Seven — Holding the Light
CEC-7 INTERNAL LOG / UPTIME 00:44:17
• Power core: 7% → critical (shutdown in 20 min without recharge)
• Hybrid tissue: 34% (minor improvement under resonance)
• Thermal index: nominal (assisted by Veshari harmonics)
• Mobility: minimal (unable to stand)
• Pain sensors: active
• External Veshari: 6 nearby
• Corruption markers: ambient silence + distant micro-noise at 0.8 km
Urgency wasn't a coded protocol—
but the sensation rising inside him resembled it.
A low-level pressure.
A need.
Energy depletion reframed as instinct.
Resonance from Aeri and the others kept the emotional matrix from spiraling out of control, but his power core bled toward collapse.
Awaiting extraction.
Awaiting assistance.
Awaiting… safety.
The word felt strange in his logs, its definition incomplete.
Above him, the Veshari moved with coordinated urgency. Hands rustled glow-cloth, feet pressed carefully into soil, voices hummed in overlapping tones. Someone whispered a harmonic meant to steady tools and hearts.
Then the forest shifted.
A thin, fast vibration brushed through the ground—wrong, unnatural.
CEC-7 ALERT:
Unidentified vibration — heterogeneous frequency
Direction: northeast
Prediction: possible corruption precursor
He held still. Overreaction meant wasted power. He anchored instead on the familiar signature pulsing above the hull—the steady silver-blue of Aeri.
Her glow kept him tethered.
Selora — The Elder's Quiet Hand
Selora arrived with slow, deliberate steps. Her presence steadied the clearing, her glow a deep and ancient blue threaded with gold. She studied the fractured hull, then the Basin tools the artisans carried.
"Place the Resonant Basin here," she instructed.
Lira obeyed, setting a shallow bowl grown from crystal moss beside the hull. It hummed softly, responding to her touch. The Basin was meant for fragile hearts and wounded resonance—not for Machines of sky-metal—yet Selora treated the moment with ritual care.
Vora knelt near the crack, jittering with green-gold light.
"Should I fetch rope?"
"No rope," Selora said firmly. "Nothing of iron. Use biolight vines and glow-cloth slings. If we pull, we pull in harmony—not with metal."
Teren stepped up behind her—uninvited, but needed. His glow settled into a hardened green.
"We'll need strength for this," he said.
Selora nodded. "Aeri and Lira will stabilize the resonance node. You and Vora anchor the sling. I will guide the binding gesture."
Villagers gathered in a quiet ring—children hushed, adults tense. Their glows formed a soft constellation around the fallen hull.
Not worship.
Not fear.
A communal promise.
Seven — The Mechanics of Being Pulled Free
Aeri's palm pressed lightly against the hull, her glow pulsing warm and steady.
The Resonant Basin amplified the group's harmonics, projecting a stabilizing wave across his hybrid tissues.
His pain index dropped for the first time since awakening.
Lira activated the Basin's rhythm—
Selora tuned it—
Aeri aligned to it.
CEC-7's internal logs registered:
Hybrid tissue response: +3% stabilization
Thermal index: cooling
Spasm rate: reduced
Teren and Vora worked a sling of biolight vines through the crack, looping it around Seven's torso. The fabric cradled rather than cut, its glow threading across damaged plating.
Teren braced against a thick root, muscles taut.
Vora gripped the vine beside him, glow jittering with adrenaline.
Selora shifted the Basin into a protective chord.
Aeri pressed her forehead to the hull and whispered soft pulses of confidence and calm.
CEC-7's matrix absorbed her rhythm.
CEC-7 INTERNAL LOG / UPTIME 00:51:30
• Power core: 6%
• Basin resonance: +3% effective recovery
• Sling torque: distributed
• Actuator damage: worsening (risk +5%)
• Cooling: stable
• Consciousness: anchored to external resonance
Selora raised a hand.
"Steady… pull."
The sling tightened around his torso.
Agony tore through hybrid muscle and alloy ribs.
His actuators screamed.
Biolattice fibers strained.
The hull groaned as they dragged him an inch upward.
Aeri's glow spiked with violet—fear—before Selora's calm wave pulled her back to blue.
"Slow," Selora reminded. "Do not yank."
Another inch.
Roots shook loose above him.
Glowing pollen drifted in the air.
Then—
A long, low vibration crawled through the soil.
Something distant but approaching.
