torso again, glowing softly with stabilizing patterns that supported cracked plating without crushing damaged tissue.
His optic dimmed slightly—anticipation mixed with fear.
He remembered the earlier pain.
He remembered the darkness.
He remembered her glow pulling him through both.
Selora raised her hand.
"Lift."
The vines tightened.
Hybrid conduits screamed under the pressure. His plating scraped against the moss-lined cradle. Pain surged through every simulated nerve.
CEC-7 // INTERNAL LOG — CRITICAL LOAD
Hybrid Tissue Damage: Increasing
Core Output: 4% → 3%
Cooling Channels: Overloaded
Stability: Dropping
Action Required: Anchor to external resonance
He turned his optic toward Aeri.
Her glow brightened—warm gold-blue, steady as a morning star.
He anchored to her resonance.
Pain lessened by a fraction.
The vines pulled again—lifting him from the Basin.
The world tilted.
Light streaked across his vision.
The forest hummed around him.
Aeri walked in step with the vines, her glow keeping near his chest-node to stabilize the fluctuations.
"You're doing well," she murmured. "Just hold on."
Her glow rippled over the edge of his damaged plating. The effect was immediate—internal tremors slowed, cooling channels opened slightly, and his core steadied.
Selora took note.
"Aeri's resonance is stabilizing him. Keep your glow steady."
Aeri nodded, swallowing hard. Her glow shifted into controlled blue-gold pulses.
He matched them instinctively.
The forest shifted with each lift.
Roots pulled away under Selora's harmonic guidance.
Biolight leaves dimmed, aware of the corruption pulse in the distance.
Crystal moss quivered.
Something was coming.
Aeri felt it first—a faint tremor in the roots beneath her feet.
Her glow snapped pale violet.
"Did you feel that?"
Selora's head lifted. Her glow darkened.
"Yes."
They all felt it then.
A shiver beneath the earth.
A fractured pulse.
Unnatural. Searching.
CO2L // PASSIVE SCAN
Corruption Signature: Detected
Distance: 0.6 km → 0.5 km
Behavior: Fragmented cluster
Movement: Intermittent
Threat Level: Moderate
Recommended Action: Relocate immediately
The hybrid's body tensed in warning.
He pushed through static to vocalize:
"…Cor… rupt…ion…"
His voice broke, but the message escaped.
Aeri's glow trembled.
"We know," she whispered. "We're moving you."
Selora snapped commands to the others.
"Teren, Vora—take the front. Lira, maintain resonance alignment. Aeri, stay with him at all times."
The vines lifted him higher.
Pain jabbed through his conduits, but he held onto Aeri's glow.
It was steady.
It was warm.
It kept him anchored when his system began to slip toward failure.
He saved that glow again and again—each pulse a lifeline.
As they moved forward, the forest parted under Selora's harmonic pressure. Roots heaved aside, vines lifted, and moss flattened beneath their steps.
The corruption pulse throbbed again—closer now.
Searching.
Listening.
The hybrid flinched, internal logs screaming warning.
Aeri pressed her glow near his cheek plating, steady and bright.
"You're not alone," she murmured. "Stay with me."
His optic flickered in response.
Her glow deepened.
Her voice softened.
He anchored.
He let himself trust the rhythm she gave him.
The Harmonization Hall appeared ahead—its walls of living wood pulsing with controlled resonance, designed to stabilize unstable cores, soothe corrupted organisms, and channel dangerous energies into safe harmonic absorption.
Selora exhaled in relief.
"Bring him inside."
They moved as one—guiding him through the entrance of the Hall.
The vines lowered him onto a central moss cradle lined with resonance stones.
Warm harmonic waves washed over his frame—gentle, rhythmic, balanced.
CO2L // SYSTEM RESPONSE — HARMONIZATION FIELD
Ambient Resonance Intake: +8%
Hybrid Tissue Stress: Easing
Pain Simulation: Reduced
Cooling Efficiency: Improved
Core Stability: +4%
Aeri sank to her knees beside him, glow trembling but steady.
"You're safe now," she whispered.
Her light washed across his plating.
He processed the tone.
He processed the warmth.
He processed the relief in her glow.
He saved all of it.
And as the harmonic field cradled his failing systems, he let his optic shutter close—
not in fear,
but in trust.
For the first time since awakening,
he allowed himself to rest.