The skiff drifted in low orbit, its course unsteady but holding. Inside, Kairo sat in the pilot's chair, hunched over a flickering diagnostics panel. He hadn't spoken in nearly half an hour.
He was trying to understand what he'd just installed into his head.
The interface was still there, silently occupying the edge of his vision. A soft, pulsing overlay hovered like a heads-up display only he could see.
[GodCore Interface Active]
[Synchronization: 11%]
[Status: Minimal Access Granted]
"GodCore," he muttered under his breath. "Why does that sound like a warning disguised as a title?"
He tapped the control console and looked out at the dark curve of the dozens of floating rocks below. Somewhere beneath all that stone was a hollow place where the pod had been buried.
Kevin, his floating maintenance drone, whirred past behind him.
"You've been quiet," Kevin said. "Which usually means you're either deep in thought or emotionally destabilized."
Kairo sighed. "I don't think I installed a weapon. I think I installed a… system."
"A system that throws you into the air, freezes you, and makes your nose bleed?"
"Exactly that one."
He sat forward. The HUD shimmered slightly in response. Curious, he tried something.
"Scan local area," he said aloud.
Nothing happened at first. Then, a response blinked into the center of his view.
[Command Rejected: Unauthorized Query]
[Function Not Yet Unlocked]
Kairo frowned. "Why would a system reject a basic scan command?"
[Explanation: Access restrictions based on synchronization level. Basic diagnostics are locked until integration increases.]
He blinked.
That wasn't just a rejection - it was an answer. Not a static script either. The system was responding to his voice with dynamic language.
"Okay," he said slowly, "so you're listening to me... but only unlocking functions if I 'sync' more. How do I increase sync?"
[Answer: Experience-based adaptation. Progress is tied to behavior, stress response, and conceptual alignment.]
That took a second to process.
"So, what - you're waiting for me to act a certain way before you let me cast spells?"
[Clarification: Abilities are not 'spells.' They are construct-based effects generated from logical patterns and intent.]
[First adaptation pending. Stress event recommended to accelerate alignment.]
Kairo narrowed his eyes. "Let me guess. That means you want me to get in trouble."
[Yes.]
He leaned back in his seat and let out a quiet laugh. It wasn't funny, but somehow it helped.
The GodCore wasn't going to hand him a menu of powers or a tutorial. It was going to learn from him. And the more he acted, the more it would respond.
It was... teaching him to build his own tools.
But that also meant every new ability would be his - born from his choices, not someone else's formula.
It was a strange kind of freedom. And one that was hard to believe wouldn't come with a cost.
--
Docking at Soria Gate
Three hours later, Kairo brought the skiff into a quiet orbit near Soria Gate, an unlisted service station orbiting a gas giant.
It was a junk port - mostly abandoned ships, scavengers, and trade outposts no one regulated anymore. The kind of place you went when you didn't want to be found.
Kairo passed the first docking check by spoofing a miner ID - something anyone could do with some cheap hardware nowadays. The terminal barely blinked before unlocking the bay.
As he stepped out of the skiff, he kept his jacket collar up and his head down. The tethered pod in his cargo bay still pulsed faintly, sealed in a hardlock. He'd rigged a containment field around it, but it felt... awake.
He made it ten steps into the trade corridor before he heard something he didn't want to hear:
[Scan ping detected. Source: Two bioscans - classified pattern]
[GodCore Alert: Threat Identification Triggered]
[Entities matching pattern: Veilborn agents]
[Threat Level: Moderate. Adaptive response recommended]
His HUD flickered. A corner of the interface opened, showing outlines of two approaching individuals. Light armor. Controlled movement. Matching loadouts.
Kairo's stomach turned.
Veilborn.
Veilborn weren't bounty hunters. They didn't ask questions. They worked for a multi-faction directive called the Veilborn Initiative, built for one purpose: eliminate unlicensed Core-level systems and users. If they detected resonance from a device like the GodCore, they didn't confiscate it. They deleted it - and anyone connected to it.
Kairo spun back toward the dock accessway.
But then, the two agents spotted him. They raised their mana rifles.
[Emergency Action Authorized]
[Defensive Construct Formation Available]
[Suggested Construct: Gravity Manipulation – Instinct-Based Target Response]
He didn't have time to ask questions.
He focused on the system, and before he knew it, a pulse surged behind his eyes. The floor beneath the two Veilborn bent slightly, like a ripple in water. One of the Veilborn stumbled as they were forced onto their knees, the other barely remained standing. If one was to look at them from afar, they would see a visible change in the air as things seemed to compress around them.
Kairo didn't stop.
He turned and ran - sprinting back toward the skiff as warning alarms flashed behind him. The HUD glowed brighter, as if waking up faster now that it had seen what he could do.
Five minutes later, the skiff's engines roared back to life. Soria Gate shrank in the viewport.
Kairo's heart was still pounding. He leaned against the pilot seat, sweat cooling on the back of his neck.
[Adaptive Construct Formed: Gravity Skew Pulse]
[Integration Progressed: 19%]
[System Note: Basic gravitational control established. Usage temporarily locked]
He didn't respond.
He was still catching up to everything. The system. The Veilborn. The fact that he'd just altered local gravity because he needed to.
Kairo stared at the HUD.
Not a weapon. Not a spellbook.
The GodCore was unlike any core he'd ever heard of..
A tool that built itself around what he needed.
And maybe, if he kept moving - he'd figure out why it had chosen him.