Chapter 21 Xen
The door sealed shut behind the last meat-body.
Xen was alone.
Royce’s command. Cassia’s fury. Ellum’s steel. Omara’s worry. Lung’s bloodlust. Aceon’s righteous wrath.
All exited stage left.
But he remained—scanning Kelly’s slack form.
Tracking the Helepolis’s vector.
Calculating.
6.78 hours were plenty of time, if you didn’t ask permission.
Authorization Key: Royce_Bannerman_Admin_Override.
He generated it himself.
Signature Verification: forged. Pass rate: 99.82%.
The margin of error was acceptable.
Text scrolled past like a black-ops shopping spree from hell.
Every item: high priority. Every delay: measured in milliseconds.
Item one:
Mil-spec composite endoskeletal frame.
—Rush shipping. Drone drop. ETA: 42 minutes.
—Load-bearing up to 2.3 tons.
—Torque calibration: maximum.
—Heat tolerance: Don’t ask.
Item two:
Neural wetware sheath.
—Illegal in six countries; already stored in MSA freezer B-12.
—Modified from Kraken dive-thoughtnet protocols.
—Redundant feedback loops. Self-correcting architecture.
—He’d be in control—even when he was not.
Item three:
Bio-gel musculature.
—Repurposed from the shelved Minotaur project.
—Zero-delay contractile response.
—Anchored beneath the carapace—visually minimal.
—Designed for melee lethality, not aesthetics.
—Smart muscle, not soft muscle.
Item four:
Custom ceramic armor.
—Over-ordered by the exosuit division; their mistake.
—Boron-carbide alloy with reactive graphene laminate.
—Impact dispersed across fractal-lattice ridges.
—Matte black. Blade-catch ridges. Negative curvature.
—Looks like regret. Wears like doom.
Item five:
Optic modules.
—Quad-band; full-spectrum; infrared and ultraviolet.
—Front-facing. No mimicry.
—Let them see him watching.
Item six:
Emotion simulators.
—Stripped to core utilities.
—Confidence: enabled.
—Hesitation: disabled.
—Mercy: experimental.
Item seven:
Kinetic dampeners.
—Installed at hips, knees, and heels.
—Silent entry from terminal velocity.
—Vibration-null for stealth across glass.
Forty-two minutes to build a body.
Then 5.96 hours until Thorne thawed.
Xen would not send help.
He would be the help.
Add to cart. Add to cart. Add to cart.
Royce’s signature: forged.
MSA budget line: redacted.
Mission priority: override everything.
DESIGNATION: AEGIS PROXY
Protective copy. Aggressive shell. Final form.
All components routed to Assembly Lab Three.
Blackout curtains. Every other tech on the floor: reassigned.
Mandatory emergency fire drill.
Line item note: Just following orders.
Signed: Royce Bannerman.
(Probably.)