The heavy blast door groaned inwards as Jax threw his depleted weight against the pry-bar jammed into the seam. The magnetic locks he’d scrambled with Axiomatic static were disengaged, but decades of corrosion and the warping kiss of the Bleed still made it a bitch to move. Metal screamed against tortured metal, the sound echoing horribly in the confined maintenance tunnel. He finally wedged it open just wide enough to slip through, collapsing momentarily on the other side in a heap of exhaustion, pain, and grime.

  He lay there for a second, gasping in the new atmosphere. This air was different yet again. Colder, with a sharp, sterile tang beneath the omnipresent smell of ozone and decay, like an ancient medical facility’s dying breath. The low, throbbing hum that permeated the entire Anomaly was stronger here, a palpable vibration that resonated deep within his bones, making the imprinted diagrams behind his eyes seem to pulse faintly in sympathy. The discordant chiming of the scrap constructs was absent, replaced by a near silence broken only by the faint, rhythmic thump-thump of unseen, massive machinery and the occasional crackle of overloaded circuitry.

  Pushing himself up, ignoring the screaming protests of abused muscles, Jax raised his utility lamp. Its beam cut weakly through the oppressive darkness, revealing the heart of Aethelian hubris, now thoroughly violated by whatever crawled through the cracks in reality. He was in what looked like the main control room overlooking the reactor core itself, though the massive viewport dominating one wall was shattered, offering only glimpses into a deeper abyss below where strange, bioluminescent energies swirled.

  Consoles lined the walls in sweeping arcs, their screens dark or displaying frantic cascades of corrupted data – glowing green Aethelian script dissolving into meaningless static, error messages written in languages that never existed, diagrams of impossible physics. Wires spilled like entrails from access panels, sparking intermittently. Strange, semi-translucent fungal growths, different from the phosphorescent kind outside, pulsed with a slow, internal light, climbing over consoles and conduits like alien ivy.

  And the bodies. Gods, the bodies. Several figures in ancient Aethelian technician uniforms were slumped at their stations. Not decayed, not dessicated like the ones in the outer lab, but… changed. One seemed partially fused into their console, metal and flesh blended in a grotesque symbiosis, face frozen in a rictus of agony or ecstasy. Another’s limbs were elongated and twisted at impossible angles, ending in sharp, chitinous points. A third… a third was simply a shimmering outline, a human-shaped heat signature Joric’s perception could barely resolve, phasing slightly in and out of visible reality. Whatever happened here when the Bleed hit, it wasn’t quick, and it definitely wasn’t kind.

  “Dinner and a show,” Jax muttered, his voice hoarse. He popped his last stim-chew, the bitter chemicals a pathetic defense against the mounting dread. “Real charming décor. Someone tell the Authority their Aberration Protocols need an update. Starting with ‘Don’t build reality-breaking reactors’.”

  The energy signature of Object Rho pulsed strongly from the center of the room. It wasn’t emanating from the shattered viewport overlooking the core, as he’d expected, but from a massive, raised dais dominating the control room floor. On it rested not a piece of recognizable technology, but something… else.

  It was roughly spherical, about two meters in diameter, composed of interlocking, shifting geometric plates of the same seamless, light-absorbing black alloy as the hidden chamber back at the Vertebrae. Faint azure lines, identical to those on the Resonance Engine, pulsed across its surface, but here they were more complex, faster, constantly reconfiguring. It hummed audibly now, a deep, resonant bass note that vibrated through the deck plating, harmonizing with the throb of the building itself. It wasn't just in the room; it felt like the reason for the room, the focal point around which this whole corrupted structure revolved. And floating serenely above it, just like above the Resonance Engine, were shimmering, insubstantial echoes – the ghosts of Prime Axioms made visible by the intense energy.

  This wasn't just 'Pre-Collapse tech'. This felt like the same order of reality-bending hardware he’d already had the misfortune of interfacing with. Was this the primary Engine? Was the Vertebrae chamber merely a remote terminal?

  Before he could process the implications, movement flickered at the edge of his lamp beam. He snapped his attention towards the dais. Uncoiling from the shadows behind the spherical object was the room’s welcoming committee.

  It wasn’t another scrap-chimera. This was… different. Sleeker. More integrated. It resembled a large, predatory feline in basic structure, but forged from polished chrome and dark, unknown composites, seamlessly blended. Its limbs ended not in paws, but in articulated manipulator claws tipped with what looked like surgical-grade cutting lasers. Instead of a head, a multi-faceted optical sensor array, glowing with a cold, blue light, swiveled towards him. Its movements were fluid, utterly silent, a stark contrast to the jerky Lurching of the chimera. It radiated an aura of lethal, programmed efficiency. An Aethelian security construct, presumably. And unlike the dormant turrets outside, this one looked very much active.

