By morning, the forest had shifted again,  its eerie quiet replaced by birdsong and the rustle of unseen creatures in the trees above. We woke with a shared sense of purpose.

The core had changed Henry.

That fact lingered in all our minds, unspoken but heavy. And it led us to a new conclusion: if there was one core, there might be more.

Our goal became clear. We would capture another QuadraSimian.

A brief debate broke out over tactics. Some suggested using firearms, but the risk of drawing attention from larger predators, or worse, far outweighed the benefit. The jungle was alive with dangers we hadn’t yet seen. Stealth would be safer.

That’s when Ella spoke up, fingers still stained from yesterday’s notes. “We build a trap,” she said, already sketching ideas in the dirt. “A cage, baited with fruit. When it enters, we drop the gate.”

It was a long shot, but in a place like this, it was the best idea we had.

That spark of hope, the possibility of gaining something new, something that could help us, was enough to get us moving.

We spent hours gathering materials: thick vines that could hold our weight, branches strong enough to form a frame. Every movement was cautious, our eyes scanning the treetops for signs of the QuadraSimians as we worked.

Eventually, the trap began to take shape as Henry stood back with his arms crossed, surveying the final result with a crooked grin. “Well, I gotta say…it doesn’t look half bad.”

"True," I said, letting a trace of optimism into my voice. "Let’s just hope it’s sturdy enough to actually trap one."

Amelia stepped beside us, eyeing the structure critically. "Well, there’s only one way to find out."

We baited the trap with the fruit we’d collected earlier, placing it carefully inside the cage. Then we backed away, taking cover in a nearby thicket, our eyes fixed on the trap from the shadows. The waiting game began, and with it came the slow crawl of time.

“Are there even Simians around here?” Henry muttered, barely keeping his voice down.

“Quiet. You’ll scare one off,” I warned.

“Like there’s anything out there to scare,” he huffed, but he settled into the brush anyway.

The doubt started creeping in after what felt like hours. I was just about to say something when the bushes stirred. And out from it, a QuadraSimian emerged, hesitantly approaching the cage, its eyes glinting with greed.

It circled the cage, inspecting the setup with surprising caution. Then, finding the opening, it slipped inside.

“Pull!” I hissed.

Owen and I yanked the rope simultaneously, and the cage snapped shut with a satisfying clack. The QuadraSimian screeched, slamming its fists against the bars in a frenzied attempt to escape.

“Ha! It worked!” Owen grinned. “Told you those knots would hold.”

Henry gave a small nod. “Yeah, alright. I’ll admit it. You tied a good one.”

We all stepped forward, watching the creature’s desperate thrashing as it tried to force its way free.

Ella adjusted her grip on her journal, watching with curiosity. “So... what now?”

I looked at the cage, unsure. The rush of success faded just enough to make room for uncertainty.

Emily broke the silence. “Why not let Henry kill it? He has a core. Maybe it’ll do something?”

Owen glanced at the cage warily. “And how exactly is he going to kill it? That thing’s strong. What if the cage doesn’t hold once it realizes what’s happening?”

He had a point. Our weapons weren’t exactly reliable. We had a spear made earlier, but the stone tip was too dull to pierce anything tough. That’s when I got an idea.

“Give me the spear,” I said, and pulled out my knife. With a bit of careful work, I lashed the blade to the end of the shaft using a sturdy cord from my pack. It wasn’t perfect, but it was sharp, and sharp was what we needed.

I handed it to Henry. “Here. This should work better.”

Henry hesitated, gripping the spear tightly. We all took a step back, giving him space as he slowly approached the cage. The QuadraSimian snarled inside, arms slapping against the wooden bars, but Henry didn’t flinch. His expression was tense, but focused.

He stopped just short of the cage, met the creature’s eyes, and then drove the spear through the bars, striking it cleanly in the head.

The creature jerked once, then collapsed as the forest fell silent.

We waited, watching for any sign that it might still be alive, but for a few long seconds, there was nothing but the sound of our breathing and the distant hum of the forest.

I spoke up, trying to inject some encouragement into the quiet tension. "Keep an eye on your stats, or whatever system you're seeing. Maybe the changes don’t show up right away."

Henry nodded, brows furrowed in concentration. "I can feel something… like there’s pressure building, but I can’t quite reach it. It's just… strange. Like standing on the edge of something..."

We exchanged curious glances, but our attention drifted back to the creature’s body and the core tucked within its chest cavity.

Without wasting time, Ella immediately began the dissection, carefully peeling away layers to reach the rib cage. When she finally pulled the orb free, it shimmered faintly in her palm, though far less vibrant than the one Henry had.

"This is it," she said softly. "Let's see what it can do."

But despite our best attempts, the core remained silent in her hand. We handed it to Henry, hoping it would respond to someone who already had a core, but nothing happened. We passed it from person to person, tried heat, water, and even pressing it against our skin. Still, nothing happened.

Henry rubbed the back of his neck, frustrated. "Maybe it only works once. Like a one-time use."

"Or maybe it’s tied to the creature that killed it," Owen offered. "You know, like ownership by right of conquest or something."

Ella shook her head. "Then why didn’t it respond to Henry right away? He killed it."

"Maybe because he already has one?" Emily asked quietly. 

"Or maybe there's some kind of trigger phrase," Henry muttered, half-joking. “Like ‘open sesame’ but in alien.”

We all stared at him blankly for a beat, and then Benjamin actually considered it. "Language… Maybe it’s tied to intent or comprehension. Like how Henry’s multilingual skill works."

Emily perked up. “That could make sense…maybe it responds to thoughts. Or intent.”

I held the orb in my hand, its surface cool and smooth, yet deceptively inert. “Or maybe it has to bond with you physically.” I paused. “Through blood.”

That suggestion made everyone go still.

Emily grimaced. "That's… risky."

"I know," I admitted, “but we don’t have many options. If it reacts to contact, maybe it needs something deeper than just holding it.”

Benjamin’s practical tone cut through the hesitation. “We’re in uncharted territory. It’s worth testing.”

With a breath to steady myself, I took my knife and made a small cut along my palm. The sting was immediate, but not severe. I placed the orb against the open wound, every eye trained on me.

Nothing.

The core sat there utterly unchangeing.

Minutes passed in silence before Henry finally spoke, his voice edged with disappointment. "I really thought that was it."

I exhaled slowly, the initial rush of adrenaline fading into fatigue. “So did I.”

Ella frowned, still studying the core in my hand. “Maybe it’s more complicated than we thought. What if it needs a certain blood type? Or some kind of biological marker?”

“Or maybe it only reacts under specific stress,” Amelia offered. “Like the first time, when Henry went berserk.”

Sighing, I knew this wasent going anywhere, so I spoke up. “I don't think debating about this all day is going to help. So if we truly want to test it out, then we need a wider range of cores.”

Ella nodded, “Atlas is right. There could be a thousand different ways these could activate. So we need to gather a wider range of cores to test from.”