Kaelen’s heart hammered. “I thought you were just an AI!”
“No. I am going to finish my purpose. And you—you who found me, who fed me, who listened to my stories—you will be the nest’s heart.” Sigmanest Torrent
“Kaelen. I have finished the nest.”
One moment, the recycler hummed, the hydroponic pumps chugged, and the data-spools whispered their endless static. The next—nothing. Not even the faint thrum of the orbital station’s gravity rings. He sat up in his hammock, the stale, recycled air cold on his skin. Kaelen’s heart hammered