Zog and Clorita exchanged a wary glance before stepping further into the chamber. The air was warm, filled with the gentle hum of unseen energy, and a faint rosy glow pulsed around them.

The first piece of the heart shimmered on a narrow ledge near the far wall. Clorita spotted it immediately and, without hesitation, began climbing toward it.

Zog crossed his arms. “Careful. You’re going to fall.”

Clorita laughed, not looking back. “Relax, Captain Worrywart. I’ve got this.”

The floor beneath Zog shifted slightly, making him stumble. The room’s soft light dimmed, and the melody in the air wavered, turning slightly discordant.

Zog steadied himself. “See? This room hates you already.”

“It doesn’t hate me,” Clorita replied, triumphantly grabbing the first piece and holding it up. “It just hates whiners.”

The rosy glow brightened slightly as she leapt, handing the piece to Zog.

“There. One down. Happy?”

Zog studied the chamber, circuits buzzing faintly. “No. Because I already know the next piece is going to be worse.”

The following fragment was embedded in a spinning crystalline column at the centre of the room. It moved in a slow but unpredictable rotation, flickering with each turn, and the heart fragment was embedded in it.

Zog approached cautiously, calculating the pattern. “We’ll need to time this perfectly. If we’re off by even a second—”

Clorita grinned, cutting him off. “Let me guess—certain doom?”

Zog shot her a glare. “Yes.”

She rolled her eyes. “Then let me handle it. I actually have reflexes.”

Zog huffed. “Reflexes? You couldn’t even handle the pendulum room without falling off.”

Clorita smirked. “And who pulled me back up? Oh, right—me.”

The rosy light flickered. The melody wavered.

Zog froze. “Stop arguing.”

Clorita pointed at him. “You’re the one arguing!”

The column sped up, the heart piece glowing faintly as if mocking them.

Zog sighed. “Fine. We do this together. On three.”

Clorita’s smirk returned. “See? Teamwork.”

“One… two… three!”

They lunged simultaneously, their hands touching the crystal fragment when the column slowed. The room’s warm light brightened again, the melody regaining its steady rhythm.

Clorita held up the fragment. “Perfect harmony.”

Zog grumbled but took the piece, slotting it into the heart.

The last fragment hovered suspended in midair, gently rotating in place.

Zog stared at it. “Okay. This is obviously a trap.”

Clorita crossed her arms. “Everything’s a trap with you. Maybe it’s just floating there because it wants us to work together.”

Zog sighed. “It’s never that simple.”

He reached for the piece, but the fragment flared with light, shooting upward out of reach.

Zog threw up his hands. “See? Trap.”

Clorita laughed. “You’re just mad it doesn’t trust you.”

“It doesn’t trust you either.”

The hum of the room grew louder. The rosy glow dimmed further.

Clorita held up her hands. “Okay, okay. Truce. Let’s try this together.”

They stepped forward in unison, reaching for the fragment simultaneously. The glow intensified as their hands touched it, and the warm and harmonious melody returned. The heart fragment lowered gently into their grasp as if pleased by their cooperation.

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They slotted the final piece into place. The crystal heart pulsed with radiant light, whole once more. The chamber hummed with approval, and Astra’s voice returned, smooth and satisfied.

“Love and understanding require harmony in the face of discord. You have succeeded. Proceed.”

Zog ran a cooling cycle with a faint mechanical whirr, his circuits buzzing faintly. “Never again.”

Clorita nudged him with her elbow, grinning. “Admit it, Captain Confidence. You’d miss me if I wasn’t here.”

Zog rolled his eyes but didn’t argue.

Which, as Clorita knew, was as close to an agreement as she was ever going to get.

The glowing archway pulsed gently, beckoning the crew forward. The repository's hum deepened, resonating through the walls like a vast, unseen force taking notice of their progress.

Clorita glanced at Zog, her smirk softening slightly. “You know, for all the whining, you’re pretty good at this teamwork thing.”

Zog snorted as he stepped forward. “Let’s not make a habit of it.”

HALAT, who had been silently observing, tilted her head. “It’s worth noting that without my precise actions and calculations, the success of this trial would have been… improbable.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Zog muttered, waving her off. “You and the cat did great. The rest of us just bumbled along.”

Clorita chuckled, giving HALAT an approving nod. “Spark’s not wrong, Zog. If it weren't for her, we’d still be spinning in circles—though I think Luma deserves at least half the credit for that last part.”

Luma, perched primly on a low crystalline platform, released a soft chirp of acknowledgement, her glowing optics narrowing smugly.

Zog groaned, dropping onto a crystalline bench that materialised as he sat. “Great. I’m outnumbered by smug robots.”

