The trip back to the Gutter Nest was swift and tense. I, Marla, and The Hand cut a fast path through the Vein's abandoned access tunnels, Marla's silence the only measure of her obedience. The heavy, localized temporal distortion of the Ex-Chronos Labs was gone, replaced by the humid, spore-rich air of our subterranean sanctuary.
Felicity met us at the Altar, her cybernetic eye gleaming with focused energy. She had been busy.
"The Quantum-Chrono-Orb is prepped," she reported, she had placed it carefully into a specialized conduit near the Aegis Node 7. "I've run diagnostics; its temporal anchor is stable and ready for fusion."
She gestured toward the forge section of the Aegis Node. "I also fed the remaining Bal-rog scraps and specialized bio-materials into the forge. The Bonekin Engine chassis is ready."
The chassis was no mere machine. "I found out that you couldn't actually construct one of these suckers, you have to grow them," Felicity explained. "I had to grow the gun from the prescribed substrates that had been synthesized. I grew it directly onto the forge's white stone anvil."
The Bonekin Engine—the enormous terraforming siege gun—was currently represented by a massive, intricate network of iridescent, bio-metal filaments, bio-steel skin, and organs. Even in its dormant state, the weapon was alive. It had pulsating, inflating air sacs! My enhanced thermal vision detected internal organs and a very unique cardiovascular system. The very structure of the Gutter Nest had become the weapon's base form.
"We're down to the final steps," Felicity confirmed, pulling up a schematic. "We need to refine the raw primal crystal lodes you harvested into Primal Zohar Crystals. We should be able to do that by casting them into the forge, and then fuse both the Orb and the Power Crystal into the Harmonic Resonance Anchor on the chassis."
I unloaded the primal crystal lode stone from my inventory ring, and the massive, two-meter stone appeared on the forge floor with a heavy thud. I communed with Aegis Node 7 on the method to refine the raw crystal.
The AI responded instantly, the refining process appearing in my mind as a precise, three-stage ritual that fused ancient science with intense psychic energy. The refinement of the raw Primal Zohar Crystal required two steps, I memorized them, than turned to the forge for the act of refining.
I prepared myself mentally, organizing the information into the first step. Thermal Immolation and psychic condensation. "Alright, Marla. Get back to the Hand," I commanded, turning my attention to the forge. I focused on Felicity, whose expression was a mixture of scientific intensity and genuine fear. "Felicity, get the forge to maximum thermal output. This primal lode is going to melt."
Felicity nodded, her fingers already dancing over the Aegis Node 7 controls. A deep, resonant hum filled the chamber as the forge began to intake massive amounts of localized geothermal energy. The white stone anvil beneath the two-meter Primal Crystal Lode began to glow cherry-red, then blinding white.
The raw crystal, previously a magnificent display of fractured light, groaned audibly as the extreme exothermic temperatures assaulted its structure. Veins of impurity—dark, sludge-like minerals and trapped geomatter—began to boil and fizz on the crystal's surface. In minutes, the magnificent lode collapsed into a shimmering, incandescent pool of pure, liquid Zohar Essence on the anvil.
"Step one complete: Thermal Immolation," Felicity announced, wiping sweat from her brow. "But Ash, the essence is highly unstable. It's radiating raw, multi-dimensional energy. It's going to destabilize and explode if you don't compress it now."
The molten Zohar pulsed violently, threatening to destabilize and unleash a catastrophic feedback loop. The sheer, terrifying power of the liquid light was a siren call to my core. I didn't hesitate. I slammed my hands down, hovering them directly over the molten pool. I channeled my most powerful, concentrated Orgone energy—the blue-white plasma that was the very fuel of my Genome Beast existence. The raw power surged from my palms, forming a pressurized psychic field that clamped down on the liquid essence.
The Zohar essence screamed, a high-pitched, mental shriek of pure energy being forced into submission. I pushed harder, applying the psychic compression necessary to purify and stabilize the essence. My muscles screamed, my teeth clenched, and the veins on my tiger-striped arms bulged as I fought the chaotic, ancient power.
Finally, the liquid Zohar essence settled. It coalesced into a twenty-pointed dodecahedron of shimmering, flawless light—no longer violent but contained. The psychic compression had stabilized the essence, leaving behind a perfectly purified Zohar crystal.
I pulled back, breathing heavily, the entire Gutter Nest trembling from the expenditure of power. "It's stabilized."
It was now time to energize the crystal. The unique crystalline lattice of the Zohar allowed it to multiply and store energy in near limitless amounts, but it first needed a jump start if you will, of pure orgone energy.
I carefully placed the purple Power dodecahedron into a specialized socket on the forge. The socket was ringed with multiple metallic tuning forks. "We need to hit it with the precise sonic frequency to match the Harmonic Resonance Anchor on the chassis. If we miss, we lose the dodecahedron."
Felicity prepared the acoustic emitters. "The frequency is complex, Ash. It requires multiple input points simultaneously to resonate the crystal. I can hit the first three, but the final, high-frequency spike needs perfect timing and power—something only you can generate."
I nodded, my exhaustion forgotten. This was the final, delicate piece. I positioned myself, ready to amplify the sonic attack with my own focused energy. "Tell me when."
"Three... Two... One... GO!"
