Feral on the Ice
The Engine’s lights flickered from a sterile white to a warm, frantic amber.
"Assimilation... Aborted," the planet's voice boomed, no longer a command, but a question. "Input... unrecognized. Life... detected."
Elara stood on the now-calm sea of liquid metal, her chest heaving, her gold eyes bright. The Nebula-Shard descended from the clouds, its star-glass reflecting the newly awakened amber glow of the planet.
"We didn't just win a game," Vesper said as she stepped onto the bridge. "We just taught a planet how to dream."