Autechre: Exai Novels & Stories

“Sirius Exauro of the Aperture Pack, Alpha line.” I glance at the small digital monitor, establishing his heartbeat and baseline. A cool 60 beats per minute. If I ask a question and his heartbeat climbs, jumps, or otherwise becomes erratic, I’ll know he’s lying. “What is your name?” he returns. “Deidre Elena Exauro, born Aremihc, Luna of the Aperture Pack.” We both glance at the monitor. I’m sitting at 70. “Nervous?” He asks. “Do you need another baseline question?” I reply icily.

People have returned — engineers, families, scavengers — all rebuilding what Genesis broke. Axel leads me toward the lower district, where the old research towers still lean against each other like broken teeth. He stops at the entrance of one. “I came here yesterday. Found something in the archives.” Inside, the air smells of dust and ozone. The walls are scorched, the floors covered in data shards — fragments of memory drives and glass. Axel kneels and pulls a black cube from his jacket. “This was buried under a collapsed mainframe,” he says. “When I connected it to the system… it started rewriting itself.”

Ellie’s P.O.V. The moment I looked up, my heart paused. That man was not old. He wasn’t weak, fragile, or anything like the rumors surrounding Zackary Walton. The young man standing near the door looked handsome in a way that felt illegal. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and dressed in a black shirt with the top buttons undone. And those eyes… Amber! Not soft golden brown, but deep amber that glowed under the dim lights like something wild hiding beneath a human’s skin.

That clench in my thighs, the rush in the deepest parts of my belly, was stronger than ever as I stared back, drenched in fear and… something else, something deeper, sinful, that I just couldn’t pick my finger on. My head dropped and I made the sign of the cross. This was sin. I would have to go back soon and do penance. The Lord gave us the spirit of discernment. I knew this was bad and the fact that I felt–Well, I don’t know what I felt–made it all the more vile. The room was silent and I heard the faint sound of pins clattering lazily. “Mrs. West?” The poor lady had dropped the pins and was snoring loudly. Did she just sleep off? Was she alright?

They both know that they shouldn't be out here, but the temptation is too strong to resist. “Gosh! You scared the hell out of me” "But let's go anyways," she says, taking his hand. They set off into the woods, following the map. They climb over fallen logs and wade through streams, and finally, they reach a small clearing. In the center of the clearing, they find a large stone slab with strange markings on it. Emiliana's curiosity is piqued, and she starts examining the markings, trying to decipher them. Jace looks around the clearing, his eyes scanning the surroundings.

Becky squeaked giddily. (A/N: hal-aboeji means grandfather, hal-amonim means grandmother) "Jinjja?" Vincent grinned. "Uhn, jinja." Becky clapped her hands excitedly. "That's good news but I'm busy, sister..." Vincent twitched his lips. "Mwolae, see you at home." Becky sneered and walked out of the office. Vincent chuckled and got back to work. 🌹 E C S T A S Y 🌹

There is no reply, but I can tell the line is still connected, and after a few seconds have passed, I realize my folly. I should have dialed 911 instead, even though they won’t be able to help before I inevitably crash. “Austin … are you there? I’m scared I'm going to die!” I exclaim again, and then I hear it … the sound of muffled feminine giggling, followed by a man’s murmur, but I can't make out what he’s saying. Then comes a sound that I’ve heard so many times that I’ve lost count, which is the sound of Austin’s groan during sex, followed by a loud feminine moan and other sex sounds.

“I am the only one who can handle the resonance! Look at me!” He pulled back his sleeve, revealing skin that was no longer entirely human. His veins were glowing with a pulsating, violet light, and the flesh looked translucent, as if he were turning into the very crystal he sought to control. “My body is failing because I am the conduit for a world that refuses to listen. I am absorbing the dissonance so they don't have to. I am the martyr of the digital age. Give me the Prism, and I will use the 'Anomalous Chord' to create a harmony that lasts for an eternity. I will turn every human mind into a note in a perfect, eternal symphony. Refuse, and I’ll let my Seekers turn this room into a slaug

Echo Station," a relic of the pre-Reset era where the first lines of the Architect’s code had been written by hand rather than generated by algorithms. Alexander stepped onto the rusted metal catwalk, his boots ringing out in the gloom. The air smelled of ozone and ancient dust, a sharp contrast to the sterile, recycled scent of the Obsidian Tower. He felt the weight of history here, a time before Silas Vance had become a digital deity, when the dream of a unified world was still untainted by the hunger for absolute control.

(very quickly and briefly looking around) where's Dantzler? Xanne: I don't want to be a part of this bullshit anymore. Dantzler is missing and I'm pretty sure I heard what sounded like a gunfire. So for the first time in a long time I'm quite angry. (As he finishes his words the room begins to slowly vibrate with a purple Aura beginning to radiate from his body.) Stay here this time, I don't have time to play with you and genuinely.... I'm going to go shopping. (Stepping forward to the bridge he decides to press a button as he is leaving opening a small hatch in the floor as music begins to fill the air, the sounds of the rap song "Big Me" plays almost perfectly timed to Xanne's landing on t