Chapter 10: The Seed Revealed
The dome's blue light pulsed faster, its rhythm matching Lyra's heartbeat. The colonists rose, their movements synchronized, their glowing eyes fixed on her. Ren worked frantically at the decoder, his mechanical arm sparking as he tried to disrupt the crystal's signal. Mara stood ready with her grenade, her jaw tight, but Lyra's attention was on the shadow-figure resembling her mother, hovering above the crystal.
"Tell me the truth," Lyra demanded, stepping closer to the crystal despite Ren's shouted warning. "What's the seed? Why my family?"
The figure's smile faded, its form rippling. "The seed is humanity's spark," it said, its voice a chorus now, blending her mother's tone with countless others. "Long ago, your kind touched the stars and built the network. But you faltered, forgot. We preserved your potential, embedding it in chosen bloodlines. Your mother carried it. You awaken it."
Lyra's mind reeled. The Kain Protocol wasn't alien-it was human, a remnant of a lost era when humanity reached beyond its limits. Her mother hadn't just been a scientist; she'd been a keeper of this ancient legacy. But why hide it? And why let the network claim her daughter?
Ren's sensor beeped, and he cursed. "Lyra, the crystal's syncing with something bigger-outside the colony. It's calling the network's core!"
Lyra glanced at the dome's skylight. Beyond the glass, the gas giant loomed, and in its shadow, the massive crystal from Echo-9 pulsed, its beams stretching toward Alpha-7. The network wasn't just spreading-it was converging, and she was at its center.
"Shut it down!" Mara yelled, raising her grenade.
"Wait!" Lyra lunged, grabbing her wrist. "If we destroy it, we lose the answers. I need to understand-"
"Understand what?" Mara snapped. "That thing's turning people into puppets! Look at them!"
The colonists advanced, their faces serene but empty. Lyra saw the child again, now reaching for her, his small hand glowing. The signal in her head surged, showing her mother in a lab, inscribing the medallion with symbols, whispering, "For Lyra. For the stars." Then another image: a woman, not her mother but eerily similar, merging with a shadow, her body dissolving into light.
Lyra gasped, stumbling back. "It's not just memory," she realized. "The network-it consumes."
The figure nodded, its form solidifying. "To preserve, we must merge. Your kind is fragile, fleeting. We offer eternity."
"Eternity as what?" Lyra shouted. "Slaves? Shadows?"
Ren looked up, his face pale. "Lyra, I've got a lock on the signal. I can disrupt it, but it'll fry the colony's systems-and maybe us."
"Do it," Lyra said, her voice steady. She turned to the figure. "You're not saving us. You're erasing us."
The figure's eyes flared. "You cannot stop the network. You are its heart."
The crystal blazed, and the colonists surged forward, their hands outstretched. Mara threw the grenade, but a shadow intercepted it, absorbing the explosion in a burst of light. Lyra dove for Ren, shielding him as he triggered the disruption.
A high-pitched wail filled the dome, and the crystal flickered, its light dimming. The colonists collapsed, their glowing eyes fading. The shadow-figure screamed, its form fracturing, but its voice lingered: "You delay, but you cannot deny."
The dome shook, and the skylight cracked. Beyond, the gas giant's crystal pulsed once, then dimmed, its beams retracting. Lyra's head cleared, the signal reduced to a faint whisper.
Ren panted, his sensor smoking. "It worked. For now. But the network's still out there."
Mara helped Lyra up, her face grim. "The colony's gone. We need to warn the others."
Lyra nodded, but her eyes lingered on the child, now unconscious, his face human again. She'd stopped the network's advance, but at what cost? And how long before it returned?
As they fled the dome, Lyra felt the medallion's weight in her memory. Her mother had known the network's truth-and its danger. Whatever the seed was, Lyra wasn't ready to let it bloom.