The next phase of the Havenwood Protocol – Device Analysis – began in earnest. Kenji knew he couldn't risk directly interfacing with the ancient machine, not with its Blight-generating capabilities. His approach had to be non-invasive, a meticulous process of data gathering and pattern recognition.
He modified several APEWS sensors to act as dedicated "Aetheric sniffers," programming them to record the low-intensity pulses emanating from the device beneath the communal hall. Each day, he would retrieve the "data logs" – which were essentially complex Aetheric resonance patterns stored in crystalline memory structures he'd jury-rigged – and feed them into his SAI for analysis.
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[SAI - System Log/Project: Blight Device Analysis]
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TASK: Decipher Structured Aetheric Pulses from Ancient Device.
METHOD: Pattern Recognition, Frequency Analysis, Comparative Aetheric Linguistics
(Theoretical - based on SAI's understanding of Aetheric principles).
DATA SET: 72 recorded pulses (24-hour cycle).
INITIAL FINDINGS:
- Pulses exhibit a complex, layered structure.
- Dominant frequencies align with known Blight Aether signatures.
- Sub-harmonic frequencies show anomalous patterns, not typical of
'natural' Aether or standard Blight corruption. These may represent
the 'control code' or 'operating system' of the device.
CHALLENGE: Lack of a 'Rosetta Stone' for this ancient Aetheric language.
Current analysis relies heavily on heuristic algorithms and
educated guesswork by the SAI.
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It was like trying to understand an alien programming language with no documentation, only snippets of compiled code. Days turned into a week. Kenji, Elara, and sometimes even Finn would huddle over the glowing projections from Kenji's makeshift analysis setup in the storehouse. Elara provided insights from Havenwood's oldest legends and her deep, intuitive understanding of Aether, while Finn offered a practical, soldier's perspective on potential weaknesses or triggers.
"This recurring sequence here," Kenji pointed to a complex waveform on the projection, "it appears just before a slight increase in the device's ambient Aether draw. It could be a 'wake-up' command or a 'resource request' function."
Elara squinted at the patterns. "Some of these deeper resonances… they feel… hungry. Not like the wild hunger of a beast, but a cold, mechanical hunger. The old tales spoke of the 'Stone Eater' when the Whispering Sickness was strong."
"Stone Eater…" Kenji mused. "The device is embedded in rock. Perhaps it also draws minerals or geothermal energy? Or is it a metaphor for consuming the Heartstone?"
Lyra, surprisingly, contributed too. While she couldn't understand the technicalities, her Fae senses sometimes picked up on the "emotional" or "intentional" undertones of the Aetheric pulses that Kenji's purely logical interface might miss. "That spiky bit, Kenji! It feels… angry! Like a poked nest of Blighted wasps!"
Her Fae intuition, combined with Elara's wisdom and Kenji's analytical prowess, slowly began to yield results. The SAI, with its growing database of Aetheric patterns, started to build a rudimentary translation matrix.
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[SAI - System Log/Project: Blight Device Analysis - Milestone]
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ACHIEVEMENT: Preliminary Decryption of Basic Device States.
IDENTIFIED PATTERNS (Hypothesized Functions):
- Pattern Alpha-1 ('Idle Pulse'): Low energy, standby, resource monitoring.
- Pattern Beta-7 ('Resource Draw'): Increased Aether intake, possible precursor
to active state.
- Pattern Gamma-3 ('Generation Cycle - Skitterer'): High energy, complex
Aetheric structuring for entity creation.
(Observed directly during antechamber recon).
- Pattern Sigma-9 ('External Signal Reception - Latent'): A very faint, deeply
embedded pattern suggesting a receiver for
an unknown external trigger or command.
INTRIGUING ANOMALY: Traces of a 'Heartstone Resonance Dampener' sub-protocol
within Pattern Alpha-1, as if the device actively tries
to minimize its detection by the Heartstone's pure Aether
when in its idle state. A form of ancient stealth tech?
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"Sigma-Nine..." Kenji breathed, looking at the analysis. "It has a receiver. It can be triggered remotely. That means the Brood Mother, or whatever controls it, might not need to be physically present to reactivate this thing at full power."
The thought sent a fresh wave of urgency through them. They weren't just racing against the device's potential to self-activate or regenerate; they might be racing against an unseen intelligence. The weight of revelation from the antechamber now felt heavier, the system vulnerability more profound. The echoes of the ancients were whispering of a far larger, more complex war.