The fire had been burning for three Spirals.
Not just the signal atop Hearthcore's dome—but in the tunnels, in the people, in the system itself. The city was evolving faster than Cael could track. New voices, new tempers, new geometry creeping into walls that should've been neutral.
He stood at the Common Thread Hall's overlook with Nell at his side. Below, the civic plaza bustled. Market stalls—improvised from alloy scrap—lined the edges. Crates of glow-fruit. Ropework satchels. A child's voice laughing.
But the air shimmered oddly today.
[EMOTIVE ARCHITECTURE FEEDBACK]Settler Mood: Tentative Growth / Lateral CuriosityPattern Drift Detected: New Cognitive Influence Source
Cael frowned. "Drift from what?"
Nell tilted her head. "The city's heartbeat is misaligned."
Before he could ask more, the outer gates triggered a ripple alert.
[ZONE 3 APPROACH]Heat signature: HumanoidSystem Link: Passive – Architect Fragment Detected
Not a full Architect.But not a wanderer either.
They brought the stranger in an hour later—quiet, calm, unarmed. A woman draped in scavenger robes marked with stitching patterns Cael didn't recognize.
She introduced herself as Lys. No last name.
"I followed the flame," she said. "Didn't know anyone still believed in cities."
Her eyes lingered on the walls like a builder measuring angles in her mind. And her tone… it wasn't fear. It was familiarity.
That night, she drew a schematic on the Monument Wall's edge. A spiraling tower with open floors, rotating solar intake, and a central chamber shaped like a listening shell.
She didn't ask permission.
And Cael didn't stop her.