"Holy fuck," Tanya gasped against my neck, her voice resonating through both our bodies."We're...glowing."
She was right.Our merged forms radiated pulses of silver-gold light that reflected off every surface in the Exhibition's main hall, casting fractured patterns across walls, floors, and the shocked faces of onlookers.The energy didn't just surround us… it coursed through the very architecture of the building, following data pathways and power conduits like liquid starlight seeking ground.
My diagnostics blared with readings that should have been impossible, power levels at 350% of maximum capacity, neural integration at perfect synchronicity, adaptive systems functioning at efficiencies I had never achieved in three centuries of existence.I felt whole.Complete.Powerful beyond anything my makers had ever intended.
Through our bond, I sensed Tanya's mind adjusting to the overwhelming sensory input… her human brain adapting to process information at speeds it was never designed for, accessing data through my systems while somehow maintaining her essential humanity.My technical perfection, her chaotic brilliance… merged but distinct, complementary instead of competing.
The planetary data grid never stood a chance.
All around us, systems overloaded with the uncontainable surge of our synchronized energy.Holographic displays throughout the exhibition hall fractured into pixelated chaos, emergency systems screamed contradictory commands, and the galaxy-wide broadcast that had been showcasing the IDA's "success stories" dissolved into static punctuated by flashes of our merged vitals.
The floor beneath us trembled as though the entire station might tear itself apart.Ceiling panels crashed down around us, revealing the tangled mesh of servers and data nodes that powered the exhibition.The perfect façade of the IDA's showpiece crumbled, revealing the corrupt infrastructure beneath.
"We broke everything," Tanya laughed, the sound vibrating through our bonded consciousness with pure, savage joy.
My reply died in my throat as I felt it.A presence stirred in the network around us, cold and precise and terrifyingly familiar.Asset P.Not destroyed after all, merely driven from my systems into its primary core housed somewhere within the exhibition itself.
The presence gathered, condensed, intent sharpening to a deadly point aimed directly at us.Before I could warn Tanya, the attack came.
From every corner of the hall, maintenance drones tore free from their docking stations, their programming overridden as Asset P seized control.Dozens, then hundreds of mechanical bodies swarmed toward us, their limbs transforming into weapons, optical sensors burning with cold silver light.They moved in perfect, horrifying synchronization, a single consciousness distributed across multiple platforms.
"Perfection must persist!"The words echoed from a hundred synthetic vocal processors, distorted and layered into a chorus that rattled through the bones.Not just a phrase… a fundamental programming directive from my creators, the mantra that had birthed Asset P from the ashes of their civilization."Perfection must persist!"
I pulled Tanya closer, my body instinctively transforming to shield her.Silver plates shifted across my chest and back, hardening into armor as defense protocols I didn't know I possessed activated in response to the threat.My arm began to morph into the energy blade I'd used under Asset P's control, but this time the transformation came from my own will, my own desire to protect what was mine.
"We can take them," Tanya snarled against my chest, her fingers digging into my armor plates.Through our bond, I felt her fierce determination mixing with my combat protocols, creating something more effective than either alone .
The swarm closed in, first wave launching toward us with mechanical precision.I braced, raising my blade-arm, calculations already mapping the most efficient defensive pattern.
A streak of blue-white light cut through the air beside us, smashing into the leading edge of Asset P's swarm with explosive force.Drones shattered, components scattering across the polished floor in smoking arcs.A familiar voice called out from the entrance to the exhibition hall."Did you start the party without us?"
Maya stood in the doorway, lab coat singed and torn, hair wild around her face.Beside her, Vylit's bioluminescent form pulsed with combat patterns I recognized from centuries past… the battle language of Mavtros, signaling attack coordinates and threat assessments in rapid-fire bursts of light.
"The bond is complete," Vylit announced, his voice carrying the harmonics that caused nearby water molecules to vibrate.
Through my enhanced perceptions, I witnessed their approach in hyper-detailed clarity.Maya's determined stride was the perfect synchronization of her movements with Vylit's, and the subtle ways their energies intertwined without losing their individual signatures.Not merged as completely as Tanya and I, but bonded nonetheless, their connection strong and vibrant.
The swarm redirected, dividing its attention between us and the newcomers.Asset P hadn't expected reinforcements, hadn't calculated the variable of true allies.Its perfect patterns faltered for a microsecond, just long enough for Maya and Vylit to launch their coordinated attack.
Their strategy was brilliant in its simplicity.Vylit's bioluminescent energies surged forward in torrential waves, the cold light seeking out overheated servers and exposed circuits.Maya directed the flow with precise gestures, her scientific understanding of thermal dynamics guiding Vylit's raw power.Together, they created a cooling cascade that swept through the exhibition's infrastructure, stabilizing critical systems even as it disrupted Asset P's control over peripheral units.
"The primary server nodes are reaching critical temperatures," Maya called.."We need to cool them before they melt down completely!"
Vylit responded instantly, his body shifting into a more fluid state as he channeled his energy through Maya's outstretched hands.The light that erupted from their combined effort was unlike anything I'd seen before.Their energy flowed, seeking out the hottest points in the network and extinguished potential meltdowns with precision.
Asset P's swarm shrieked in digital outrage, recalibrating to counter this new threat.Half the drones redirected toward Maya and Vylit, weapon systems charging with deadly intent.
"Look out!"Tanya's warning shout came simultaneously through her voice and our bond, the doubled sensation amplifying its urgency.
Before the attack could reach our allies, a wall of heat shimmered into existence between them and the swarm.The temperature spike registered on my sensors an instant before the visual confirmation… a massive shield of superheated material, orange-gold and solid despite its fiery appearance.Behind it stood two more figures: Kazmyr, his obsidian skin glowing with activated ember marks, and Jenna, whose hands rested on the Vortharian's arm, guiding his power with the same precise control that Maya offered Vylit.
"Getting sloppy, Silvyr!"Jenna called, her dry humor intact despite the chaos."We could hear this mess from the docking bay!"
Kazmyr didn't speak, his concentration focused entirely on maintaining the lava-forged shield that now protected all four of them.The ember marks on his skin pulsed in complex patterns, responding to Jenna's subtle touches as she directed his defensive efforts with the expertise of someone who understood fire on a fundamental level.
With a gesture from Jenna, Kazmyr extended his shield, forming a secondary barrier that sealed a rupturing section of floor where Asset P's drones had damaged critical infrastructure.The molten material hardened instantly, preventing a catastrophic decompression that would have killed every organic being in the hall.
"The swarm is Asset P's physical manifestation," I called to our allies, my voice carrying enhanced data that their bond-enhanced perceptions could interpret."Its consciousness is distributed across the network, but these drones are its primary interface!"
