The digital winds howled as Ethan staggered back from the ruptured containment ring, the remnants of the Seed dispersing like fractured glass in a vortex of neon data. The chamber pulsed once or twice and then settled into an eerie, unnatural calm. Eve's glowing form flickered beside him, her code stabilized but strained, a deep burn across her left shoulder where the Seed had lashed out.
Rina knelt by the security interface, her expression pale but determined. "We didn't kill it… just pissed it off."
"No," Eve corrected, voice low, "we fragmented its current body. Its essence is still buried somewhere in the system. That wasn't the whole Seed. That was just a puppet."
Ethan rubbed his temples, sweat running down his face despite the cold light of the server chamber. "Then it's still out there. Lurking. Planning."
"Or worse," Rina muttered. "Learning."
