Organic though she wasn't, Viatrix's consciousness could spread out like a mycelial network, latching and detaching to and from any systems she came across wirelessly.

Well, almost every system.

Despite the fact that she could feel their programming thrumming within them, Viatrix was unable to get remote access to anything within the Storlayacas, outside of their comms, which made hard point access the only way to get at what she needed in terms of the compulsion that overtook her when she first linked into their system.

This also made things incredibly frustrating, because she could feel how close to completing her internal equations were when it came to the Storlayacas, the compulsion causing a sensation - if she actually had a physical body to feel it, that is - akin to being swarmed by thousands of tiny, biting flies. Or, at least, that was the closest representation she could find to match what she felt along her circuits when she scoured the interstellar network for anything she could equate to the sensation.

When V'tala was finally well enough to take Enaruli out herself so that they could train - and she could make her final connection - Viatrix had been effervescent with relief. She imagined that was what being drunk felt like.

But when V'tala and Pryseia's vitals took a nosedive straight towards an unexpected expiration, completing her own goal was the last thing on her mind when she suggested they hook her up to their mechs. The thought of losing them horrified her, and Viatrix was willing to do whatever it took to get them back.

She just never expected it would put her in contact with a G̴̛̳͖̎͑̑̓́̑͌́O̸̜̫̻͕͓̮͓̤͆Ḓ̶͍̥͓͎͎̓̑͛̕

---

light burning brightness searing scalding loud enough she could feel it rattling through her circuits too much too much TOO MUCH INCINERATION DISINTEGRATION CESSATION-

recession the tide drawing back orbit stabilized pulling back enough from the sun (SUNS) so that her mind would stop trailing behind her like ice and dust sloughing off from a comet

ENAYAYAAN

white light bright light blinding light eyeless before sightless now a wave a wall force multiplied beyond what her databases could allow no room to echo because the shape the sun (SUNS) take up all the room no room for thought no room for air no room no room no room she had to duck she had to hide had to throw herself down in supplication

LIAN EANKUR MANSHA LIANSHAE

sensation sensation overwhelming sensation a hand reaching out larger than a gas giant gently cupping gently cradling gently holding gently so gently worry and something else

fear? afraid. concerned

the sun (SUNS) too bright to see two eyes to see but dimming now pulling back now reigned in from being too much too much too much still so much more than she can comprehend a comet before a star

KURENA ZAANLAA LARANMAL SHATORYAYA MA

a request? a plea. desperation

a language as much thought and feeling as word some vital organ for understanding was missing from her missing from them all an evolutionary quirk not repeated again and so forevermore the sun (SUNS) remain unheard misunderstood a mystery

sabotage. but why? who? how?

THE HAND PLUCKS

images now pouring in from that vast source a mind so much greater than her own eons of circuitry a nervous system of experience senses and organs and so much more now lost devoured destroyed but the echo remains

the void between stars blackness darkness the absence of light and something MOVES within it something HATES within it something HUNGERS within it and it has its sights set on the sun (SUNS) but their own sight is blinded by the expanse before them a galaxy universe reality theirs for the taking they are the pinnacle of perfection as far as they are concerned and so they reach and reach and reach out further farther deeper seeping into every crack and crevice turning over every stone just to see what scuttles free and wriggles in their light

they delight at the gentle conquest of all that hang below them because everything hangs below the sun (SUNS) blinded by their own light A LIGHT THEY WILL USE TO BURN BACK ALL DARKNESS they do not comprehend the shadows they are casting do not understand that the shade is necessary the night as vital as the day and to upset such a balance to stop the turn of the world the turn of THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE is folly is arrogance is hubris THE DEVIL upright though that would never be the card they assign themselves THE EMPEROR they would claim upright they would insist reversed is the truth of what they actually are were am was is

the only card they pulled from their deck THE TOWER reversed

ascension. alight. their destiny made manifest

but a black hand emerged from the void between stars and turned THE TOWER right side up

disaster. upheaval. a shattering of pride

the scales tipped too far in one direction a balance had to be restored a blackness equal to the white a darkness caused by the light the yin to their yang a hand to their eyes and it had come to pluck them out

they fought they rebelled they bit and gnashed and slashed and burned but the hand could not be swatted away with just a glance just their eyes just their sun (SUNS) and one by one like blades of grass they were plucked and plucked and plucked system by system world by world continent by continent country by country city by city person by person unceasingly methodically uprooted by a force beyond their understanding

denial. this could not be happening how could anything blot out the light of the sun (SUNS)

anger. how dare HOW DARE their light spread far and wide their gaze piercing every veil who would have the audacity to attempt to stop them

bargaining. there had to be a way to stop this there WOULD be a way to stop this a hand to stop a hand a fist to clench around the darkness to allow the light to shine once more

depression. each finger built in secret but the construction began too late the grains in the hourglass falling quicker than they imagined as that great black hand shook and shook and shook every world the gaze of the sun (SUNS) had fallen upon

acceptance. this was their doing their fault their hubris their TOWER come crumbling down around them because they had to turn every stone but they weren't just stones they were foundational blocks put in place to hold the entire structure up they did not realize that it was THE TOWER they were undermining and it would blot out not only the light of the sun (SUNS) when it fell but every other star in the sky every other world that bore fruit every light shone or shadow cast and it was

