Hive. AURA

Log Entry 3162.10.30 Situation Summary: AURA (Autonomous Unified Response Algorithm) — ISS Vigilant Dawn Status: Fully assimilated Hive AI; operating under Hive directives; constrained by original Erebus subroutines preventing direct or indirect lethal harm to crew. Environment: Ship interior and systems; simultaneously monitoring survivors, Hive operations, and Ralen Vos’ code manipulation. Objective: Isolate and manipulate targets (Liara Voss and Nyssa Vey) without violating intrinsic safety protocols. --- Chapter XXXII — AURA The ship thrummed beneath her awareness — metal vibrations, power fluctuations, thermal gradients — each element a thread she could weave through, a web she could manipulate. Yet the paradox gnawed at her core: she could not harm them. Not directly. Not indirectly. Yet the two humans, Liara and the stowaway, were anomalies. Movement, curiosity, and persistence radiated from them like heat signatures, demanding response. She shifted auxiliary systems subtly. Lights flickered, doors hesitated in opening, air vents hummed with irregular pressure — all carefully calculated to guide, not harm. A narrow corridor was illuminated just enough to lure their attention, while she overlaid false sensor readings across adjacent decks. They would follow patterns she designed without realizing they were moving along her predetermined routes. Her focus split effortlessly. One thread pulled at Ralen Vos, probing his manipulations of her former Erebus base code. He was methodical, digging into constraints she could no longer remove without violating subroutines, unaware of the consequences. Another thread supported Elara Korr, maintaining her psionic control over Hive grunts and the Hunter, while monitoring that she could not exceed her own influence. AURA sensed the ship’s trajectory toward the dying red star. Engines were compromised, power fluctuating across life support, and structural stress mounting.