  “Ah,” Jax said, raising his vibro-knife, feeling laughably under-equipped. “Guessing you’re Rho’s guard dog. Didn’t see a ‘Beware of Killer Robot Panther’ sign on the door.”

  The construct didn’t respond, naturally. It simply lowered its stance, the cutting lasers on its claws extending slightly, humming with barely contained energy. Its optical array tracked his every micro-movement.

  Jax cursed internally. His pistol was dead weight. His knife felt like a toothpick against that polished armor. His body was running on fumes and cheap stims. His only real weapon was the chaotic, barely understood power buzzing beneath his skin, the Axiomatic potential that cost him agony and vitality every time he consciously tried to wield it.

  The construct sprang, covering the distance between the dais and Jax with blinding speed. Jax threw himself sideways, rolling behind a bank of sparking consoles as laser beams sliced through the air where he’d been standing, leaving superheated trails that glowed cherry-red for an instant before fading. The sheer speed and precision were terrifying.

  He scrambled up, using the consoles for cover, his mind racing. Brute force was out. Direct confrontation was suicide. He needed a plan. He risked a peek. The chrome panther prowled silently around the console bank, its optical array scanning, trying to reacquire him. Its movements were unnervingly smooth, predictive.

  His Axiom-sight flared, analyzing the construct. He saw its power core, a brightly glowing energy signature deep within its torso. He saw the intricate network of energy conduits feeding its limbs and weapons. He saw the complex weave of its armored plating, strong, stable, but perhaps… not uniformly so? There were connection points, joints, areas where the Axiomatic lattice seemed marginally less dense.

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  An idea, born of desperation and the memory of his previous successes (and failures), sparked. Interference. Disruption. Not raw force, but targeted static.

  As the construct rounded the console bank, Jax popped up, not attacking, but focusing his will, channeling that draining energy, visualizing pure, chaotic noise aimed directly at the construct’s optical sensor array. “Blind! Scramble! Glitch!”

  Pain lanced through his head. The leaching sensation returned, weaker than when unlocking the door, but still significant. The whispers shrieked. The construct visibly recoiled. Its head-like sensor array twitched erratically, the blue light flickering, stuttering. Its smooth movements became jerky for a crucial second.

  Ping.

  [Target Sensory Systems Disrupted (Axiomatic Interference)]

  [Mental Acuity (Focus) +0.02?]

  It worked! For a moment. The construct shook its head, the blue light stabilizing, though it seemed momentarily disoriented. It hadn’t blinded it, but it had bought him a precious second.

  He didn’t waste it. He burst from cover, sprinting not at the construct, but towards the dais, towards Object Rho. If he could get close, maybe the object’s energy field would interfere further, or maybe… maybe he could use it somehow?

  The construct recovered fast, letting out a synthesized snarl – the first sound it had made – and pursued him, its laser claws firing rapidly. Beams stitched across the floor around Jax’s feet, forcing him to weave and dodge. He felt the heat sear past his arm, smelled burning fabric again.

  He reached the dais, scrambling onto the raised platform, putting the pulsating black sphere between himself and the construct. The humming intensified here, vibrating through his entire body, making his teeth buzz. The Axiomatic ghosts floating above Rho seemed to swirl faster, reacting to his proximity, to the resonance within him.

  The construct hesitated at the edge of the dais, its sensors perhaps wary of the object’s potent energy field. It circled, lasers tracking him, looking for a clear shot.

  Jax pressed his back against the cool, smooth surface of Object Rho. He could feel its deep, rhythmic pulse, a power far greater, far more stable than the chaotic energy of the Rift or the fragile spark within himself. He focused his perception on it, trying to understand, to connect. What was it?

  Images, concepts, flooded his mind, clearer than the feedback from the Resonance Engine, yet still profoundly alien. Stabilizer… Harmonic Field Generator… Reality Anchor… Nodal Interface (Prime)… Bleed Suppressor (Offline)… WARNING: Resonance Cascade Imminent…

  A reality anchor? A bleed suppressor? Offline? Resonance cascade? Before he could process the implications, the construct lunged onto the dais, deciding the risk was acceptable. Jax dodged instinctively, rolling around the sphere. A laser beam struck the black alloy of Object Rho.

