This is the story of the automaton Sylvestri - being the symbiotic artificial lifeform comprised of Sylve the Fae and Vestri the Ridgeback

Gladekeeper’s Call - The Interface

The Arcane Mage Lenine surveyed her still static creation, the giant Starcon Ridgeback automaton who had as yet still shown no sign of name nor consciousness. This one was meant to hold within, what could not yet be destroyed. She had learned as much from Lancelot, and Libra before him.

Something was missing, something small, surely, that she had missed. Her other automata were busy about their business, whether of nanite life to disperse and seek the Shade and eat it, starcon vessels for channeling mystic lightning into lasers to destroy it, metallic beings to guard them both.

Out of all of them, only the jewel come to life Kemillio, aglitter with curiosity, came from who knew where to hang like a bee hovering around the giant for a few moments. The Ridgeback was made like she had been, like the others, but his jewel-like stars were not only embedded firmly in him, but each individual one rivaled her in size. She could not adorn herself with a single one. Tinkling with her peculiar crystalline monotone, unusual even for Fae, she declared him ugly, eventually lost interest and darted away to fulfill her one obsession.

Lenine hoped that once the living gem was covered with more adornments than she could fly with, her one purely accidental creation would finally be useful.

Then the mage realized she had been. Her giant needed an interface. Something that could interweave its consciousness into his, like…like a virus.

A virus. Lenine grinned. She hadn’t worked with Plague before.

Another egg, another nest, another watching eye. A little galaxy-to-be, waiting to become part of a giant universe of stars.

But Plague magic worked differently, and the Arcane Mage was reminded that her deity was youngest. The Mother of this realm would leave her mark on any who would leave here, to do the work she sent them to. Plaguebringer would lose no chance to remind them that it was *she* who had given the first warning of the Shade’s return. The hatchling was not an automaton, not completely, but bore flesh and lived in the manner flesh lived. An interface in more ways than the mage had expected.

For the first time, Lenine introduced herself to the puzzled parents, and explained her mission. There was great need to defeat the worst enemy Sornieth had ever faced, and their daughter had a place in it. Warned in dream by Plaguebringer that this would be, and was her will, they knew the mage spoke truth. After marveling at the strange creature that had both come from them and not, they allowed Lenine to leave with her new charge.

Parents had Lenine none, nor children in her whole long life. Yet, now, she realised the misphrasing in her words. This was not Amaria’s and Amori’s daughter, not entirely. This fragile thing of flesh was hers too. Her first child. She felt something more than simple pride in a thing created.

“Now I realize why he would not take that name I dreamed for him, little one. Because Sylvestri is not whole, without his sweet Sylve. His name could not be, until you were born. I never knew.”

Lenine knew, when she brought Sylve back to the lab, and saw the life awake within her giant, that one day they would be mates, as well. How odd magic was, to bring such new forms, new glories to life.

She knew his name was Vestri, then, and together, they were indeed the Sylvestri she dreamed of, and might well be the key to saving their world.