As Naomi's neural integration deepens, the display floods beyond a local map. Blue lines bloom into a planet-wide lattice, every buried corridor and chamber snapping into place like a waking circuit.
Lead Engineer
It is not a map. It is a beacon. I knew the landing center would wake it.
The low hum grows into a clear pulse. The chamber answers from below, then farther away, as if something buried nearby has heard its name for the first time in ages.
The Mainframe
Human neural pattern detected. Signal inheritance confirmed.
The heavy thudding in the corridors swells closer, measured and deliberate. Dust shivers from the ceiling as the approaching mech turns the hall into a drumline.
Lead Engineer
My bypass was never just for access. The landing center is the key, and Naomi, your mind is the trigger.
On the glowing subsurface lattice, one signal answers the beacon and locks onto Naomi's position. Something vast, mechanical, and awake is almost here.
Stop the approaching mech
Learn what the beacon has awakened