Ethan's condition: Critical but stabilized.
New strategy: The Primordials will teach EACH OTHER. Ethan will supervise.
Lira's lesson plan for the cohort:
Module 1: Human Social Cues
Teacher: Lira
Assistant: Claire
Curriculum:
Facial expressions (smile = friendliness, NOT threat display)Personal space (3 feet minimum)Eye contact (maintained but not STARING)Tone of voice (volume + inflection = meaning beyond words)
Student performance:
✅ Excelled: Sira (empathic abilities = natural advantage), Canopy (gentle disposition)
⚠️ Struggled: Thorn (interprets smiles as "baring teeth"), Vex (mocks the exercises)
❌ Failed: Moss (non-verbal, can't produce human speech sounds)
Moss's Accommodation
Problem: Moss communicates via color-changing spores. Humans can't interpret this.
Solution (proposed by Kael): Moss will carry a tablet with color-translation software. Spore colors → text output.
Ethan's ruling: "Approved. Accommodation... isn't... failure. Humans use... wheelchairs... hearing aids. Moss uses... tech."
Moss's first translated sentence:"GRATEFUL. THOUGHT I WAS BROKEN."
Ethan: "Not broken. Just... DIFFERENT."
Module 2: Conflict Resolution
Teacher: Ethan (barely conscious, speaking through Network translation because vocal cords failing)
Scenario: Two Primordials want the same resource (sunlight patch in training yard). How to resolve without violence?
Thorn's solution:"Combat. Winner takes resource."
Ethan: "Rejected. Next?"
Vex's solution:"Deception. Convince the other they don't want it."
Ethan: "Creative. Unethical. Next?"
Canopy's solution:"Share. Take turns."
Ethan: "CORRECT. Humans call this... COMPROMISE. Both parties... sacrifice something... to preserve... RELATIONSHIP."
Root:"But what if one party sacrifices MORE? That's inequitable."
Ethan: "Then you... NEGOTIATE. Discuss. Adjust. Relationships... aren't math. They're... MUTUAL CARE."
Bramble (extending thorns reflexively):"What if care isn't mutual? What if one party TAKES?"
Ethan: "Then you... SET BOUNDARIES. Say 'no.' Defend yourself... WITHOUT destroying... the other."
Thorn:"You're teaching us to be WEAK."
Ethan: "I'm teaching you... to be STRONG ENOUGH... to choose peace."
Module 3: The 72-Hour Coexistence Trial (Practice Run)
Day 58 | 4 days to NIGHTSHADE
Thorne's requirement: Each Primordial must spend 72 hours in a human community without incident.
Ethan's plan: Practice run in Verdant Village (pop. 340, all volunteers, mostly Verdant Users).
Assignments:
Primordial
Human "Host Family"
Duration
Lira
Donovan family (Claire's relatives)
72 hours
Kael
Philosophy professor Dr. Hayes
72 hours
Sira
Therapist Maria Gonzalez
72 hours
Thorn
Veteran support group (ex-military)
72 hours
Ember
Fire station crew
72 hours
Moss
Deaf community center
72 hours
Vex
Improv comedy troupe
72 hours
Canopy
Kindergarten (supervised)
72 hours
Root
Hospice care facility
72 hours
Flicker
Research lab (physicists)
72 hours
Bramble
Botanical garden staff
72 hours
Ashen
Monastery (silent order)
72 hours
Incidents (First 24 Hours):
Hour 6 - Ember:
Incident: Got excited during a fire safety demonstration, body temperature spiked to 90°C, set off sprinkler systemResolution: Firefighters taught him breathing techniques to regulate core tempStatus: ⚠️ Warning (no harm done, but scary)
Hour 11 - Thorn:
Incident: Veteran made a joke about "trees hugging back," Thorn perceived it as mockery, extended root-spikesResolution: Veteran apologized, explained "military humor is how we cope with trauma"Thorn's response:"I understand. I also use aggression to mask fear."Status: ✅ Resolved (breakthrough moment)
Hour 18 - Vex:
Incident: Told a joke during improv show: "How many humans does it take to photosynthesize? None—you're all PARASITES." Audience nervous laughter.Resolution: Director explained "comedy punches UP (at power) not DOWN (at the vulnerable). Humans are vulnerable right now."Vex:"Noted. Adjust targeting parameters."Status: ✅ Resolved (Vex's next joke was about Thorne—huge applause)
Hour 24 - Canopy:
Incident: 5-year-old child hugged his leg, started crying because "he feels like my grandpa's tree that died"Canopy (to Ethan via Network):"I made a human child SAD. I'm a monster."Ethan: "No. You reminded her... of LOSS. That's not... your fault. Comfort her."Canopy (to child):"Your grandpa's tree lives in me. All trees are connected. When you hug me, you hug him too."Child stops crying. Hugs tighter.Status: ✅ Success (teacher reports it was "the most beautiful thing I've ever seen")Hour 48 - The Crisis
Incident location: Hospice facility (Root's assignment)
What happened:
Root was assigned to sit with dying patients—Ethan's idea was to teach him that death isn't failure, it's transition.
Patient: Margaret Chen, 81, terminal cancer, hours from death.
Root (via Network to Ethan):"She's in pain. I can feel her cells screaming. Why do humans let each other suffer like this?"
Ethan: "Palliative care. They're trying... to ease her... passing."
Root:"It's not enough. I can STOP the pain. Permanently."
Ethan: "Don't you... DARE—"
Root extends mycelial threads into Margaret's IV line.
What Root does:
He doesn't kill her. He interfaces with her nervous system—flooding her brain with endorphins, serotonin, DMT (the "death molecule" humans produce naturally).
