The collection teams streamed back to Cargo Hold Seven over the course of two hours, their vehicles laden with precious cargo. Each wax-like husk was handled with reverence, carefully secured in its hibernation pod where monitoring systems would maintain perfect stasis for the next three weeks. The hold transformed into a cathedral of sleeping souls—row upon row of cocoons glowing softly with the internal light of cellular reconstruction. By the time the last collection vehicle returned, the numbers were staggering.
"Final count confirmed," Xylogram's voice resonated through the command center. "One thousand, five hundred crew members successfully recovered and secured in Cargo Hold Seven. Hibernation protocols stable across all units. Estimated awakening: twenty-one days."
The 500 surviving crew members erupted in celebration. Cheers echoed through the Central Core as people embraced, wept, and called out the names of loved ones who would soon return. Three weeks felt like nothing compared to the eternity they'd feared—three weeks until their numbers would triple, until families would be reunited, until the Meridian's Edge would truly come alive again.
The Six returned to the command center where Dagger stood at the central dais, exhausted but triumphant. Her orange hair was still plastered to her face with the sweat of command, evidence of the hours she'd spent coordinating operations from Lacey's post. With both hands, she combed the damp strands back from her forehead, gathering them into a practical ponytail that somehow made her look even more formidable.
"That was magnifique!" she exclaimed, her accent thick with emotion. "Fifteen hundred! Fifteen hundred souls brought home in a single operation! Mon Dieu, you are all incredible!"
"Good," Lacey replied, her brass gears clicking with satisfaction despite her exhaustion. "We keep them safe in Cargo Hold Seven for the next three weeks. Round-the-clock monitoring, environmental controls at optimal levels, and—"
The sensation hit them all simultaneously.
It started as a rush of energy through their Toy Frame systems—not painful, but intense, like electricity and champagne mixed with pure adrenaline. Their HUDs blazed with light as information cascaded across their vision in streams of data too fast to consciously process but somehow instantly understood.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
HOPE QUOTIENT THRESHOLD EXCEEDED
CORRUPTION REDUCTION MILESTONE ACHIEVED
TOY FRAME EVOLUTION INITIATED
LEVEL UP: 2 → 3
"Affinity: Attack Support Type.
Level: 3
Health Points 4900
Toy Force 7,800
Strength 6
Agility 18
Intelligence 24
Stamina 12
Attack Speed 175
Defense 167
Accuracy: 245
Resistance 188
Estimated battle power: 8,765."
6 SP available.
Lacey's Clockwork Knight frame resonated with new harmonics, her brass gears spinning faster than ever before. She could feel new subroutines activating, enhanced protocols integrating seamlessly into her consciousness. Her time manipulation abilities deepened—she could sense temporal threads stretching further into past and future, could perceive probability matrices with crystalline clarity.
Hexi gasped as her Tesseract Weaver plates reconfigured into geometries she'd only theorized about. Her analytical systems expanded exponentially, capable of processing dimensional mathematics that had been beyond her reach moments before. "I can see... everything," she whispered. "The ship's structure, the corruption patterns, even the quantum probability fields..."
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
HOPE QUOTIENT THRESHOLD EXCEEDED
CORRUPTION REDUCTION MILESTONE ACHIEVED
TOY FRAME EVOLUTION INITIATED
LEVEL UP: 2 → 3
"Affinity: Caster Support type.
Level: 3
Health Points 7590
Toy Force 8,800
Strength 4
Agility 15
Intelligence 22
Stamina 7
Attack Speed 127
Defense 115
Accuracy: 215
Resistance 176
Estimated battle power: 6,800."
6 SP available.
Bunk's Blockbuster frame suddenly felt lighter despite its massive bulk, his construction protocols evolving to manipulate materials at scales previously impossible. "I can build faster," he rumbled, flexing his angular fists as golden light danced along his frame. "It's more complex now. I can see my Toyframes infrastructure like it's an extension of my own body."
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
HOPE QUOTIENT THRESHOLD EXCEEDED
CORRUPTION REDUCTION MILESTONE ACHIEVED
TOY FRAME EVOLUTION INITIATED
LEVEL UP: 2 → 3
"Affinity: Defense Support type.
Level: 3
Health Points 12,000
Toy Force 9,800
Strength 18
Agility 7
Intelligence 23
Stamina 15
Attack Speed 105
Defense 267
Accuracy: 155
Resistance 205
Estimated battle power: 9,700."
6 SP available.
Tumbler's carnival mask cycled through emotions faster than ever, his phase-shifting abilities expanding to include not just alternate realities but alternate possibilities. " I can phase through more than just space now," he said, wonder in his voice. "I can see branching timelines, probability streams..."
