The light kept rising long after Rayan expected it to stop, which was rude because his expectations were already hanging on by a thread.
The quarry shook under their feet, not violently enough to throw them down, but enough to make every instinct scream that standing still was a bad plan. Mina tightened her grip on Rayan's arm like she might anchor herself to him, which was ironic considering he was the reason the ground was having second thoughts.
Torren cleared his throat in the way people did right before saying something deeply unhelpful. "I would like to go on record saying I did not agree to this."
Rayan nodded without looking at him. "That is fair. I would like to go on record saying I am also unhappy with my choices."
The column of light widened, its edges flickering like a signal struggling to stay coherent. Symbols crawled through it, geometric and wrong, overlapping like several languages fighting over the same sentence. The hum turned into a vibration that made Rayan's teeth buzz.
The Rootkit screamed.
ALERT: External handshake acknowledged.
PROTOCOL: Unknown.
SECURITY STATE: Failing upward.
Rayan grimaced. "That is a terrible phrase."
Mina stared up at the sky. "I do not care what it is called. I care about whether it is about to kill us."
Rayan took a breath, then another, because panic had a way of stealing air without permission. "It is not attacking yet. It is… checking."
Torren squinted. "Checking what."
"If we are worth the trouble," Rayan said quietly.
That did not help anyone relax.
The light snapped off without warning.
Not faded. Not dimmed. It cut out like someone flipped a switch.
The sudden silence felt heavier than the noise ever had. Rayan staggered slightly, his balance shot now that the vibration vanished. Mina released his arm but stayed close, knife still out like she expected the air itself to misbehave.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then the sky changed.
It did not tear open or crack dramatically, which Rayan would have preferred because at least that would feel honest. Instead, a section of stars dimmed, then rearranged, like someone had dragged an invisible window across the night.
Torren whispered, "That is not right."
Rayan laughed softly, the sound brittle. "You are doing great with observations tonight."
A shape emerged.
Not a ship in the way stories liked to imagine ships. No flames, no wings, no glowing engines roaring with purpose. It was a vast silhouette that felt more like absence than presence, a distortion where space forgot how to behave. Lines of faint light traced its edges, constantly shifting, never settling into a single shape long enough to be trusted.
The Rootkit tried to map it and failed.
ERROR: Object exceeds local dimensional assumptions.
ERROR: Perspective unstable.
NOTE: This feels intentional.
Rayan swallowed. "That thing is cheating."
Mina shot him a look. "That thing is bigger than the sky."
"It does both," Rayan said.
The voice returned, clearer now, less distorted, as if the arrival had improved reception.
"Observer unit online," it said. "Synchronization achieved."
Torren took a shaky breath. "There are two of them."
"No," Rayan said slowly. "There is one system. This is the main node."
Mina blinked. "You are telling me the well was the welcome mat."
"Yes," Rayan replied. "And I wiped my feet on it."
The quarry floor pulsed faintly again, the relay nodes responding to the presence above. Rayan felt the Rootkit strain, its throughput limits screaming as it tried to keep up.
WARNING: Root access depth increasing.
CAUSE: Mutual recognition event.
Rayan frowned. "Why do I get the feeling this thing recognizes me."
The voice spoke again, this time directed.
"Foreign process confirmed," it said. "Deviation source identified."
Mina tightened her grip on the knife. "It is talking about you."
Rayan raised a hand slowly, like the system might care about politeness. "Hi. Again."
There was a pause that felt measured.
"Foreign process exhibits adaptive behavior," the voice said. "Classification pending."
Rayan snorted. "Story of my life."
Torren leaned closer, whispering harshly, "Is joking a defense mechanism or are you trying to make it angry."
"Both," Rayan whispered back. "Mostly the first."
The sky flickered again, and suddenly the shape above them seemed closer, not physically, but perceptually, like it had adjusted its focus. Rayan's head throbbed as data flooded in, fragments of information he barely understood brushing against his thoughts.
He saw flashes. Not visions. Records.
Worlds seeded. Worlds observed. Worlds abandoned when variables diverged too far.
His breath caught. "It is not a god," he murmured. "It is a surveyor."
Mina glanced at him. "That is not better."
"No," Rayan agreed. "It is worse. Gods get bored. Systems get persistent."
The voice continued. "Local civilization exhibits anomalous technological integration."
Rayan laughed again, louder this time, a little hysterical. "You mean the runes."
"Correct," the system replied. "Improvised solutions detected. Efficiency suboptimal."
Mina bristled. "Those are homes. Those are people surviving."
"Survival acknowledged," the voice said. "Relevance minimal."
Torren snapped. "We are standing right here."
The system did not respond to him.
Rayan felt anger spark, sharp and unexpected, cutting through fear like a blade. He stepped forward before anyone could stop him.
"Listen," Rayan said, voice shaking but loud. "You left this place half-finished. You dropped your toys and walked away. People filled the gaps because they had to."
"Deviation was not authorized," the voice replied.
