Night returned without peace.
Toren sat alone in the Civic Core, the system's interface blooming before him like a window into unwelcome truth. Kora had finished decrypting the probe's final burst transmission—sent just before the cloaked craft left orbit.
The data was sparse, but chillingly precise.
VX-99 SCAN PACKAGE (Partial):
—Geo-coordinates: Fragmentary settlement grid (3 structures resolved)
—Energy Source: Anomalous low-yield solar output, organized pattern
—Bioform Tags: One [UNREGISTERED—NON-NATIVE], flagged
—Force Resonance: MINOR PULSE DETECTED – source indeterminate
Toren stared at the final line.
They'd felt it. Him.
He clenched his jaw, resisting the urge to punch the console.
They didn't have names. Not yet. Not Aurex. Not Toren Vale. But they had questions.
That was enough.
Mira stepped in behind him, barefoot, wrapped in a thermal shawl. Her voice was soft.
"You saw it?"
"Yeah."
"They'll come."
"Eventually."
She came closer, looked over his shoulder at the glowing field of data.
"Then we don't build to hide," she said. "We build to stand."
Toren turned to her.
He didn't speak.
He just nodded.
And opened a new schematic window.