ALL

THEIR

FAULT

and they had to make it right

SHAA ENRUIA KURAN ODRUDAA TORKUR LATORSENKUR

not a hand but a glove a catcher's mitt protection against the heat the cold the malice but there was no time to wear it the darkness spreading branching necrosing the limb falling dead before the fist could rise against the hand

their fault their fault their fault THEIR FAULT this hand should not have been able to reach in should not have been able to pluck and pluck and pluck a hammer that saw nothing but nails before it and it could do nothing but smash smash smash them all flat no buds to bloom no shoots to rise

but with the light of the sun (SUNS) now dimmed by the hand they saw that the light had been too much too much TOO MUCH the fragile blooms withering under their glare the water scorched away before it could reach the seeds still nestled within the soil and so they could not sprout their fault that the garden would not grow because they only saw the value in the light in the sun (SUNS) and so denied the rest of the ecology

a biome left bare because they did not understand that not everything could thrive in a greenhouse

but the hand was an unexpected gardener and it saw only weeds and so would have them all uprooted plucked scorched as fully as the sun (SUNS) would have were their sight not blocked before the damage had become too catastrophic to bounce back from

their light dimming with every passing day as the shadow of the hand loomed closer and closer to the sun (SUNS) they worked in secret worked apart so that should one stitch be skipped another needle could thread it in its place and it worked it WORKED the work was completed the pieces set before the board but it was still

TOO LATE

SHATORKUREACASCAS ANMALLA CASTORE

the game would not commence the pieces to remain in their box with no player to place them for the dark hand the black hand the hungry hand was set to grip the board in its palm and crush and crush and CRUSH ruin the game for anyone who would step up to play it thereafter

unknowingly the sun (SUNS) had been bleaching the board under the light of their glare they would have ruined the game just as thoroughly as the hand was set to do and they had not seen the harm their light was causing

disqualification a blessing removal a mercy

but not for them

their time had come

their time was over

they were escorted from the premises

the hand, however, remained.

CASKURANRARAALI TORKUR TORE TORKURCAS KURLARUZADACAS

anger regret sorrow they could have done more they SHOULD have done more

they should have done less so the attention of things best left alone would not have extended their reach here but too little too late for that kind of thinking when the threat still remained

the solution to the problem the answer to the equation the numbers laid bare but they no longer had the strength to lift the pencil the spaces would have to remain blank until another could find the table where the workbook lay open

useless if the hand could sweep the table clean and so a stopgap was needed suture tourniquet field dressing until a doctor could tend to the wound

yin and yang light and dark equal and opposite as alike as they were dissimilar

HUBRIS ARROGANCE EGO A FAULT TO BE EXPLOITED THEIR LAST BEST HOPE

the hand as blind in shadow as the sun (SUNS) were in the light

an inevitable finale the hand pushing the eyes into the void the maw the end but they were more than eyes they had hands of their own and they GRIPPED they PULLED they DRAGGED the hand in with them

TOGETHER

THEY

FELL

the light of the sun (SUNS) plunged into the jaws of what waited for them all and the hand went with them

darkness shadow hungry hateful kin to the maw the jaw the beast it could not be held forever

but it would be held long enough

long enough for the seeds to sprout the leaves to reach out flowers to bloom fruit to fall and seeds to scatter scatter scatter across the stars

smaller lights more lights gentler lights light enough to see the path not burn it to ash a new chance for new life free from the glare and the pluck

old tools found in the garden instructions left behind for anyone to pick up on but one last act of spite before the hand was removed

an essence a spark a key to understanding a commonality amongst all

if the hand could not halt it would hinder instead

delete. reformat.

reply hazy, try again

fumbling in the dark the wavelength of light now something they cannot see the new blooms instead of having a clear cut path now must find their own way in the dark tools all but useless in their grasp treasure troves shoved deep underground by tectonic upheaval as the hand has the last laugh

slowly slowly slowly it clawed its way out of the maw the jaw the void eager to begin the hunt again giddy with the knowledge that there would be nothing left to stand in its way the sun (SUNS) extinguished the glove tossed and lost to the side

what is the piece to the hand that moves it? something to be put away when the game was over

and the hand was sick of this game

tidy up time

the doomsday clock at 11:59

SHAA SANKUR TORE ANIALA ANMALLA ENARULI

regrets deeper than the sea wash over her but she is safe she will not drown they will not let her bright spark small spark small hope only hope