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
HOPE QUOTIENT THRESHOLD EXCEEDED
CORRUPTION REDUCTION MILESTONE ACHIEVED
TOY FRAME EVOLUTION INITIATED
LEVEL UP: 2 → 3
"Affinity: Attack Type.
Level: 3
Health Points 6500
Toy Force 10,800
Strength 16
Agility 18
Intelligence 15
Stamina 14
Attack Speed 275
Defense 107
Accuracy: 149
Resistance 152
Estimated battle power: 10,200."
6 SP available.
Pip's Storybook armor blazed with narrative energy, pages upon pages of stories flowing around her like a living library. Her empathic sensors had evolved beyond simple emotion detection—she could now perceive the actual narrative threads that connected people's lives, she could read the stories written into reality itself.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
HOPE QUOTIENT THRESHOLD EXCEEDED
CORRUPTION REDUCTION MILESTONE ACHIEVED
TOY FRAME EVOLUTION INITIATED
LEVEL UP: 2 → 3
"Affinity: Caster attack Type.
Level: 3
Health Points 7,700
Toy Force 6,700
Strength 14
Agility 12
Intelligence 17
Stamina 7
Attack Speed 135
Defense 125
Accuracy: 141
Resistance 171
Estimated battle power: 8,400."
6 SP available.
Zozo's bubble launchers hummed with new frequencies, her chromatic arsenal expanding to include colors that existed only in theoretical physics. "These frequencies..." she breathed, watching test bubbles shimmer with impossible hues. "They're not just light anymore. They're... hope made visible. Joy given form."
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
HOPE QUOTIENT THRESHOLD EXCEEDED
CORRUPTION REDUCTION MILESTONE ACHIEVED
TOY FRAME EVOLUTION INITIATED
LEVEL UP: 2 → 3
"Affinity: Caster Defense Type.
Level: 3
Health Points 8,100
Toy Force 5,500
Strength 6
Agility 13
Intelligence 19
Stamina 10
Attack Speed 151
Defense 233
Accuracy: 179
Resistance 128
Estimated battle power: 4,900."
6SP available.
The 500 crew members watched in awe as the Six stood transformed, their Toy Frames radiating power that made the air itself seem to shimmer. This was what victory looked like—not just survival, but evolution. Growth earned through sacrifice and courage.
Dagger approached Lacey, her eyes wide with wonder. "What... what jes happened tu you?"
Lacey's HUD was still processing the cascade of new information, but she understood enough. "We leveled up," she said simply. The system—whatever governs our Toy Frames—it's responding to our success. Every person we save, every moment of hope we create... it makes us stronger."
"The victory condition is becoming clearer," Hexi added, her enhanced analytical systems already calculating implications. "We're not just fighting corruption—we're literally powered by hope and joy. The more we save, the more powerful we become. It's a positive feedback loop."
"A beautiful one," Pip said softly, her narrative senses reading the story being written across the ship. "We grow stronger by making others stronger. We heal by healing others. It's... perfect."
Tumbler flickered through several probability states, grinning beneath his carnival mask. "So what you're saying is, the more good we do, the more good we can do. I can get behind that kind of math."
Bunk's rumbling laugh echoed through the command center. "Then we better get ready for the next operation. If saving fifteen hundred people gets us to level three, imagine what saving the rest will do."
The Six watched as the glowing text stabilized into new lines beneath their stat summaries:
NEW MENU AVAILABLE: SCHOOLS OF FOCUS
A soft pulse ran through their Toy Frames, like an unseen instructor knocking at the door of their minds. The menu unfurled, five sigils blossomed open flickering in rotation—each one representing a different school: Resolve, Flow, Dominion, Insight, and Resonance. But the mysterioues sigils were not written in english but some ancient scrit.
The School of 'Xun'dral Fang' leaned toward direct combat with waves of shaped Toy Force. "The universe respects those who strike decisively."
The School of 'Turok Ta' dealt with continuous motion and manipulation, the art of multiplying Toy Force into pure speed. "All motion is life; hesitation is decay."
The School of 'Orrak Gharn' was about generating and controlling—constructs, telekinetics, and power through sheer numbers. "Creation is control—build or be built upon."
The School 'Zetrah Tuk' was about group synergy and support through mass healing of regenrative Toy Force waves. "Healing is foresight—mend the pattern before it breaks."
The School of 'Jorak Zhol' explored harmonics and team wide buffs using Toy Force through harmonized soundwaves. "To sing is to transcend selfhood."
A note beneath the list shimmered:
Choose wisely. Your Focus determines not only your methods, but your intent.