The Harmonization Hall breathed around him.
The walls were alive—woven from living roots that pulsed with gentle light, each strand carrying a soft harmonic thread he could sense through his failing sensors. Resonance flowed through the chamber like a quiet river of sound and color. Warm currents brushed against the fractured plating on his chest, easing the trembling inside his hybrid frame.
The vines lowered him carefully onto the moss cradle at the center of the hall. The moss had a soft glow of its own—blue at the edges, pale gold in the center—shifting as it adjusted to support his uneven weight. The surface felt strange beneath him, neither cold nor warm, but something in between: like holding light without heat.
His optic flickered open again. The world above him was a haze of shimmering shapes and biolight. The ceiling roots breathed in slow waves, shifting their glow in response to Selora's presence. Aeri stood beside him, her glow trembling softly but steadily.
He focused on her first.
Her glow pulsed in a calm, even rhythm now—blue with hints of gold at each exhale. Behind her was Selora, radiating deep gold-blue authority. Teren and Vora stood further back, their glows sharper, less controlled. Lira moved around the cradle, her lilac glow scanning the moss's response to the hybrid's presence.
Seven tried to speak.
A fractured sound escaped.
"…st—…sys—…"
The word dissolved into static.
Pain rippled across his frame.
CEC-7 // INTERNAL LOG
Vocal Output: Failure
Hybrid Tissue Stress: Elevated
Emotional Matrix v1.0: Active (Unstable)
Core Load: High
External Resonance Detected: Stabilizing effect
Aeri lowered herself to sit beside him, hands hovering just above his chest plating. Her glow brightened into soft blue, careful and steady. The air between them warmed.
"Easy," she whispered. "You don't have to speak right now."
Her glow gently brushed against the edges of his sensors—warmth without touch. His internal tremors eased in response.
Selora nodded approvingly. "Good. Keep your glow steady, Aeri. His core reacts to your frequency."
Aeri exhaled and lifted her chin slightly, glow becoming even more controlled. Seven watched the shift—not understanding the technique, but recognizing her effort to help.
He reached for the glow.
His fingers twitched.
Tap.
Aeri inhaled sharply. Her glow brightened gold-blue. "You're still aware… good."
Selora stepped closer, lowering her palms over Seven's chest-node. Her glow deepened into structured pulses—slow, heavy, grounding.
"Begin first-phase harmonization," she said quietly.
The room responded.
The roots dimmed.
The moss beneath him vibrated softly.
Light enveloped his form—warm, low-frequency waves washing over broken alloy and ruptured hybrid conduits.
Seven's internal logs shifted.
CO2L // SYSTEM ANALYSIS
Ambient Resonance Field: High stability
Harmonic Input: Slow-cycle, structured
Effect on Hybrid Tissue: Moderate stabilization
Pain Simulation: Reduced
Core Temperature: Cooling
Recommended Action: Maintain proximity to resonance source
His optic flickered weakly.
Everything felt… softer.
Like someone had lowered the weight pressing on his gel conduits.
Like the entire hall was breathing on his behalf.
Aeri watched every shift in his optic.
Every twitch of his fingers.
Every breath-like intake of the cracked vents along his ribs.
"You're safe," she murmured gently.
He didn't understand the words.
But he understood the tone.
He saved it.
He focused on her glow, letting it guide him through the waves of resonance washing over him. Each pulse felt like a gentle tug against his failing core—steady, rhythmic, almost like… a heartbeat.
Not his.
The hall's.
Theirs.
Aeri shifted slightly closer.
Her glow brushed against his cheek plating—only light, not touch.
His internal noise quieted.
Selora watched them with narrowed eyes, her glow darkening thoughtfully.
"He attunes too easily," she murmured. "As if his inner weave was designed to fold into external resonance."
"Is that dangerous?" Aeri asked.
"Not yet. But unusual."
Lira stepped closer, adjusting her scanning technique, lilac glow flaring softly. "His core responds to emotion… almost like a Veshari resonance organ."
Vora flinched. "But he's not Veshari."
"No," Selora said softly. "But something in him listens like one."
Seven processed the conversation without understanding the words, but he sensed their glows shifting in the air: tension, worry, curiosity, awe.
Aeri's glow did not falter.
Her glow remained steady and warm, anchoring his wavering awareness.
He matched her pulse subconsciously.
A tremor shivered through the floor.
Weak—but present.
Aeri's glow snapped violet.
Seven's optic widened.
Another tremor followed, more fragmented—an irregular, broken rhythm traveling through the deep roots beneath the hall.
Selora stiffened.
Her glow darkened.
"Again. Just like earlier."
Lira pressed her hand to the floor. "Corruption cluster… it's shifting again."
Seven tried to warn them.
"…cor… rupt…ion…"
Static buried the attempt.
His frame jerked with pain. Aeri reached out without thinking—both hands hovering near his face, glow flooding gold-blue.
"No—don't force it," she whispered, glow trembling. "Don't hurt yourself."
Her voice soothed him. His tremors calmed.
Selora watched them with tightening eyes. "He senses corruption?"
Aeri nodded once. "He warned us outside the Basin too."
"Impossible," Vora muttered. "He shouldn't be able to detect—"
Selora cut him off with a soft pulse of deep blue authority.
"Nothing about him follows our assumptions."
Seven shifted his attention back to Aeri.
Her glow was soft now, warm blue with gentle threads of gold.
He strained to lift his hand.
Aeri gasped. "No—rest. Rest…"
But he continued the slow motion—not to stand, not to flee.
Just to reach her glow.
The movement was small and weak.
But intentional.
Tap.
Her breath hitched. Her glow burst warm, like morning sun through mist.
"You're awake," she whispered. "You're really awake… and listening."
He saved that glow pattern again.
All of it.
Selora stepped back, closing her eyes. "We move to second-phase harmonization. Aeri, you remain his anchor."
Aeri nodded quickly.
"I won't leave."
Her glow increased in intensity—careful and controlled, losing the frightened tremor from earlier. It shaped itself into patterns she had learned as a child: soft curves, gentle undulations, the glow-language of reassurance and safety.
Seven's optic tracked every shift.
His internal logs responded:
CEC-7 // INTERNAL LOG
External Anchor Detected: Aeri
Stability Increase: +7% (temporary)
Emotional Matrix Response: Unclear / warm
Core Pulse Sync: Partial alignment
Overall Status: Improving
He did not understand the meaning of her glow-language.
But he understood the feeling.
Calm.
Stay.
You are not alone.
We are here.
Another tremor vibrated faintly below the hall.
Selora's glow spiked with sharp gold.
"Lira. Teren. Strengthen the boundary harmonics."
Lira pressed both hands to the resonance stones around the chamber. Her lilac-blue glow brightened, weaving into the roots. Teren worked beside her, pushing green resonance pulses outward like ripples.
The hall brightened now—its inner light rising as if preparing to shield those inside.
Aeri leaned close again, her voice quiet, shaped by emotion more than language.
"You're safe," she whispered. "Stay with me."
Seven's optic softened.
The world dimmed at the edges, but her glow held firm—like a star marking the center of his perception.
He allowed his systems to slip further into stabilization.
Not shutdown.
Not darkness.
Something in-between.
Aeri brushed her glow closer to his cheek plating and whispered:
"Rest."
His optic shuttered slowly.
He sank into low-power again.
But it was not the cold unconsciousness of before.
It was warm.
Gentle.
Held by light.
As his awareness drifted, he saved one final glow pattern:
Aeri's glow—blue-gold, steady, protective—
pulsing softly in the stillness of the harmonization hall.
He saved it carefully.
Like something he knew he would need again.
And he rested.