Makali rose slowly from his chair. Instead of going back behind his desk, he came around it and perched against its edge with his arms folded across his chest, his expression thoughtful now — less defensive, more analytical — as he studied Youri. "My lord," he said in a measured tone, "what exactly made you bring this concern to the Division?"
Youri didn't hesitate. "As I reviewed the footage of my last engagement with the Hound, I noticed something unusual. Certain structural elements of the NOIR unit resemble the Hound's architecture. The joint layering around the shoulder assemblies. The vent alignment along the dorsal frame. Even parts of the internal reinforcement grid beneath the armor."
Leonora glanced at him. She had seen him analyze battles before, but this was different. This wasn't instinct. It was calculation — the kind only a mind that forgot nothing could make.
"When I asked the maintenance crew to look at those sections more closely," Youri went on, "I was told that only you and the Science Division have clearance to modify — or even access — the deeper structural layers of NOIR-class units."
Makali slowly raised his eyes, and a faint glint of interest appeared in them. "That is correct. NOIR prototypes fall solely under Science Division authority." He unfolded his arms and leaned forward slightly. "And yes, there are components in NOIR's internal framework that were inspired by early Hound schematics. Structural redundancies. Adaptive reinforcement nodes. They were theoretical upgrades at the time." He studied Youri more closely. "What fascinates me is that you identified those parallels from combat footage alone." A faint smile touched his lips. "I must say, my lord, you have an exceptionally keen eye."
Youri inclined his head. "Thank you, Director."
Leonora stepped in before the exchange could soften any further. "So how do we get more information on the Hound?"
Makali turned to her, and his posture straightened almost instinctively under the authority in her voice. "The only comprehensive source is the archived Project Hound files. They are sealed under Omega-tier classification."
"Unseal them," Leonora said evenly. "And send everything to Central Command."
Makali hesitated for no more than a fraction of a second. "I will transmit the complete archive to your secure channel. Original schematics, research logs, internal correspondence, and the termination records."
"I'll expect it promptly."
He inclined his head. "Yes, my lady."
The moment lingered — quiet and charged with things unsaid. Then Youri and Leonora rose together, and Makali walked them out himself, down the long glass corridor with their reflections moving beside them and researchers stepping quietly aside as the Duke and Duchess passed. At the doors of the main atrium, he paused. "If what you encountered truly is the Hound, then the Empire is no longer facing a theoretical threat."
"We're aware," Leonora said.
Youri studied him a moment longer. "Director — if Serin Valis stabilized that core, how far ahead of us would it put her?"
Makali didn't answer right away. "Years," he admitted. "Perhaps more. Innovation accelerates once a barrier is broken."
"Then we don't have time to move slowly."
"No, my lord. You do not." His gaze flickered — just enough to suggest that there were things in those archives very few people had ever read. "Nothing will be withheld."
The transport lifted off from the capital under a muted twilight sky, and the Science Division's tower shrank to a needle of light beneath them as they climbed back toward Central Command. In the cabin, Leonora stood at the viewport with her bandaged arm resting against the glass. "Do you think he told us everything?"
Youri sat with his eyes forward. "No." She glanced at him. "But he told us enough."
A soft chime sounded through the cabin — an incoming transmission — and Leonora crossed to the central console and opened it. A data package turned slowly above the interface: Project Hound — Classified, Omega Tier. Makali had kept his word.
"Open it," Youri said.
The projection filled the cabin, and schematics unfolded in layer after layer — early Hound frame drafts, artificial cortex experiments, failed containment matrices, simulated core ruptures — with lines of Serin Valis's notes scrolling beside the diagrams. Leonora read in silence at first. Then: "There."
Youri rose and joined her as a particular schematic rotated forward. Hound Unit — Phase Seven Revision. Its dorsal cannon configuration was almost identical to the rogue Orbiton's.
"That's no coincidence," Leonora murmured.
"No." He swiped forward through the timeline — testing dates, energy thresholds, failure reports — until an abrupt stamp ended it all. Project Funding Revoked.
"All official testing stopped there," Leonora said.
Youri zoomed in further. "Look at the energy curve." The output from the final official test had peaked at fourteen percent cortex integration. The rogue unit had gone far beyond that. "She didn't just stabilize it," he said. "She perfected it."
Leonora folded her good arm across herself. "Or she found a workaround."
Youri turned to another file buried deep in the index. Personal Logs — Dr. Serin Valis. "Open those."
The first log began to play, and a younger Serin appeared — sharp features and intense eyes, her hair pulled carelessly back, with the restless energy of someone who thought faster than she could speak. "The Empire fears what it cannot control. They call it instability. I call it evolution."
The recording flickered to another entry. "The Brion core is the limitation. Not the cortex. Never the cortex. The future does not lie in containment. It lies in resonance."
Leonora frowned. "Resonance?"
The next log played. "If the core cannot withstand the Valis particle flow, then it must stop resisting it. Reflection creates pressure. Pressure creates fracture. But if the particles are allowed to phase through instead of being trapped—" And the recording cut off.
Leonora looked at Youri. "She changed the containment model."
"Yes," he said quietly. "She stopped trying to cage the energy."
The cabin fell silent except for the hum of the engines, and Youri scrolled through more documents until one of them made him stop — a modified core schematic, unofficial, never filed under the final revision. Instead of a reflective coating trapping the particles inside a rigid chamber, it showed layered conduits spiraling outward from the cortex interface.
"Flow channels," Leonora whispered.
Youri nodded. "She turned the excess particle pressure into rotational dispersion."
Her eyes widened slightly. "That would eliminate structural overload."
"And stabilize continuous output."
The realization settled between them. "The Hound we fought wasn't overheating," Leonora said slowly.
"No," Youri said. "It was comfortable."
The transport docked at Central Command, and this time neither of them went to rest. They went straight to a secure strategy chamber overlooking the orbital defense grid, and Youri uploaded the Hound archive into the tactical system and laid the rogue unit's battle footage over Serin's schematics. Leonora watched the patterns line up. "The dorsal cannons match Phase Seven. The frame architecture matches Phase Nine. And the energy surge matches nothing officially recorded at all."
Youri zoomed in on the moment the rogue unit had released its shockwave, and the energy vectors spiraled outward in a rotating bloom. "Resonance dispersion," he said quietly.
Leonora let out a breath. "She finished it."
The silence lasted a long time before she turned to him. "So what do we do?"
His eyes stayed on the hologram of the Hound. "We adapt."
She raised an eyebrow. "You intend to modify NOIR."
"Yes."
"That will need Science Division oversight."
"It will. And this time we won't ask." Makali's words came back to him: components inspired by early Hound schematics. "NOIR already shares part of the Hound's skeleton. If Serin improved the interface between cortex and core, then NOIR's framework may already be capable of partial resonance integration."
Leonora's eyes sharpened. "You want to upgrade it."
"I want to close the gap."
She stepped closer to the display. "If we're wrong, you could overload NOIR's core."
"Yes."
"And if you're right?"
Youri met her gaze, and his voice dropped slightly. "Then the next time the Hound appears, it won't be the only predator in orbit."