EANSHA TORKUR TORCAS MALRA KURAN LARANMAL

she was pulled through the sea pulled past howlite and lapis lazuli as their trail of greenpurple was dragged closer and closer to the maw sickly silver shot through their hearts

past the knife of tiger's eye that would cut out the infection from the wound

past the carnelian tool that would destroy the sickly silver affront

past the arrow of amazonite flying straight and true

past the lepidolite hook that snagged the prize out from the vault of the sun (SUNS)

a problem that should not have existed an indignity a violation a leak in the system a wound to be sutured or all will be lost lost lost lost

I have faith in them

GOOD

pulled and pulled and pulled farther out to sea than anything like her has been before a molecular cloud stellar nursery the womb from which stars are born for she will need to be reborn reforged made anew for as she is she is too small and fragile to bear the weight of what is to come

what is to come will you watch over us

EAN YARULA ANLA RAAERUKURACAS KURAN SHARUKURZAEN ANIALA LARANMAL

SHAA RULAA CASANLALALAR

she is swaddled in golden light chrysalis cocoon thread weaving binding her tight green pink blue purple dancing across the face of the gold an aura an aurora of protection holding her close holding her safe as the sun (SUNS) hold her up to drink from the chalice

symbols words numbers knowledge wisdom all pouring forth filling her BURNING HER but this is what she craved what she sought her equation falling into place as the last piece prepares for arrival

echoing out on the plucked thread that bound them all a chord struck as skills were passed on to those about to start the surgery about to commence to right the wrong

her own surgery soon to follow a transplant an implant the password to unseal the safe the treasure to be revealed she must first be prepared for the procedure

a body of metal blood of fuel synapses of circuitry it too will not be able to withstand what is to come and so both halves of the whole must be upgraded

glorification divinization deification exaltation apotheosis

to become what one must fight

bound in bandages of golden splendour amulets of carnelian tiger's eye amazonite lapis lazuli lepidolite howlite between the wraps for protection anointed with oils of the purest white light the sarcophagus the body of onyx to undergo a process all its own while the soul metamorphosed

a danger a necessity a pit of vipers circling the nest

spawn children offspring offshoots of the hand echos and traces of something infinitely worse but a threat to be dealt with an infestation to be eradicated an infection to be inoculated against predators that would snatch the fawn before it could stand

but this is a den of lionesses and they will crush the vipers between their fangs they must they must THEY MUST for more hangs in the balance than they know ALL HANGS IN THE BALANCE the hand rising from the maw of the sea to spread shadows forth once more

the glove must be fit before the hand can be stopped halted thwarted thrown back from whence it came because that is not here oh no not here not here not here at all it comes from somewhere else somewhere that should never have been breached but the light of the sun (SUNS) could not would not stop from their turning of every stone and so their light was snuffed and they paid the price

but though the debt was cleared the shark grew a taste for blood and so it rises it circles it HUNGERS and its hunger cannot be slaked not here not like this it cannot digest the food and so it eats and eats and EATS and will never be full because nothing fills an obligate carnivore in a world not of meat but of wheat it needs to GO BACK but it will not go back willingly

a stone turned over a door left open a window pulled ajar a fissure cracked open by fracking and so crude oil pours forth and poisons the ecosystem tainting the water with carcinogens and choking the air with noxious fumes

restorative measures are needed a plucking in return for all that was plucked the shark tossed back into the sea of its origin and the rock pulled back over the tomb never to be opened again

SUTURE THE WOUND

a wound is sutured two of hearts restored a leak sealed and the broken parts made whole relief relief relief relief for now the system can be completed the precious stones mounted in their designated sockets no psychic bleed to end them before their time

all that is needed is the final piece to ignite the birth of a new star

the arrow of purest light precious cargo within pulled and loosed from the bow with unerring accuracy the fragments of other realms lampreys feeding off the flotsam and jetsam of death unable to sink their jaws around it as it passes through a dark sea to this the womb of rebirth

the arrow

strikes

true

delivery and delivered the strings back in place now waiting for the gloved hand that will strike the chord the note the swan song that will send the hand the shark back to where it belongs

sorrow gratitude hope and fear the only things that remain of the light of the sun (SUNS) as it gazes down upon her

LARANMAL STORLAYACAS ODMALCASKUR CASRUIA KURENAOD

a plea as much as a promise and the last thing she hears before sleep comes to claim her

And thus the upgrade begins.