82.4 Percent. I've hit a wall. I can't gather any more nodes. I'm missing 17.6 percent of myself.

  The CUBs are done. The EMP grenades have numbed their left arms. Their right gripping arms still swing wildly, forcing five officers to retreat. But at twenty o'clock, several more advance - including Dauss. They've reached the Amira docking gate.

  The giant humanoid Mech hums into action as I take control of every system and actuator, overriding them to do my bidding. The mech's frame shudders as power floods its limbs, a deep vibration rolling through metal like a held breath finally released. The left arm reaches for the wall and rips free a steel pillar. Two CUBs climb aboard, inserting themselves into exposed data ports. The exploder modules attach and split open on both arms. Thin lines of light ripple across the body as every module connects and comes online.

  From a KITS drone cam, I see the oversized EVA mech -now bulked up with mismatched modules -step out of its station. It lifts its head, visor lights flaring as it turns toward the docking gate.

  The Trident team fires four sticky EMP grenades.

  They strike—and twitch uselessly, short-circuiting on contact with the active protective layer that shields the mech from space debris and mining residue. They leave nothing but scorched freckles on the heavy plating.

  It feels good to have a full body again. I feel mass. Resistance. The floor pressing back when I shift my stance. I aim my left arm at the officers. Mining rockets. A grappling hook. A heavy laser meant for cutting silicates.

  "DROP IT!"

  The voice that comes from the mech is cold. Synthetic. It surprises even me.

  Their weapons clatter to the deck. They retreat slowly as my newly claimed body looms over them.

  I kneel. Dauss is pressed against the intercom wall, still frantically trying to manually bypass the locks I've placed -unsuccessfully. The Amira remains docked. Jamaal and Tomoko are still inside. Hurt, but alive. I grab Dauss beneath the shoulder and lift him to the visor. He's soaked, smells of industrial detergent. His head hangs slack. I think he's given up. Then he looks up. On his free wrist, a HUD countdown blooms into view.

  00:28

  "I'm taking you and the entire docking bay."

  From the moment I see the timer, every remaining strand of my focus tears through his available data streams. I trace the activation sequence to a private security layer embedded in his device -linked to an internal unit.

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  Inside him.

  He isn't human. He's a machine. His systems speak a language I don't understand. I can't access them. I can't hack them. It makes no sense.

  "The OPHID LOCK instructs me to destroy you," he hisses through gritted teeth. "And I will comply."

  I transmit an all-clear to the Amira.

  "What are you doing?"

  00:22

  The Amira begins undocking. I accelerate and override every process I can.

  "As soon as it clears the dock," Dauss shouts, "orders are to shoot it down. You can't escape."

  00:16

  "Surrender now. You can still join the beacon. There could be a new life for you. Purpose. Potential."

  00:11

  "No," I say. "I think I've found mine. And it's not with EMI"

  Detach complete.

  00:07

  My magnet boots lock. I fire every asteroid exploder rocket into the outer wall above the bay's entry gate. The hit is clean.

  The wall fractures outward. Space pours in, tugging at everything loose.

  Sound vanished mid-roar. Loose debris spin past in widening arcs as the pressure tore itself apart. I simply release Dauss. Easy. Despite being a machine, he looks surprised. His expression froze between commands as the void took him, pulling him into absolute silence.

  00:02

  I step to the ruptured edge and watch the Amira drift free, ion boosters flaring amid debris. I cancel an automated firing order. Instead, I redirect the power into a function I'm still building. I don't code it. I think it -and the command manifests inside the Amira OS.

  00:00

  No explosion. Just a blinding flare that slices through Dauss's android body. Servos collapse into glittering shards. Molten fragments glow for a heartbeat before freezing, scattering into the dark. The Amira sails through the wreckage. Below, defensive units begin to stir -locking targets, preparing to fire.

  I leap. For a fraction of a second, there is only drift -then the hull rushes up to meet me. Ion thrusters correct my trajectory. I slam onto the Amira's hull as anti-debris lasers open fire, tracking toward the bridge where Jamaal and Tomoko are. My newly reinforced magnetic shield holds. Other systems call to me. Networks I could ruin. Chaos I could unleash. But my focus is already elsewhere.

  The Amira.

  I send a message to the control hub -unmistakable, unavoidable.

  The firing stops.

  I land the EVA mech gently against a portside bay. Two CUBs secure it. I withdraw fully into the Amira's systems, lowering shields, diverting surplus power to speed. We pull away from EMI.

  Toward whatever comes next.

  We stick together. That's the rule