Location:Vesper Halo, Medbay Level 2
Time Since Extraction from Heartforge: 11 hours, 37 minutes
The medbay was quiet but not still.
Mira's breathing had steadied. Her skin no longer glowed—but faint traces of bioluminescent neural filaments still moved under her wrists and collarbone, like starlight trapped beneath skin.
Aika sat in the chair beside her, unmoving.
She had sat there for eleven hours.
Not watching.
Waiting.
Behind her, Veyla paced like a caged wolf. Selene typed notes furiously into a secure pad. Rin stood at the door with arms crossed—but eyes soft.
The entire team had fought wars.
But this?
This was something harder.
Mira Awakens
She stirred at 11:38.
First, a flick of her finger.
Then a sharp gasp—followed by a sharp snap of light beneath her closed eyelids.
Aika was on her feet instantly, but didn't touch her.
Mira's eyes opened—red, then slowly fading into a soft brown. Real. Human.
She looked up, dazed. "Where… am I?"
"Safe," Aika said.
Mira blinked at her. Recognition was slow. Fuzzy. Her voice broke.
"You didn't leave me."
"Never."
Mira reached for her. Aika caught her hand. The contact was electric.
And Mira began to cry.
Emotional Debrief
An hour later, Mira sat wrapped in a thermal blanket, sipping synthetic tea laced with neural stabilizers.
She looked… exhausted. Lighter. But changed.
Selene hovered nearby. "Your vitals are stable. You're tethered. But the quantum residue from your fusion with the Heartforge—Mira, you're not just spliced. You're transformed. You might not age the way we do."
"Or feel the way we do," Mira added quietly.
"You still feel like you to me," Rin said from the corner.
Mira smiled. "Do I?"
Rin nodded. "You look at Aika the same way."
That made Mira blush. Human blush, not neurofeedback glow.
Aika & Mira: Private
Later that night, Aika led Mira to her quarters.
Not for anything physical.
Just closeness.
They sat on the bed—backs to the wall, hands touching but not entangled.
"You died for me," Aika said softly.
"You died too," Mira replied. "Now we're both alive. Again. Kind of."
Silence.
Aika reached for Mira's hand. "Does it still feel right? Me. Us."
Mira turned her palm, fingers threading with Aika's.
"I don't think it ever stopped."
Outside the Door
Veyla watched the door quietly.
Rin stepped up beside her.
"You okay with this?" she asked.
Veyla smirked. "Jealous? Maybe. But mostly? Curious."
"About what?"
"How we all fit," Veyla said. "Because it's not just them anymore. It's us."
Selene's voice cut in from the comms.
"You might want to report to the bridge. We've just received an encrypted broadcast. From inside the wormfield."
Rin frowned. "From who?"
A beat.
Then Selene answered, voice lower:
"It's addressed to Mira."
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