The cube's ceiling stabilized after its metamorphosis, revealing a lattice that was no longer a mere architectural structure, but the cradle of a synthetic ecosystem.
The bees did not wait for Aku to process the new scale of the danger. The flight pattern, which until then had maintained a tactical dispersion to saturate lines of sight, changed in the very same instant the young man planted his feet against the matte floor.
The formations compressed with a synchrony that defied inertia. They did not descend as a block nor launch independent attacks; instead, they reorganized into concentric layers, as if each unit were occupying a distinct geostationary orbit within a larger gravitational system.
The hum, previously a constant and linear frequency, transformed into a rhythmic pulse—a mechanical systole and diastole that seemed to pump energy from the ceiling toward the center of the formation.