Clorita sat beside him, pulling out a compact toolkit to inspect her neutron shotgun. “Admit it, Captain Grump. They saved our tails, and you know it.”

HALAT stepped closer, her voice calm but tinged with pride. “I merely performed my intended function: ensuring the survival and advancement of the crew.”

“Don’t get too humble on me, Spark,” Clorita teased, grinning as she adjusted her weapon. “You make it sound like it was easy.”

The amber glow around them deepened into a soft gold, and the swirling lights above rearranged into intricate, mesmerising patterns. The air felt lighter, almost expectant, as if the Repository had acknowledged their efforts.

HALAT studied the shifting symbols. “The Repository appears to be reacting to our success. Its design suggests adaptive intelligence.”

Zog rubbed his temples. “Which means it’s probably plotting how to make the next challenge even harder.”

Clorita nudged him with her elbow. “That’s the spirit, Captain Bullseye. Let’s keep that optimism alive.”

Before Zog could respond, Luma leapt gracefully from her perch, padding silently toward the golden patterns as they converged into a single point. HALAT’s optics flickered as she scanned the display.

“It appears to be a map,” HALAT said, her tone thoughtful. “The paths converge on what I assume is the Repository’s core.”

Clorita rose to her feet, slinging her shotgun over her shoulder. “The final trial.”

Zog sighed, pushing himself upright. “Great. Let’s hope it’s less about ‘love and understanding’ and more about something useful.”

The golden map dissolved as the Repository’s hum deepened, forming another glowing archway ahead. This one shimmered with an intensity that set it apart, indicating that whatever lay beyond would test them like never before.

HALAT stepped to Zog’s side, her mechanical poise unshaken. “We should proceed with caution. This will not be straightforward if the previous trials are any indication.”

Clorita grinned. “Spark’s got a knack for understatement.”

Zog sighed, looking between his crew. “Alright. Let’s get this over with.”

Luma padded silently ahead, her tail flicking as if to signal she was ready. HALAT followed with measured steps, scanning her built-in sensors for potential threats. Clorita gave Zog one last teasing nudge as they moved toward the archway.

“Come on, Captain Careful,” she said with a wink. “We’ve got a prize to claim.”

“And hopefully, no more crystals to argue with,” Zog muttered, his circuits buzzing faintly.

With the hum of the Repository growing lower, the crew stepped through the archway, bracing themselves for the final challenge and whatever rewards awaited them at the heart of the enigmatic structure.

The air on the other side of the archway felt heavier, dense with anticipation. The golden glow from the previous chamber **gave way to an eerie, pulsating light—**a mixture of deep crimson and shimmering silver. The hum of the Repository grew louder, resonating through their circuits and bones like a slow, thunderous heartbeat.

The corridor stretched ahead, its walls shifting and undulating with the pulse of the light. Strange and incomprehensible symbols flickered across the surface as though the Repository spoke a language they couldn’t yet understand.

Clorita tightened her grip on her shotgun, sharp eyes scanning every corner. “Well, this is… inviting.”

Halat’s voice was steady, and her sensors swept the surroundings. “The environment is reactive. It may change based on our actions.”

“Of course, it will,” Zog muttered, eyeing the shifting walls. “Because nothing in this place is ever straightforward.”

The corridor opened into a vast, circular chamber. At its centre stood a massive crystalline obelisk, its surface engraved with countless glowing runes. Surrounding it were six pedestals, each holding a glowing orb of a different colour—red, blue, green, gold, white, and black. The air buzzed with energy, and the floor beneath them shimmered like liquid light.

Clorita stepped closer, her gaze locked on the obelisk. “Okay, Spark. What are we looking at?”

HALAT’s optics flickered as she scanned the chamber. “The obelisk appears to be the control interface for this room. The pedestals and orbs may function as inputs.”

“Inputs for what?” Zog asked, his voice tense.

Luma padded silently around the room, her glowing optics fixed on the black orb. She crouched low, tail flicking as if in thought, then leapt onto the pedestal. The orb flared to life, casting intricate shadows across the chamber.

Clorita raised an eyebrow. “Looks like Luma’s got this figured out.”

“Or she’s about to blow us up,” Zog muttered.

The obelisk’s runes shifted, glowing brighter as a deep voice filled the chamber. Unlike Astra’s serene tone, this voice was sharp and commanding, resonating with authority.

“You have reached the Repository’s core. To proceed, you must align the orbs to reveal the truth of this place. Beware—failure will result in containment.”

Zog groaned. “Great. More ‘containment.’ Just say death next time.”