"…Exactly."
The screen crackled.
Static danced across it...
Chaotic...
Random...
Then...
For just a second...
It aligned.
A shape.
Gone immediately.
Mii grabbed Elric's sleeve again.
"…Okay, that's already too much."
Elric didn't move.
"…I took one step."
Pix crouched in front of the screen instantly, fingers already twitching.
"…Yeah," she said, eyes locked in, "and the system noticed."
Lyra stepped closer.
"…It shouldn't react that fast."
Sera's voice followed, low and precise.
"…Unless it was already waiting."
Silence.
Elric blinked.
"…Waiting for what?"
Pix didn't look away.
"…You."
That word sat heavier than it should.
Kaida-9 stepped forward, scanning the room.
"…No external signals detected."
Sera shook her head slightly.
"…Not external."
A beat.
"…Internal."
The screen flickered again.
This time...
The static didn't scatter.
It pulsed.
Slow.
Rhythmic.
Matching something.
Elric shifted his weight slightly...
The pulse changed.
Pix's grin widened.
"…Oh, that's good."
Mii pointed at the screen.
"That is NOT good!"
Pix waved her off.
"No, no, this is perfect."
She turned back to Elric.
"Do it again."
Elric stared at her.
"…That's how horror movies start."
"DO IT AGAIN."
Lyra crossed her arms.
"…Carefully."
Kaida-9 added:
"…Controlled movement only."
Sera:
"…Observe all changes."
Mii:
"…Try not to break reality?"
Elen, softly:
"…Listen to the space around you."
Elric exhaled slowly.
"…Alright."
He looked at the screen.
At the pulsing static.
"…One more step."
Pix nodded eagerly.
Elric moved.
Just a small shift.
Not even a full step.
A lean.
The world responded.
Not loudly.
But everywhere.
A cable above them sparked...
A loose panel clattered to the ground...
A dead console across the room flickered to life...
And the screen...
The static...
Stopped.
Completely.
Silence.
Then...
Text appeared.
Not clean.
Not stable.
Broken.
Fragmented.
--R_U--
Mii leaned closer.
"…Is that… a word?"
Pix's fingers hovered near the screen.
"…Not a word."
A pause.
"…A fragment."
Lyra's voice sharpened.
"…Of what?"
The screen glitched...
--_SER--
Sera froze.
Just slightly.
"…That's not random," she said quietly.
Elric frowned.
"…Okay, yeah, that's definitely not random."
Pix's breathing picked up.
Not panic.
Excitement.
"…It's pulling data," she said.
"…But not from here."
Kaida-9 stepped closer.
"…Source unknown."
Pix shook her head.
"…No...source is known."
A beat.
She looked at Elric.
"…It's him."
Silence.
Mii blinked.
"…He's… a database now?!"
Elric raised a hand.
"…I'd like to opt out of that."
The screen flickered again...
The text scrambled...
--U_ER--
Sera's voice dropped.
"…It's trying to complete something."
Lyra stepped forward.
"…Or identify something."
Pix nodded rapidly.
"…Yeah... yeah, it's like... like it's searching for a label."
Elric tilted his head.
"…A label for what?"
Pix grinned.
"…You."
The lights above them flickered...
Not wildly this time.
But in sync.
With the screen.
With Elric.
Elen watched quietly.
"…It's not just reacting," she said softly.
Everyone turned.
"…It's learning how to describe you."
Silence.
That hit differently.
Elric looked back at the screen.
"…Yeah," he muttered.
"…I don't like that."
Pix leaned closer to the console.
"…One more," she said.
Lyra snapped immediately.
"No."
Pix didn't look back.
"…We're close."
Sera added quietly.
"…Too close."
Mii shook her head.
"Nope, nope, nope, we stop here..."
Elric didn't move.
Still staring at the screen.
At the broken word forming.
"…What happens," he said slowly,
"…if it finishes?"
Silence.
No one answered.
That was answer enough.
The screen flickered harder.
The letters scrambled...
Trying to lock in.
--US--R--
Pix's grin widened.
"…It's almost there."
Lyra stepped forward sharply.
"I said stop..."
Too late.
The room pulsed.
Not from Elric.
From everything else.