The Corelight beacon didn't blink.
It pulsed—steady, confident, unwavering.
Cael stared at the interface inside the Planning Hall as the full beacon schema unfolded. The new settlement's signal was crisp, clean, and unmistakably structured.
[SETTLEMENT: VARNLIGHT]Tier: IArchitect-Class: ActiveClaim Radius: 4.2 TunnelclicksCorelight Emission Strength: ModerateStatus: Non-HostilePolitical Tag: "Stable Expansion Priority"
Stable Expansion Priority.The most passive-aggressive warning a builder could send.
Myla read over his shoulder.
"They're staking dirt. Not asking."
"They're drawing a box around us," Cael muttered. "Even if they call it growth."
Nell appeared beside them, crystalline eyes glowing faintly.
"Initial records indicate Varnlight follows a Consolidation Doctrine. Linear planning. Authority-driven. Architect-linked public control nodes."
Cael knew the type.
Efficient. Sharp. Tactical.
Cities that didn't grow—they replicated.
"We have three options," he said, thinking aloud. "Respond. Ignore. Or counter-claim."
Riven stepped into the chamber at that moment, as if summoned by instinct.
"We counter."
"That's escalation."
"So is letting someone else draw our borders."
Cael looked between them.
Myla, silent. Watching.
Nell, calculating.
Riven, already ready to build a wall.
"No message yet?" Cael asked.
Nell shook her head. "Varnlight has made no attempt at contact."
Which was, itself, a message.
They met in the Civic Hall that night.
No formal vote. No public gathering.
Just the core group: Arna. Riven. Myla. Lys. Nell. And Cael.
The conversation started quiet.
And turned sharp.
"Claiming territory means choosing sides," Myla warned. "You don't signal ownership in the Deep unless you're prepared to defend it."
"Or unless you want to prevent someone else from coming too close," Lys offered.
"Which is the same thing."
Riven leaned forward.
"We need a claim. Not to fight. To be seen. Hearthcore matters now. They need to know that."
Arna hesitated. "And if they respond?"
Cael didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he opened a schematic.
A simple ring beacon.
Set not in stone.
But in light.
"We place it above the North Ridge. One Corelight plate. No wall. No turret. Just… clarity."
Lys nodded.
"Let them see what kind of builders we are."
The beacon was lit by morning.
A soft blue ring glowing above the northern vent line.
Not a flare.
Not a siren.
Just a presence.
And beneath it, carved into the stone:
This ground listens. It does not kneel.
The response came two Spirals later.
Not a message.
Not a visit.
Just a flicker on the interface.
[VARNLIGHT: Beacon Recalibrated]Claim Radius: Adjusted – 3.9 Tunnelclicks
Status: Observation Active
Political Tag: "Acknowledged Boundary – Pending Evaluation"
Myla laughed.
"That's their way of saying 'we see you'."
Cael smiled.
"Good. Then they'll know to build carefully."