Felicity unleashed the first three sonic pulses—a low, grinding bass that made the floor vibrate. The crystal pulsed, absorbing the energy. The timing was now mine. I focused my intent, generating a piercing, high-frequency Orgone blast that was less about power and more about perfect, sonic pitch. The beam struck the crystal at the apex of its resonance.
The crystal hummed, then flared with a massive, contained purple light. It didn't shatter. It didn't destabilize. It simply pulsed, a perfect, stable Zohar Power Crystal, its resonance perfectly keyed to the frequency of the Bonekin Engine's chassis.
Felicity let out a whoop of triumph. "It's done! We have the Zohar Power Crystal!"
I retrieved the Zohar Power Crystal. It felt warm, a living heart of pure energy. Beside it, the Quantum-Chrono-Orb glowed with temporal stability.
"Felicity," I commanded. "Begin the final fusion. Install the Zohar Power Crystal and the Quantum-Chrono-Orb into the Harmonic Resonance Anchor of the Bonekin Engine chassis."
Felicity moved with the practiced efficiency of a seasoned cyber-alchemist. She carefully retrieved the two artifacts and approached the massive, bio-metal chassis of the Engine resting on the bone white anvil. The target was the Harmonic Resonance Anchor—a central, throbbing node of exposed bio-steel and neural scaffolding situated at the weapon's core.
Felicity began with the Quantum-Chrono-Orb. The Orb was the temporal regulator; it needed to stabilize the Engine before it received power. She didn't press it into place; instead, she interfaced it with a series of pulsing bio-tendrils that extended from the Anchor point.
As the Orb clicked into its receptor, the immediate area surrounding the Anchor shimmered. The fractal, chaotic energy that had been radiating from the Engine's chassis abruptly settled, becoming smooth and predictable. The localized time distortions were gone.
"Orb installed," Felicity reported, her voice steady. "The temporal field is nominal. We have stability. Now for the hard part, fusing the Zohar Power Crystal."
The Zohar Power Crystal was the power source, the lifeblood of the terraformer. Felicity had to place the crystal into the final, central housing of the Anchor. Unlike the Orb, this required a living connection.
She held the crystal over the vacant socket. The Bonekin Engine chassis responded, the bio-steel lips of the Anchor parting slightly, revealing a cavity lined with a viscous, bio-luminescent fluid.
"I need maximum psychic amplification," Felicity yelled over the rising hum of the chassis. "If this doesn't seat perfectly, the entire Engine goes critical. It needs to feel the will of the Beast Vein."
I stepped forward, placing my hands on Felicity's shoulders. I channeled a torrent of Orgone energy not into the Crystal, but into the Harmonic Resonance Anchor itself, using my connection to the Herja Core to flood the Engine with raw life-force and intent.
As the Anchor pulsed under my control, Felicity slammed the Zohar Power Crystal into its housing.
The moment the crystal seated, the effect was cataclysmic. A blinding purple light erupted from the Anchor, spreading across the entire bio-metal chassis. The Engine's internal organs—the pulsating air sacs, the unique cardiovascular system—all began to beat simultaneously. The chassis, previously static, now looked like a giant, weaponized heart.
The fusion was complete. The Bonekin Engine was no longer merely assembled; it was alive and ready for deployment. Felicity collapsed against me, exhausted but triumphant. "It's fused. The Harmonic Resonance Anchor is holding. She's ready to go, Ash. The siege cannon is hot."
We looked at the colossal, throbbing weapon that now dominated the Gutter Nest. The time to decide how to use our newfound power had arrived. Fifty-eight hours remained until the Lunar Cry.
I advanced on the colossal, throbbing mass of the Bonekin Engine. Despite the weapon being a massive network of bio-steel and organs that filled a large section of the chamber, I reached down and lifted it.
The Bonekin Engine felt impossibly light. The bio-alloy it was grown into was ultra-light, almost like hardened foam, making the siege cannon's true weight entirely contained in its internal power systems and the Zohar Power Crystal.
I caught a reflection of myself in a nearby amber-colored wall. The sheer scale of the weapon, which extended out like a massive, organic artillery piece, made me look tiny. I couldn't help but think I looked ridiculous—like I was carrying an oversized, ridiculously complex prop, ready for a comic con.
Just then, a wave of data rushed into my nervous system. Simply holding the weapon initiated a psychic-biological attachment. The Harmonic Resonance Anchor integrated itself directly with my Herja Core.
The rush of information was immediate and horrifyingly intimate. I understood the weapon's true nature: it didn't just terraform by converting biomass; it reproduced. It essentially reproduced with itself via the raw energy provided by the Zohar Crystal and fired its rhizomorphic tendril offspring—biological seeds—to "cultivate into megafauna" upon deployment. It was an apocalyptic, self-replicating biological siege mechanism.
This realization—that the weapon's ultimate function was to seed the planet with its own devastating offspring—made the name "Bonekin Engine" utterly inadequate.
A wry, dark humor seized me. Given its ability to consume bio-matter and use that as fuel to reproduce with itself, and since it was technically a firearm, I mentally designated the cannon its new, more appropriate name.
I lowered the colossal weapon, a grim smile settling on my face. "I christen thee Sex Pistol," I announced, the new name echoing in the cavern. "That's what you are now. Let's see if you can give birth to a new world, or just kill an invading one."