Third Person POV
The room did not settle. It changed. Not in sudden movements. Not in violent shifts. It changed slowly, like something alive adjusting to a new state. The lights flickered once. Then again. Then they steadied. Not perfectly. Just enough. The consoles stayed active. Data moved across the screens. Not in clean lines. Not in organized patterns. It flowed. Like it was thinking.
Alaric noticed it first. "It is not stabilizing," he said quietly. Dr. Ward looked up from her tablet. "What do you mean?" "It is adapting." That word stayed in the air. Lily crossed her arms slightly. "Systems do not adapt on their own." Meadow spoke before Alaric could answer. "This one does." Silence followed. Dr. Ward looked back at her tablet. Her fingers moved quickly now, scanning, checking, verifying. Her expression tightened. "This is not possible," she said.
