The dissonance of Gorven’s message did not fade. It lingered in the comms hub like a bad smell, a grating, static scar across the otherwise harmonious flow of data. For the Gardeners, it was a reminder that their chorus was not the only song being sung in the galaxy. While they practiced symbiosis, others still clung to the old anthem of dominance.
Lira treated it as a tactical problem. "They are isolated, both geographically and philosophically. Their environment is hostile, and their survival has depended on brute-force extraction. We cannot expect them to understand harmony when their entire world is a scream."
But Kael, still vibrating with the residual joy of connecting with Aerie and Silens, felt a pull to try. The principle of the Gardeners was to nurture, to understand. To dismis
