The constellation stabilized slowly after the Predator's retreat.
Not all at once.
Recovery moved through the network like the gradual settling of waves after a violent storm. Energy currents that had surged chaotically during the confrontation now smoothed into stable flows again, weaving through the constellation's expanding structure.
Across the outer regions, fractured anomaly fragments slowly drifted back toward coherent orbital patterns. Several clusters that had destabilized under the Predator's pressure began knitting themselves back together, guided by the entanglement lattice that bound every node within the network.
Streams of luminous data flowed along those pathways.
Repair protocols.
Energy redistribution.
Structural recalibration.
Defensive nodes resumed their silent rotations around the newborn sovereign. Their geometries aligned with quiet precision as they re-established the protective shell surrounding the fragile node.
