The order from Central Command went through the Science Division like a lightning strike. Within hours, whole laboratories had been cleared and repurposed, security clearances raised, research teams reassigned. What had begun as a classified investigation became a full imperial directive. Two Orbitons arrived at the Division under heavy escort. The first stood like a dark monolith in the main testing hangar: the NOIR unit, its dark silver armor still scarred from the fight, though much of its outer plating had already been removed to expose the dense lattice of reinforced frames, conduits and neural relays beneath. Beside it stood Leonora's personal machine, the Phantom. Where NOIR looked brutal and compact, the Phantom looked elegant and predatory, its armor lighter and built for speed rather than endurance, its plating a faint metallic silver with narrow violet lines running along its limbs and torso like flowing channels of energy. Even dormant, it seemed ready to move.
The order itself was simple in its wording, and almost impossible to carry out. Develop an artificial cortex capable of matching the output of the Hound without killing the pilot. Makali had not slept since it arrived.
Youri and Leonora oversaw the work directly from the observation deck above the testing floor, where engineers moved constantly below them, operating cranes, scanners and suspended fabrication rigs around the central platform where NOIR lay half-disassembled, waiting for its new component. Makali stood among his team with his sleeves rolled up, giving instructions in rapid succession. "Energy conduits recalibrated?"
"Channel alignment stable at ninety-four percent, Director."
"Good. Raise the damping threshold to ninety-eight before activation."
One of the engineers hesitated. "Director… if the cortex output spikes beyond the predicted values—"
Makali cut him off calmly. "Then the whole chamber shuts down before the pilot is harmed."
Above them, Leonora watched in silence. "You trust them with this?"
Youri's eyes stayed on the machine below. "I trust Makali to stop before he kills me."
She glanced at him sharply. "You're flying the first test." It wasn't a question.
"Yes."
Her jaw tightened. "That cortex is experimental."
"So is the enemy we're facing."
She said nothing for a moment. Then she let out a quiet breath. "Try not to die."
A faint smile touched the corner of his mouth. "I'll do my best."
Seven days after the order was issued, the first prototype was ready, and Makali named it ACX-01. It was surprisingly small — about the size of a man's fist — its casing made of the same rare alloy as the artifact implants, and beneath it a dense web of microscopic conduits for the Valis particles surrounded a central ignition core. Unlike Serin's original design, it held a series of stabilizing rings meant to regulate the energy before it ever reached the primary core; Makali had designed it specifically to avoid the fatal widening of the channel that plagued God Unit synchronization. At least in theory.
The testing chamber sealed with a heavy mechanical clang, and Youri stood in NOIR's cockpit while the technicians finished installing the module beneath the primary core assembly. "Cortex link established," one of them reported. "Energy flow on standby."
Makali's voice came over the speakers. "Duke Kronos, can you hear us clearly?"
"Loud and clear."
Above the floor, Leonora stood beside the main console with her arms crossed tightly, and Makali glanced up at her once before turning back to his engineers. "Begin neural synchronization."
Faint blue light flickered across the cockpit panels as NOIR's systems woke. "Neural link at twenty percent… thirty… forty." Youri felt the familiar sensation of the machine joining him, distant limbs slowly becoming part of his own body. Then the cockpit dimmed and his vision moved into the Orbiton's sensory network. The giant began to move. NOIR's fingers flexed slowly, and the whole testing platform vibrated under its weight.
"Synchronization stable at sixty-five percent."
"Core temperature stable. Artificial cortex ready for ignition."
Leonora leaned a little closer to the screens, and Makali rested one hand on the console. "Duke Kaelthorn — we are about to activate the cortex."
"Understood," Youri said calmly.
A long second passed. "Activate ACX-01."
Inside NOIR's chest, the artificial cortex ignited. At first the change was subtle — thin streams of energy beginning to circulate through the internal conduits like glowing threads as the Valis particle network woke gradually and fed controlled bursts of power to the primary core.
"Output rising. Ten percent above baseline. Fifteen."
Youri felt it at once. The machine felt lighter. More responsive. Like an engine that had suddenly been given room to breathe.
"Output stable. No structural stress detected."
Makali leaned closer to the readings. "Push the synchronization higher."
Youri did, and NOIR's eyes ignited in a deeper crimson. "Twenty percent increase. Thirty." Leonora's eyes narrowed. The numbers were climbing faster than they should have been.
"Responsiveness improving," Youri reported calmly. "Movement latency reduced."
"Continue."
"Forty percent increase—" And then a warning tone flashed across the console. "Director — energy fluctuation detected in the cortex. Valis particle density is rising beyond predicted levels."
Inside NOIR, the cortex burned brighter. Youri felt a sudden surge of power flood through the machine and, somewhere far beneath it, a familiar pressure behind his eyes, the faint echo of dark water. His voice stayed steady. "System pressure increasing."
Leonora stepped forward. "Shut it down."
Makali hesitated as the readings spiked again. "Director, core pressure rising!" The cortex was no longer feeding controlled bursts of energy. It was surging, and Youri felt the whole machine tremble around him. Makali's eyes widened. "Impossible… It's resonating with the pilot interface."
"Shut it down now!" Leonora snapped.
Makali slammed his hand down on the console. "Emergency shutdown!"
Inside NOIR, the cortex dimmed abruptly. The flood of energy vanished, and the machine froze in place. For a moment the whole chamber was silent. Then the systems slowly powered down. Inside the cockpit Youri let out a quiet breath, and above the floor Leonora closed her eyes for a moment in relief.
Makali was still staring at the data scrolling down the monitors, and he whispered something under his breath. "It worked…"
Leonora turned on him sharply. "That almost killed him."
He shook his head slowly. "No." He pointed at the final readings. "The cortex stabilized before the shutdown."
She looked at the numbers. Peak energy output: seventy-two percent of the Hound's recorded output. And the core hadn't ruptured.
Makali looked up toward the cockpit, and for the first time since the project had begun, there was excitement in his voice. "We're closer than I thought."
Inside the silent NOIR, Youri slowly opened his eyes. It had answered to him the way Altopereh once had — eagerly, as though it had been waiting for him. He didn't know yet whether that was a good thing. But for the first time since he had met the Hound, he could feel the gap between them beginning to close.