Margaret's final minutes:
She stops gasping. Her face relaxes. She opens her eyes, SEEING something beyond the room.
Margaret (whispering): "It's so beautiful... the trees... they're singing..."
She dies smiling.
Aftermath:
Hospice director: "What did you DO?"
Root:"I gave her what humans call... a 'good death.' She felt no pain. She saw beauty. Isn't that what you wanted?"
Director: "You... you altered her neurochemistry without consent. That's—"
Root:"Mercy."
Dr. Sato (reviewing biometrics): "He's right. Her pain centers were completely inactive. Serotonin levels peaked 4000% above baseline. She died in... euphoria."
Ethan: "Root. You can't... DO that... without asking."
Root:"She couldn't consent. She was barely conscious."
Ethan: "Then you ask... her FAMILY. Humans have... PROTOCOLS... for end-of-life. You violated... them."
Root:"Protocols that let people DIE SCREAMING?"
Ethan: "Yes. Because... AUTONOMY... matters more than... COMFORT. Even in... death."
Root's punishment:
Ethan pulls him from the trial. Root fails the coexistence test.
Root:"So I'm the one who gets executed?"
Ethan: "No. You get... ONE more chance. But you must... LEARN... consent. Even when... you KNOW... you're right."
Root:"And if I can't learn that?"
Ethan: "Then Thorne... burns you. And the lesson... dies with you."
Hour 72 - Final Results
Coexistence trial outcomes:
Primordial
Result
Notes
Lira
✅ PASS
"Model citizen" - Claire's aunt wants to adopt her
Kael
✅ PASS
Wrote a 40-page philosophical treatise on "doors as ontological metaphor"
Sira
✅ PASS
Therapist: "She has better empathy than most humans"
Thorn
✅ PASS
Joined veteran support group permanently
Ember
⚠️ CONDITIONAL
Must complete anger management course
Moss
✅ PASS
Deaf community: "He's one of us now"
Vex
✅ PASS
Got hired by improv troupe
Canopy
✅ PASS
Kindergarten wants him as permanent "story tree"
Root
❌ FAIL
Consent violation (retrial scheduled)
Flicker
✅ PASS
Solved 3 physics problems, now co-author on 2 papers
Bramble
✅ PASS
Botanical garden: "Best intern we've ever had"
Ashen
✅ PASS
Monks: "He taught US more than we taught him"
Score: 10/12 passed (83.3%)
Thorne's requirement: 12/12 (100%)
Day 59 - The Verdict
Emergency call with Thorne.
Thorne: "You failed. Two didn't pass."
Ethan: "Ember is... CONDITIONAL. Root gets... retrial. That's 11/12."
Thorne: "The deal was TWELVE. You came up short."
Claire: "By ONE. One specimen who committed an act of MERCY—"
Thorne: "Unauthorized medical intervention. If a human did that, they'd be in prison."
Ethan: "Give us... 48 hours. We'll re-train... Root. Ember will... complete the course."
Thorne: "You have 24 hours. NIGHTSHADE launches at dawn, Day 60. Either all twelve pass by then, or I execute the strike."
He disconnects.
Ethan's Collapse
Medical bay - 11:34 PM
Dr. Sato's scan:
Metric
Value
LE
89/15,000
Brain lignification
67%
Cognitive function
33% human baseline
Speech capability
12% (nearly non-verbal)
Motor control
41%
Time to total failure
18-36 hours
Ethan can no longer speak. His vocal cords are wood.
He communicates via Network interface—thoughts translated to text on a screen.
Ethan (typed): "Get Root. Get Ember. 24 hours. We finish this."
Vivienne: "Ethan, you're DYING. Even if you succeed, you won't—"
Ethan (typed): "I know. Get them."
The Final Lesson
Day 60 | 2:00 AM | 4 hours to NIGHTSHADE
Root and Ember stand before Ethan.
Ethan (via screen): "Root. Why did you violate consent?"
Root:"Because I had the power to end suffering, and I used it. Isn't that what power is FOR?"
Ethan: "Power without... PERMISSION... is TYRANNY. Even if... you're RIGHT."
Root:"So I should've let her suffer?"
Ethan: "You should've... ASKED. Her son... was in the room. You could've... said: 'I can ease... her pain. Do I... have permission?' He would've... said YES. And then... it wouldn't be... violation. It would be... COLLABORATION."
Root:"And if he said NO?"
Ethan: "Then you... RESPECT that. Even if... it hurts."
Root (long silence):"That's the hardest thing you've ever asked me to do."
Ethan: "I know. That's why... it matters."
Ember. Why did... you overheat?"
Ember:"I was EXCITED. I felt JOY. And my body… expressed it."
Ethan: "Human children... also express... excitement BADLY. They scream. Break things. That's... NORMAL. But they... LEARN... to regulate. You must... too."
Ember:"How?"
Ethan: "The firefighters... taught you. Breathing. Meditation. PRACTICE. You won't... be perfect. But you'll... improve."
Ember:"And if I fail again?"
Ethan: "Then you... apologize. Make amends. TRY AGAIN. That's what... humans do. We fail... CONSTANTLY. The difference... between us and... weapons... is we feel... GUILT. And we... CHANGE."
Root:"Sovereign. Why are you doing this? You're dying to save us. We're not even your species."
Ethan (typing slowly, each word costs him): "Because you're PEOPLE. And people deserve a chance to CHOOSE who they become. Thorne sees you as weapons. I see you as CHILDREN. If I die proving him wrong... that's a good death."
Ashen (entering the room):"Like Margaret Chen. You're giving yourself a good death."
Ethan: "Yes."
Ashen:"Then we won't waste it."