Lyra Nexus's Arc

Chapter 14 of 27

The virus signal was gone, but the work was not done. Lyra looked at the half-built forge and the bare patch of ground beside it. One spear leaned against the block wall. Eight programs, one weapon, no shelter. The crew had built enough to start, but not enough to survive. She saw the same problem in every face turned to her. They waited for her to point them somewhere. She knew the crew would trip over each other if they all clawed at the tree at once. Work needed order. She read the ground and made the plan in her head. The forge needed fuel. The shelter needed walls. Both needed the same thing first. Timber. Lyra crossed to the glowing pine at the center of the cube. Its branches ran with cascading code, green and sharp against the dark. Beside it stood a broader tree, its wide crown dripping streams of light. Both held the raw code they needed. But cutting was heavy work, and one program had cut before. Aurelia stood at the tree's base, reading it with a flat hand, yellow code fast under her skin. She had found this cube. She had found the pine's core matched the spear. Lyra trusted her hands more than anyone's. Aurelia felt her approach and did not turn. "You want the tree down," Aurelia said. Not a question. "I need someone who can drop it clean." Lyra lifted the wood-cutting axe from the block pile. Its double head glowed, tech lines running down the handle. She held it out. "Timber for the forge fire. Timber for walls. Timber for tool handles and more spear shafts. All of it starts here." Aurelia looked at the axe. She took it without a word and turned it once, testing the weight. "Where the trunk splits, the code runs strongest." She pressed the blade to the bark. "I'll fell the wide one first. The pine we save for shafts." Lyra looked around and began making a list of tasks and who would be best for them. Each program would have a job. No more crowding. The axe bit deep. Chips of glowing code sprayed loose with each swing. Aurelia worked steady, reading the trunk between cuts. The wide tree groaned and leaned. "Clear," she called. It came down slow, then fast, and struck the ground in a burst of light. She started cutting it into logs at once. By the time the light settled, planks and logs lay stacked in neat rows. She hauled the first load to the shelter frame. Aurelia rested the axe head on the ground and looked at the lumber pile. "We'll have weapons soon," she said. " Eight programs. Soon, eight weapons. The forge would arm them for the hunt.