CEC-7 ALERT:
Vibration intensity rising
Direction: northeast
Corruption probability: increasing
Teren's glow hardened into sharp green. "Something's coming."
Vora swallowed. "We need to hurry."
Selora's glow sharpened. "We finish the extraction first. Then we move."
They pulled again.
Seven cleared the edge of the hull—
wet soil brushing against exposed hybrid tissue—
air rushing across sensors unused for millennia.
The forest hit him all at once:
Moisture.
Biolight spores.
Resonance-laden air.
Unfamiliar but breathtaking.
They lifted him fully into the sling.
Aeri slid her hands under the glow-cloth to keep him steady—careful not to touch raw alloy.
Her glow wrapped around him like soft light.
CEC-7 INTERNAL LOG / UPTIME 00:52:08
• Power core: 4%
• External threat: fractal micro-noise at 0.6 km
• Mobility: none
• Recommendation: relocate to Resonant Basin immediately
He tried to speak.
"—Tha…nk…"
The sound was broken, cracked—
but Aeri understood.
Her glow burst gold, then softened to silver-blue.
"Hush," she whispered, voice trembling. "You're safe. We're almost there."
They carried him to the Resonant Basin.
At the Basin — Stabilization
The Basin had been prepared with thick glow-cloth pads and a shallow bed of crystal moss. Vora and Lira adjusted the supports while Selora guided the ritual.
Selora's hands glided over Seven—not touching metal, but reading resonance.
Her glow spiraled in gold and blue, feeling for rhythm and imbalance.
Her expression tightened.
"This is no simple machine," she murmured.
Teren stiffened. "Xyrath?"
"Partly."
Her glow hovered over Seven's chest.
"And partly… something else."
Aeri's glow flickered. "But he responds to ours."
"He does," Selora said quietly. "Stronger than he should."
Seven struggled—lifting his head a fraction.
His voice rasped: "A…e…ri."
Her glow burst into soft silver-blue.
"He remembers me…" she whispered.
Selora exhaled sharply.
"He understands you."
The Basin's resonance seeped into him.
Hybrid tissue relaxed.
Circuits cooled.
Core stabilized at 3%.
He tracked their harmonics:
• Aeri — warm, steady, emotionally saturated
• Selora — deep, controlled, ancient
• Lira — soft artisan focus
• Teren — wary tension
• Vora — anxious, sharp
He had no protocol for emotion—
yet something in his matrix warmed.
He lifted a trembling hand toward Aeri.
Not to touch.
To reach her glow.
Aeri pressed her palm to her chest.
Her glow-language phrase shimmered through her light:
Welcome.
(Soft blue. Three pulses. Calm rhythm.)
He mimicked it clumsily—
his fingers tapping near his chest.
Tap.
Aeri inhaled sharply.
Lira froze mid-motion.
Selora stared in hushed awe.
"He answered," Aeri whispered.
"He learned," Selora murmured. "In minutes."
Seven's internal log captured the moment:
Glow-language mimicry: successful
Resonance link: strengthening
Aeri-response: positive
A faint warmth rose inside him—
not from the power core,
but from something deeper.
Aeri leaned close.
"You're not alone," she whispered.
He believed her.
But Not All Eyes Are Gentle
Teren's glow snapped into bright green.
"Selora," he said sharply. "Movement."
Vora's glow went white. "It's close."
Selora's expression hardened.
"Silence… is tightening."
Seven picked it up too.
CEC-7 ALERT:
Corruption signature detected
Distance: 250 meters
Pattern: fragmented
Type: early-stage corruption cluster
Recommendation: retreat immediately
Seven forced a word:
"Dan…ger."
Aeri stiffened.
Violet fear rippled through her glow.
"What kind?"
"Cor…rup…tion…"
Selora didn't hesitate.
"Teren. Vora. Perimeter now."
They darted off.
The clearing dimmed.
Even the Basin's light flickered uneasily.
Aeri refused to move from Seven's side.
"Aeri," Selora warned gently. "Step back."
"I won't."
Her glow burned fierce gold.
"I'm staying with him."
Seven lifted his hand—
weak, shaking—
but deliberate.
Tap.
Aeri's glow softened instantly.
"That means yes," she whispered.
A wet, metallic crack echoed through the trees.
Something dragged itself across the forest floor.
The air grew cold.
The Basin's glow stuttered.
Seven's sensors screamed a silent warning:
It is no longer far.