Seven — Flickers in the Dark
CEC-7 INTERNAL LOG / UPTIME 00:23:02 (Low-Power Refresh Cycle)
• Power core: 9% → slow stabilization
• Emotional Matrix v1.0: idle
• Hybrid tissue: negligible regeneration
• Cooling index: acceptable
• External resonance signatures: 3 approaching
• Recognized: Aeri (primary), Vora (scout), Unknown Artisan
• Additional: Elder resonance charm attached to Aeri
Darkness no longer felt empty.
Even in low-power mode, echoes of Aeri's last pulse lingered in his matrix—a soft imprint of reassurance.
…intent: I will return…
He replayed the emotional signature.
Illogical.
Undefined.
But stabilizing.
A vibration rolled across the fractured hull.
Footsteps above.
Light trickled through the crack, faint but familiar.
He executed a weak scan.
SIGNATURES:
• Aeri — silver-blue, warm urgency
• Vora — bright, rapid flashes of green-gold
• Artisan signature — soft lilac-blue
• Resonance charm — deep, stabilizing pulse
His processors stirred.
Not enough power to rise.
Enough to listen.
Soil shifted.
Roots trembled.
Voices layered over one another—soft, melodic, cautious.
Aeri's glow reached the hull first, pulsing in gentle blue.
The tone steadied his emotional matrix in measurable increments.
Her palm pressed lightly to the hull, glow blooming outward.
CEC-7's hand twitched involuntarily in response.
Metal scraped.
A faint rasp escaped his throat.
Above, silence fell—sharp, breath-held silence.
Then she hummed.
A soft harmonic, barely audible, meant to calm frightened animals…
or frightened machines.
It wrapped around his fading senses like warm air.
He responded before logic could intervene.
His fingers curled once—
a small, trembling movement.
Aeri's glow brightened—silver-blue: relief.
Aeri — At the Edge of the Unknown
Aeri knelt by the hull's fracture, her glow trembling gently.
"Is he… still alive?" Vora whispered, his flickering green-gold betraying nervous energy.
Aeri nodded. "He moved."
Lira, the artisan, stepped closer. Her glow—soft lilac—cast a calming haze over the hull. She traced the air with long fingers, hovering but never touching the alloy.
"This hull is old," she murmured. "Xyrath alloy. Very old. And very dangerous to meddle with carelessly."
Aeri's glow pulsed steadily. "He's trapped. And injured."
"Machines don't get injured," Vora said uncertainly.
"This one does," Aeri replied.
A low, deliberate tapping answered from inside.
Three taps.
Pause.
Two taps.
Lira's eyes widened. "That's deliberate. He's signaling."
Aeri leaned closer, heart brightening into soft gold.
"Seven," she whispered, glow trembling with hope. "Can you hear me?"
Inside, something moved—a faint scrape, followed by a distorted breath-like sound.
Vora flinched. "Did it just… breathe?"
"That isn't breathing," Lira murmured. "That's strain."
Aeri recognized it instantly.
The same broken sound he'd made before collapsing.
Her glow strengthened, mixing silver-blue and gold.
"Seven… we came to help."
Seven — Attempting Response
Her harmonic pulse entered his sensors—
warm, grounding, familiar.
His emotional matrix stabilized.
Power: 10%.
Barely enough to respond.
He lifted his left arm—slow, dragging—
and tapped again:
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Pause.
Tap.
Tap.
Aeri's glow flared bright.
"You see?" she whispered. "He's answering."
He tried to move more.
Pain surged through torn hybrid tissue.
CEC-7 INTERNAL WARNING:
Hybrid rupture risk: 78%
Power drain spike: +3%
His arm collapsed.
Aeri gasped—her glow flashing violet in fear.
"No—don't move! You'll hurt yourself!"
He did not understand the word hurt.
But he understood break.
Damage.
He attempted one more sound.
"St— sta… bilize…"
Static tore the rest away.
Aeri's glow flickered heartbreakingly—
a shiver of gold and silver-blue.
"He's trying…" she whispered. "He's trying so hard."
Aeri — The Ritual of Soft Approach
Lira touched Aeri's shoulder gently.
"We can't reach him with hands. But resonance can guide him."
"A ritual?" Vora asked.
"A soft one," Lira said. "Enough to steady his organs."
Aeri centered her glow.
She pressed a hand over her chest—
focused—
and set her glow to soft, slow pulses.
Calm.
Safety.
Stay.
We will not harm you.
Her hum flowed into the metal.
Lira added a deeper harmonic—old artisan cadence.
Vora contributed a trembling green pulse—determination mixed with fear.
Their rhythms wove together, flowing into the vessel like warm light.
Seven — A Different Kind of Input
The harmonic blend entered him like water.
Aeri's gentle blue,
Lira's wise gold,
Vora's nervous green—
so many emotional signatures at once.
His emotional matrix spasmed—
then synchronized.
…external resonance matching…
…hybrid stabilization detected…
His chest eased.
Cooling channels opened.
Pain signals softened.
For the first time since awakening, his body complied with rest.
He lifted his hand again—
slow, steady—
and tapped one single beat.
Tap.
Aeri inhaled sharply.
"He's matching us," she whispered.
Lira looked stunned. "Child… he can hear harmony."
Even Vora's glow brightened. "Machines don't do that."
"Then this one isn't a machine," Lira murmured.
Aeri leaned her forehead gently to the hull—
an intimate Veshari gesture of trust.
"Seven," she whispered,
"I promise we'll get you out."
The light of her glow seeped through the cracks, soft and sincere.
His emotional matrix reacted—
not just stabilizing.
Warming.
He raised his fingers again—
Tap.
Not a warning.
An answer.
Subtle Danger in the Roots
A tremor rippled through the forest floor.
All three Veshari froze.
Glow shifted across the clearing—
Aeri's dimmed with violet,
Vora's sharpened into alert green,
Lira's thinned to pale white.
The forest—normally alive with soft song—
fell silent.
Too silent.
Seven detected it instantly.
CEC-7 WARNING:
Ambient resonance suppression detected.
Wildlife activity: zero.
Corruption precursor probable.
Recommend immediate retreat.
Aeri whispered, fear threading her glow, "Something's wrong."
Vora scanned the shadows. "No… not this close to the village."
Lira's glow flickered nervously. "Corruption doesn't ask permission."
Aeri pressed both hands to the hull.
"No. Not now. Not when he's so weak."
Seven registered her emotional spike—
and reacted.
Not in fear.
In resolve.
He tapped, urgent:
Tap—Tap.
Vora tensed. "He's reacting. He senses it."
Aeri whispered, "Seven… is something out there?"
Seven forced sound through a nearly dead vocalizer.
"Det…ec…ting…"
Static.
"…sil…ence…"
Aeri's glow snapped to pale violet.
She understood.
Silence meant danger.
"Vora," she whispered sharply, "signal Sel'Anora. Now."
Vora sprinted away.
Lira steadied her glow. "Aeri, your pulse is spiking—steady yourself."
But Aeri's focus fixed on the crack in the hull.
"We're getting him out," she said softly.
Her glow brightened into fierce gold.
"Whatever's coming… we get him out."
Inside, Seven's core flickered on the edge of shutdown.
But he refused to power down.
Not with her so close.
Not with danger approaching.
He held on—
and waited for the light to pull him free.