Tessara lay on the medical table, her vitals flickering erratically.
The AI core's extraction had done more than wound her — it had contaminated her.
Kael stood over her, arms folded, eyes locked on the thin black veins spreading from her chest into her neck. They pulsed in time with the power cell that had been forcibly integrated into her body by the core's defense system.
"She's dying," said the medical droid.
Kael didn't respond.
She wasn't dying.
She was transitioning.
The Relic's Side Effect
Back in his vault chamber, the ancient armor hummed as Kael approached it. It was responding now — more than before. The AI integration had unlocked subsystems in his own gear.
And with it came the cost.
Kael's skin had begun to discolor around the points of contact with the armor's neural link. Not burns. Not bruises. Just... wrong.
As though his cells were becoming other.
He sat cross-legged in the center of the relic chamber, system interface glowing softly before him.
[Warning: Legacy Corruption at 3%]
Side Effect: Force Sensitivity Warping Imminent. Recommend Delay on Further Interface Exposure.
Do you wish to proceed?
[YES] | [NO]
Kael smirked.
"Pain is the price of progress."
Yes.
His mind opened to a flood of memory-data, not his own: battlefields viewed through strange optics, command chains of subdermal telepathy, machines that felt emotion the way Jedi felt the Force.
The Ash Algorithm was not just technology.It was a philosophy.
Rule not by fear. Not by peace.
But by integration. Everything — weapon, soldier, world — must serve the pattern.
[Skill Upgraded: Tactical Command Lv.2 → Lv.3]
New Perk Gained: Neural Link Efficiency (+10% output from AI-assisted tactics)
Legacy Blueprint Unlocked: Reforging Chamber – Tier I
Cost: 1 Ancient Coreplate, 1 Bio-Gel Matrix, 200 Alloy Units
Effect: Transforms mortally wounded or dying individuals into "Reforged" soldiers by fusing their nervous system with ancient tech. Side effect: Total psychological reprogramming.
Kael stared at the perk for a long moment.
Then he stood.
Tessara's Choice — Or His
The Reforging Chamber was built in two days from scavenged Starship parts and components smelted from Echo-7 debris. The final touch was the black crystal socketed into the heart of the machine — the same crystal Tessara had retrieved before passing out.
She never woke.
Kael stood over her body as the chamber's internal servos hissed open.
"You gave me loyalty," he said quietly. "Now give me something more."
He didn't ask her permission.
He placed her inside.
[Warning: Reforging Will Alter Target Personality and Alignment]
Proceed?
[YES] | [NO]
Kael hesitated.
Just for a moment.
Then: Yes.
Reforging Process Initiated
Tessara's body arched inside the chamber. Limbs convulsed. Her nervous system was stripped, rerouted, and replaced. Thin filaments of black metal spread through her skin like a second skeleton.
Her eyes opened mid-process. She screamed — not in pain, but in defiance.
Then silence.
The machine powered down.
She stepped out.
No longer limping. No longer weak.
Tessara was still Tessara — but her movements were smoother. Her spine perfectly aligned. Her right eye had been replaced by a luminous black lens.
"Report," Kael said.
She tilted her head, calculating.
"Strength output: increased. Tactical latency: minimized. Emotional range:… reduced."
Kael stepped forward.
"Do you remember who you were?"
She looked at him.
Then bowed.
"I remember enough to obey."
[New Unit Acquired: Reforged Tessara]
Class: Prototype Shadow Construct
Loyalty: Absolute
Special Traits:
Emotionless Focus (+15% precision in assassination missions)
Integrated Directive (Cannot disobey direct command from Kael)
Adaptive Relearning Matrix (May regain emotional fragments through interaction)
Kael stared at her, expression unreadable.
He had crossed a line.
But it hadn't felt like a fall.
It had felt like a beginning.
System Notification: New Milestone Achieved – Path of the Warlord
Progression Tree Unlocked: Empire of the Pattern
Focus: Technological supremacy, hybrid integration, legacy dominion
Unlocks new Kingdom Buildings: Pattern Forge, Synthetic Archives, Emotion Dampener Grid
New Global Goal Set: Become the Architect of a New Order
Kael sat in his throne room that night, the stars visible through the shattered skylight above.
He had lost a soldier.
He had gained a tool.
And soon, the galaxy would hear the name Kael Dain.
Not as a whisper.
But as law.