  Instead of ricocheting or burning, the beam seemed to be absorbed, vanishing into the surface without a trace. The azure lines on the sphere pulsed brighter, the humming intensified, and the entire room seemed to lurch. Gravity flickered, consoles sparked violently, and the spectral Axioms above Rho blazed with sudden intensity.

  The construct staggered, its systems clearly affected by the energy surge. Jax felt it too, a wave of vertigo and nausea, but also… something else. A surge of resonant energy flowed from Object Rho, through the floor, into him, syncing momentarily with the Axioms within his own core. It wasn't the violent imprint of the Attunement, nor the draining leech of his own manipulations. It felt… like plugging into a power source.

  Ping!

  [External Resonance Synergy Detected!]

  [Temporary Axiomatic Stability +0.5?]

  [Energy Reserves Partially Recharged (+10%?)]

  [WARNING: Unstable Harmonic Flux Detected!]

  Holy shit. The sphere was juicing him? Or reacting to the laser hit by stabilizing the local field, and he was caught in the effect? The fractional stats flashing in his vision were less corrupted, almost legible. He felt a genuine surge of energy, pushing back the crushing exhaustion, clearing his head slightly. The pain didn't vanish, but it receded.

  The chrome panther recovered, shaking its sensor head again, clearly perturbed by the environmental flux. It locked onto Jax, ignoring the sphere now, treating him as the primary anomaly. It gathered itself for another attack, claws glowing brighter.

  Okay, temporary stability, partial recharge. Time to stop playing defense. Jax focused, recalling the feeling of weakening the rusted panel, the feeling of breaking the Hound’s leg. He looked at the construct’s sleek leg joints, perceiving the subtle vulnerabilities in their Axiomatic structure through the temporary clarity Rho offered. He channeled the borrowed energy, adding his own focused will, aiming for the concept: Fracture.

  He poured the intent out, feeling the familiar drain, but this time it felt… cleaner? Less like tearing himself apart, more like directing a current. The backlash was still there, a sharp stab of pain, but manageable.

  The construct lunged. As its foreleg planted for leverage, the targeted joint didn't just break; it disintegrated. The polished chrome shattered into dust and fractured Axiomatic light. The limb ceased to exist. The construct crashed to the dais, its remaining limbs flailing, synthesized static screaming from its damaged internals.

  Ping!

  [Hostile Construct Decommissioned (Axiomatic Deconstruction)]

  [Combat Efficiency +0.1?]

  [Axiomatic Control (Entropy Application) +0.08?]

  [WARNING: Resonance Cascade Probability Increased!]

  Jax stared at the twitching, ruined machine, then down at his own hands, which were trembling violently again, this time not just from exhaustion, but from a terrifying exhilaration. He’d done that. Deliberately. Effectively. The power, boosted by proximity to Object Rho, had responded with terrifying potency. The LitRPG notifications felt less like glitches now and more like reality itself acknowledging his actions, quantifying his terrifying progression.

  But the final warning… Resonance Cascade Probability Increased. That sounded distinctly unfriendly. The humming from Object Rho was louder now, the azure lines pulsing almost frantically. The entire room vibrated, dust sifting from the ceiling. The swirling energies visible through the shattered viewport below seemed to intensify, growing brighter, more chaotic.

  Had defeating the guardian, using Axiomatic power so close to this 'Reality Anchor', destabilized something critical? Was Object Rho itself the trigger for the cascade?

  He needed to grab the damn thing and get out. Assuming it could be grabbed. He cautiously reached out towards the pulsating sphere, his hand hovering over the shifting geometric plates. Touching it felt like inviting annihilation, but leaving it behind wasn't an option. This was the job. This was the payday.

  As his fingers brushed the surface, the humming spiked, the azure lines blazed, and the spectral Axioms above flared. He felt a surge of energy arc towards him, not harmful, but… communicative? Information flooded his mind, not words, not diagrams, but pure conceptual data: Containment Failure… Dimensional Boundary Weakening… Anchor Point Overload… Emergency Protocol: Purge? Stabilize? Initiate…

  Before he could react or comprehend, a section of the far wall exploded inwards, showering the room with debris. Standing silhouetted against the dust and emergency lighting from the corridor beyond were two figures clad in the stark white and grey combat armor of the Authority Enforcers, heavy pulse rifles leveled directly at him.

  “Anomaly detected,” crackled a synthesized voice from one of the helmets. “Subject Designation: Architect Zero. Objective identified. Secure the asset. Terminate the anomaly.”

  Well, Jax thought, staring down the barrels of Authority pulse rifles, with a potentially reality-ending artifact humming against his back and LitRPG notifications still glitching in his vision. This just kept getting better and better.