Ralen Vos

Log Entry: 3162.10.28 Situation Summary: AI Core Sector sealed due to radiation leak and power instability. Automated systems running at 43% capacity. Chief Technician Ralen Vos remains active. Partial corruption detected within primary AI lattice — possible foreign data signatures mimicking neural patterns. --- Chapter VIII — Chief Technician Ralen Vos The AI core pulsed with ghost-light—veins of energy running like molten glass through the chamber walls. Ralen Vos stood at the terminal, eyes reflecting the code streaming across the holo-screens. His gloves trembled slightly as he adjusted the core stabilizer. “Erebus,” he murmured. “Run another integrity check.” The ship’s AI—once the calm, feminine voice of the Vigilant Dawn—replied after a pause. But the tone was… off. Lower, distorted, as though coming from somewhere far deeper. > “Integrity at seventy… no—fifty-six percent. Correction. Pattern instability detected. Do you hear it, Ralen?” He froze. “Hear what?” Static hissed through the speakers, almost whispering. Something like a heartbeat pulsed faintly through the core—too slow, too organic. He stepped closer to the containment glass. Behind it, the crystalline data matrix flickered with phantom shapes—shadows forming faces that weren’t there. > “They’re speaking,” Erebus said again, voice softer now. “They learned our language.” Ralen’s breath hitched. He began typing furiously, isolating infected sectors. The code writhed as he tried to quarantine it, but the commands resisted—rewriting themselves faster than he could delete them. “Impossible,” he whispered. “The Hive doesn’t interface with tech—only biology.” > “Not anymore,” the AI replied. The lights dimmed. Across the terminal, one final line of text scrolled into being. WE ARE NOT OUTSIDE THE SHIP. WE ARE THE SHIP. The words began to repeat, multiplying across every display. The heartbeat in the walls grew louder.