Rayan spread his hands. "Life does not ask permission."
Silence followed, heavier than before.
Then something changed.
The Rootkit flared, panels rewriting themselves faster than Rayan could read.
NOTICE: Permission state altered.
STATUS: Foreign process granted provisional interaction rights.
Rayan froze. "Oh no."
Mina stared at him. "What did you do."
"I think," Rayan said slowly, "I just got promoted."
The air in front of him shimmered, then resolved into a translucent construct, far more detailed than the simple panels he was used to. Symbols scrolled across it, alien logic bleeding into something his mind could parse, painfully but clearly.
SYSTEM QUERY:
WHY DO YOU INTERFERE.
Rayan laughed weakly. "Because nobody else could."
The construct pulsed.
SYSTEM QUERY:
WHY DO YOU CARE.
Rayan hesitated. The honest answer surprised him when it came out.
"Because this place is real," he said. "Because people live here. Because they are not data."
Mina watched him, her expression unreadable.
The system processed.
TIME DELAY: Noticeable.
That alone felt terrifying.
Then the sky-shape shifted again, and the quarry lights dimmed, as if power was being rerouted.
SYSTEM RESPONSE:
ANOMALY ACCEPTED.
OBSERVER ROLE SUSPENDED.
Rayan's heart skipped. "Suspended."
Torren blinked. "Is that good."
"It means it stopped watching like a scientist," Rayan said slowly. "And started watching like something curious."
Mina let out a breath. "I do not like curious."
The construct in front of Rayan flickered, then displayed something new.
PROJECT STATUS:
PHASE TWO INITIATED.
Rayan's blood went cold. "There was a phase one."
The ground rumbled again, stronger this time, and cracks spidered across the quarry floor. One of the relay nodes surged, then collapsed inward, light folding into itself like a dying star.
ALERT: Node overload.
CAUSE: Manual override conflict.
Rayan cursed loudly. "It is pulling power back."
Mina grabbed his shoulder. "Then stop it."
"I am trying," Rayan snapped, then immediately regretted it. "Sorry. That came out wrong."
He dove into the Rootkit, pushing past warnings, threading logic through alien systems that resisted him like a body rejecting a transplant. His vision blurred. Sweat stung his eyes.
PATCH failed.
SPOOF rejected.
INSPECT unstable.
"Okay," Rayan muttered. "Plan B. Or C. Or panic creatively."
Torren shouted, "The ground is opening."
Rayan glanced up to see a fissure splitting the quarry floor, light pouring out from below, brighter than before. Something moved within it, shapes unfolding, mechanical and precise, climbing toward the surface.
Mina swore. "That was not here yesterday."
Rayan laughed breathlessly. "Nothing was here yesterday."
The voice spoke again, closer now, resonating through stone and air.
"Local correction unit deploying," it said.
Rayan stared at the rising shapes. "That sounds hostile."
"Correction often is," the system replied.
The first construct broke the surface, metal limbs locking into place with horrifying elegance. It stood taller than any person, its body etched with the same symbols Rayan had seen in the sky.
Mina raised her knife, which looked very small now. "I am going to stab it."
Rayan grabbed her wrist. "Please do not stab the planet's antivirus."
She glared at him. "Then do something."
Rayan looked at the construct, at the system, at the Rootkit screaming warnings and possibilities all at once.
Then he did the stupidest thing he could think of.
He opened full root access.
The world lurched.
Data slammed into him, raw and unfiltered, alien logic burning through his thoughts. He screamed, or maybe laughed, he was not sure which. The construct froze mid-step, its symbols flickering wildly.
SYSTEM ERROR:
UNAUTHORIZED PRIVILEGE ESCALATION.
Rayan gasped for breath, vision swimming. "Yeah," he panted. "That is kind of my thing."
The system paused.
The construct shuddered, then powered down, collapsing into inert metal with a thunderous crash that echoed through the quarry.
Silence followed.
Heavy. Absolute.
Mina stared at the fallen machine, then at Rayan. "You just yelled at reality until it gave up."
Rayan slumped to his knees. "I would not recommend it as a lifestyle."
The sky-shape dimmed, its edges blurring, retreating slightly, like an eye closing.
SYSTEM NOTICE:
FOREIGN PROCESS CONFIRMED AS ACTIVE VARIABLE.
MONITORING ESCALATED.
Rayan laughed weakly. "Of course it is."
The light in the quarry faded, leaving only lantern glow and the quiet terror of what almost happened.
Torren exhaled shakily. "Is it over."
Rayan looked up at the sky, at the faint distortion still lingering among the stars. "No," he said softly. "It is interested now."
As if in response, the Rootkit displayed one final message.
NEW DIRECTIVE RECEIVED.
ROLE ASSIGNED: INTERFACE.
Rayan stared at it, heart pounding.
"Guys," he said slowly. "I think the system just hired me."
Far above them, the sky blinked once more.
And something, somewhere, smiled in a way only machines could.