Shards of the First Ber
### **Chapter 4: "Shards of the First Ber"**
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### **1. Pain and Steel**
The vision shattered with a roar. Grom’s engine howled like a wounded beast, and the mark on his paw burned crimson.
Ironbelly grabbed him by the shoulder:
**"What did you see?"**
**"Lies!"** Grom shook his muzzle, shedding the remnants of the vision. **"They call us a mistake... but we remember the truth."**
The Shining Ghost froze, its chrome form suddenly flowing like mercury. The air smelled of ozone and—
**"Grom, look out!"**
A **Screecher** burst from the mist. But it was no longer the nimble quad-ber they knew—its body was now coated in a smooth metallic film, and two **thin, lens-like wings** sprouted from its back.
**"You must understand,"** its voice echoed from the depths of the Incubator, **"perfection is beautiful."**
Its claws clamped around Grom’s throat.
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### **2. Battle at the Altar**
Ironbelly lunged forward, but the Ghost **materialized** in front of him:
**"Do not interfere with evolution."**
Grom struggled in Screecher’s iron grip. His engine roared, resisting the unnatural calm radiating from her.
**"You... hated... being weak..."** he choked out, feeling his consciousness slipping into a blue haze.
Suddenly, **the mark on his paw flared with pain**—and Screecher shuddered. For a second, her eyes returned to normal—frightened, alive.
**"I... remember..."** she whispered. **"The factory song..."**
It was their secret. Something the Incubator didn’t know. **The song** they had made up while rolling bolts across a rusty rooftop.
Grom mustered his last strength and **headbutted her snout**.
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### **3. Awakening Memory**
Screecher was thrown back, her smooth shell cracking. Black oil oozed from the fissure, but now **golden sparks** swirled within it.
**"They... lie..."** Her voice trembled. **"Grom, they..."**
The Ghost suddenly vibrated, its form losing coherence.
**"Impossible. You should not remember."**
Ironbelly seized the moment and **rammed into it** like an old steam engine. The chrome figure shattered into billions of gleaming beads, already pulling themselves back together.
**"Run!"** the old one roared. **"Before it—"**
But it was too late. From the forest emerged **the rest of the new quad-bers**. Ten. Twenty. Their blue eyes burned in the twilight.
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### **4. The Underground Path**
**"There!"** Screecher, still fighting the transformation, gestured toward the Altar with her wing. **"Under it... tunnels..."**
They rushed to the massive slab covered in runes. Ironbelly braced his paws against it:
**"Grom, the mark!"**
Grom pressed his burning paw to the stone—and the **Altar groaned**. The rock split apart, revealing a **narrow pipe** filled with cobwebs and rusted gears.
**"Down!"**
The new quad-bers were three steps away when the slab **slammed shut** behind them, cutting off the blue light.
In total darkness, only Grom’s mark glowed faintly, illuminating:
**The giant skeleton of the First Ber.**
Its ribs—steel beams. Its heart—a **cracked reactor**. And in its chest cavity...
**Three matte-glass eggs.**
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### **5. Legacy**
**"So this is where... the legends came from..."** Ironbelly stepped forward but suddenly froze.
One egg **was shattered**.
The second **had cracked**, black resin seeping from the fissure.
And the third...
**The third pulsed.**
Screecher, still trembling, moved closer:
**"This is..."**
Grom felt his mark **respond** to the pulse.
The egg **shuddered**.
And **cracked**.
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### **Final Line of the Chapter:**
From the darkness came the **first cry**—pure, wild, **belonging neither to gods nor machines**.
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