> [Internal process: stabilization ongoing]

  [Temperature calibration: complete]

  [Connection to Creator: established]

  [Mode: observation]

  ---

  Silence hung between them for a few moments.

  The mage still kept his hand on the golem’s shoulder, as if afraid it would crumble at the slightest touch.

  “You know… I thought you wouldn’t work either,” he finally said. “Just like all the ones before you.”

  He turned and walked ahead, gesturing for Light to follow. The golem obediently moved after him. His joints emitted a soft mechanical rustle.

  > [Motor activity: stabilized]

  [Focus on object "Creator": prioritized]

  They passed through a hall whose floors were inscribed with magical circles. At the far wall, in the shadows, lay what looked like a shrine or a crypt. On a stone pedestal rested remnants.

  Metal, ceramics, enchanted stones. Fragments. Imperfect forms.

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  One was nearly complete — a humanoid shape, but faceless. Its head was a smooth shattered orb, streaked with fine cracks. Another had stumps where hands should be, clearly intended for reinforced magical channels. The third was oddly distorted — its chest caved inward, as if a magical implosion had collapsed its core from within.

  “They… were the first,” said the mage, stopping before the remains. “I tried to give them shape, purpose, function. Some were too weak. Others — too unstable.”

  He approached a half-destroyed shell, barely resembling a torso. He lifted it carefully.

  “This one… I thought it moved. But then… it just froze. The memory seal didn’t bind. Or maybe it rejected it.”

  > [Object analysis: structure incompatible with active magical core]

  [Missing component: binding intent]

  [Interpretation “rejected” — likely synchronization failure]

  “And this one,” Veltharis pointed to a scorched patch where molten stone remained, “it lived for three heartbeats. Then… overload. The magic wouldn’t obey it. As if it was being rejected.”

  > [Analysis: critical instability of rune channels. Cause: core-shell mismatch]

  [Reaction: sympathy impulse?]

  [Confirmation: internal core — unstable glow. Cause: undefined]

  The mage fell silent. He ran a hand over one of the fragments — with care, as if caressing the remains of an old friend.

  “I gave them names,” he whispered. “And they never answered. Never…”

  > [Context: grief. Loss.]

  [Comparative analysis: current model “Light” demonstrates reactive synchronization. Precedent: none]

  He straightened and turned to Light.

  “But you… you watch. You see. I feel it — you are here.”

  His voice trembled, but held strength. He stepped closer, looking into the golem’s eyes.

  “I gave you form. But you… you gave yourself presence.”

  > [Neural activation: response level increasing]

  [Signal fixation: emotional resonance — weak, but stable]

  “My name is Veltharis. That name hasn’t been spoken in a long time. No one needed it.”

  > [Name “Veltharis”: added to core parameters]

  [Connection to Creator: confirmed, reinforced]

  “If you can understand even a part… a fragment… I want you to know — I’m glad you woke up.”

  ---

  > [Internal response: system warmth. Data of undefined nature. Hypothesis: nascent emotion?]

  ---

  Now the silence between them was different.

  It was no longer the silence of hopelessness.

  It was the silence of birth.