Merlin stared at the blade. The pulse inside it was faint, but rhythmic, like a heartbeat.
"You weaponized it," he said quietly.
Regina didn't flinch. "We harnessed it. For the first time, the cube's energy can be directed through an external medium without immediate decay. It adapts. Learns."
"Learns?"
She met his gaze. "The energy seems to respond to intent. It modifies its flow pattern depending on who wields it. It's not technology, Mr. Everhart. It's something closer to… symbiosis."
He looked at Kael. "You want me to test it."
Kael smiled faintly. "You're perceptive."
"I'm also not suicidal."
The older man chuckled. "If it were unstable, Hale wouldn't be standing this close to it. Consider this—" he gestured at the weapon, "—a gesture. You invested early. You believed when no one else did. It's only fair we show you what that belief purchased."
Merlin's eyes flicked to the blade again. That pulse… it was calling to him. Not subtly, not metaphorically, literally.
