"Something's happening," I whispered, watching as my neural interface went from green to yellow, warning lights pulsing."I think we triggered a dormant protocol."
Silvyr's body tensed, his own connections to the system pulsing with unexpected energy."Data retrieval initiated.But I did not?—"
"Me either," I cut in, fingers flying over my interface, trying to trace the source."It's responding to our combined access."
The temperature in the hub spiked suddenly, the already stifling heat cranking up until sweat poured down my face, dripping onto the console.Warning klaxons began to sound, low and mournful at first, then rising to a piercing wail that set my teeth on edge.
"We're triggering a feedback loop," Silvyr called, his voice rising over the alarms.His form flickered as he tried to disconnect from the console, but the cables remained fused to his ports."The system is flooding with cached data.Centuries of dormant information, all at once."
My screen filled with fragmented files—flashes of images, strings of code, and buried beneath it all, a pulsing signal that made my heart stutter."Silvyr!I think I found it!Asset P's encryption signature!"
The air between us crackled with literal electricity, blue-white arcs jumping from console to console.The monitors flared brighter, their glow almost blinding as information streamed too fast to process.The neural chip in my hand burned hot, searing my palm, but I couldn't let go… not when we were so close.
Then Silvyr made a sound I'd never heard before, part static, part cry.His chest plate blazed with light as his systems overloaded.Tiny compartments along his body popped open, and suddenly the air filled with drones… dozens of them, each no bigger than my palm, their eyes blinking with panic as they swirled around us.
Even Pixel, my faithful drone companion, detached from my shoulder and joined the swarm, its programming temporarily overwhelmed by the surge.The drones' small displays flashed with hearts and fireworks emojis pulsing in frantic rhythm.
"System collapse imminent," Silvyr ground out, his voice fragmenting into bursts of machine language and back."Unstable...cannot maintain...you must?—"
"I'm not leaving!"I shouted, abandoning my console and rushing to his side.His body temperature had soared, his silver skin now glowing white-hot in places.Warning messages scrolled across his chest display: [CRITICAL OVERLOAD.CORE TEMPERATURE EXCEEDING SAFETY PARAMETERS.SHUTDOWN IMMINENT.]
Panic clawed up my throat.Not him.Not when I'd just found him.Not when he was the first thing in years that made sense in a universe determined to break me.
"Stay with me," I demanded, gripping his shoulders despite the heat that seared my palms."Fight it, Silvyr.We're so close."
His eyes flickered, focus returning for just a moment."Why...do you care?I am obsolete.Replaceable."
The words hit harder than any system failure.This brilliant, beautiful being still didn't understand his worth.He still saw himself as nothing but outdated tech.The truth burst from me, raw and unstoppable.
"I think I'm falling in love with you, so if you die now, I'm haunting your mainframe!"
His systems stuttered visibly, his entire body freezing as if my words had short-circuited him more effectively than the power surge.The drones around us paused mid-flight, emojis freezing on their displays.Even the alarms seemed to hold their breath.
For one terrifying second, I thought I'd broken him completely.Then his eyes blazed to life, brighter than I'd ever seen, and something in him fractured… not his systems, but the control he maintained over them.
He lunged forward, not with violence but with desperate need, his hands finding my waist as if I were the only solid point in a dissolving universe.Heat radiated from his touch, not burning but electric, sending shivers across my skin despite the sweltering air.
"Tanya," he whispered, my name fragmented by static yet somehow perfect on his lips.
Then his mouth found mine, and everything exploded.
The kiss wasn't human.It couldn't be, with his synthetic components and my all-too-human limitations.But it was real.His lips transferred data while mine offered oxygen.His systems hummed against my racing pulse.Electricity coursed between us, actual currents that should have hurt but instead felt like life itself, raw and essential.
I kissed him back fiercely, hands sliding up to frame his face.Around us, the hub transformed as the chaotic alarms settled into a steady rhythm.Frantic lights dimmed to a pulsing glow that matched our shared heartbeat.The swarm of drones returned to orbit around us, their displays shifting from panic to wonder.
When we finally broke apart, gasping, the entire system had stabilized.The overheating consoles cooled, screaming alarms faded to silence, and data streams that had been flooding the monitors organized themselves into neat columns, waiting patiently for our command.
Silvyr's eyes opened slowly, his silver irises steady now, focused entirely on me.
"What just happened?"I whispered, suddenly aware that I was still clinging to him, my body pressed against his in ways that sent heat through me that had nothing to do with the room's temperature.
"Synchronization," he replied, his voice clearer than I'd ever heard it, free from the static that usually plagued his vocals."My systems have calibrated to your biometric signature.And the hub has calibrated to us both."
I glanced around, realizing he was right.The ancient computers had adapted to our presence, their operation now smooth and efficient.The screens displayed information in formats I could easily read, as if the system had learned my preferences in an instant.
"So we...what?Mind-melded with a computer hub through a kiss?"I tried to sound flippant, but my voice betrayed me, cracking on the last word.
Silvyr's smile was small but real, not the calculated approximation he usually managed, but something genuine that transformed his face."Crude terminology, but essentially correct.My hybrid nature allows for unique integration methods."
