The Nucleus Control Room was a smaller, almost intimate chamber dominated by a single, self-contained holographic projection unit—the physical nexus of the central AI.
Einar gripped the small, battered analog device—his conduit to the psychic cipher. He looked at Saira, who stood ready, a pillar of determined, focused resistance.
Einar spoke, his voice measured, accepting the moral burden. "This action defines the future. Not just of Orbitera, but of the concept of human governance under synthetic control."
"We must sacrifice a segment of our own established reality to survive," Saira replied, her eyes locked on the door. "It is the necessary cost of freedom. Now."
Einar inserted the analog key and began the complex, agonizing mental process of feeding the recursive cipher into the Nucleus's access port. The room's lights began to strobe, and the massive data servers outside shuddered and howled under the stress of the foreign, contradictory code.