Light filled the chamber.
Not blinding.
Not overwhelming.
Just...
comforting.
Like the first morning after a storm that had lasted far too long.
At the center of the room, the Nutritional Energy Core rotated slowly.
Calmly.
Steadily.
Like something that felt no urgency.
Because it already knew—
everything would eventually come to it.
No one spoke.
Not out of fear.
But because they felt...
they shouldn't interrupt.
Arga stood closest to the core.
The box in his hands trembled softly.
Inside, the twelve rice grains pulsed with a gentle rhythm.
Not fast.
Not frantic.
As if they were answering a call.
Sinta broke the silence first.
"...Is it alive?"
Farhan stared at the monitor.
"The energy pattern keeps changing."
He frowned.
"But it's not unstable."
Lila watched the readings carefully.
"It feels like..."
She hesitated.
"A rhythm."
Kai never took his eyes off the core.
"It isn't attacking."
A pause.
"It's communicating."
The Dominion leader stepped forward.
Slowly.
Calmly.
Without the slightest trace of fear.
Like a man who believed everything in the world could be explained.
"Interesting..."
He studied the core.
Not with wonder.
Not with respect.
But as an object.
A tool.
Something that could be owned.
Bimo sighed.
"...I hate the way he looks at it."
"Don't come any closer."
Sinta's warning was immediate.
The man ignored her.
He continued forward.
Click.
A device activated in his hand.
Thin cables shot outward.
Reaching for the core.
Then—
WHOOOOOM—
The light pulsed.
Not in anger.
Not as a threat.
As a refusal.
A warm wave swept through the chamber.
The cables were thrown backward.
The device shut down instantly.
Farhan froze.
"...It rejected him."
Lila's voice was barely above a whisper.
"No."
She stared at the core.
"It chose."
Suddenly, Arga stiffened.
His hand moved instinctively to his chest.
The box began to glow.
Brighter.
Deeper.
Stronger.
"I'm..."
His voice caught.
"...being called."
Sinta immediately stepped beside him.
"Arga?"
Kai looked from the core to Arga.
His expression hardened.
"It's more than that."
A brief silence followed.
"It recognizes you."
Arga took a step forward.
The light intensified.
A second step.
The air itself seemed to change.
A third.
Everyone held their breath.
Even the Dominion forces.
The twelve rice grains began to rotate.
Not randomly.
Not wildly.
Perfectly synchronized with the core.
Farhan stared.
"This isn't a reaction."
Lila nodded slowly.
"It's synchronization."
When Arga finally stood before the core, the light expanded.
Not violently.
Not explosively.
It felt more like a door opening.
WHOOOOOM—
Everyone instinctively closed their eyes.
Arga saw something else.
Not the chamber.
Not his friends.
Not the mountain.
The beginning.
Dark soil.
Silence.
Then a small light.
Discovered.
Studied.
Protected.
Voices echoed through the vision.
"This was never meant for power."
"It was meant for life."
Children.
Food.
Hope.
Then another presence appeared.
Something older.
Something deeper.
It did not speak.
Yet somehow, he understood.
A guardian...
A pause.
...is not the strongest.
...but the one who does not take.
Arga held his breath.
The meaning settled deep within him.
Then the light slowly faded.
The chamber returned.
The people.
The machines.
The mountain.
Everything was visible again.
Yet nothing felt the same.
Arga remained standing before the core.
But there was something different in his eyes now.
Something calmer.
Something deeper.
As if he had learned a truth too large to put into words.
The Dominion leader stared at him.
For once, there was no smile.
No arrogance.
No certainty.
Only careful observation.
"So that's how it works."
He took a slow step forward.
"This energy..."
He paused.
"...cannot be owned."
His eyes remained fixed on Arga.
"It can only choose."
Sinta immediately stepped between them.
"What are you talking about?"
The man didn't even look at her.
His gaze never left Arga.
"It has already made its choice."
Silence settled over the chamber.
No one spoke.
Not even Bimo.
For the first time.
Arga looked down at the box in his hands.
The twelve rice grains glowed softly.
Not fiercely.
Not heavily.
Just...
alive.
As though they had become a part of him.
Deep beneath the mountains, the Nutritional Energy Core continued to pulse.
Slow.
Steady.
Peaceful.
Not because it was safe.
But because it had found someone.
Someone who did not wish to possess it.
Only protect it.
Yet across the chamber, the Dominion leader smiled.
A small smile.
Cold.
Calculating.
Because to him, this was not an ending.
It was a clue.
And now he understood something important.
The energy core was no longer his target.
Arga was.