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Chapter 81 - CHAPTER 81

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In the sleek, minimalist office of Joshua Joyce, General Addison Jeff leaned forward, his eyes gleaming with a potent mixture of awe and ambition. "This bio-armor is revolutionary, Mr. Jacob," he said, his voice a low baritone. "But I need to know… I want something bigger. Something on the scale of the Cybertronians themselves. Can it be done?"

Aidan, in his persona as the eccentric scientist Snow Jacob, steepled his fingers, affecting a look of deep contemplation. "That, General… is a difficult proposition. The energy matrix of my current crystals, created using a combination of refined radioactive isotopes and Arc Reactor technology, can animate a small, controlled mass of programmable matter. But to give sentient life to something the size of a true Cybertronian… the energy requirements are logarithmic. It would require the stable output of a small star."

"So it's impossible?" General Addison asked, his face falling with unconcealed disappointment.

"With my current resources, yes," Aidan said carefully. "However…" he let the word hang in the air. "If I had access to a pre-existing, leader-class Cybertronian chassis… like the captured Decepticon, Megatron… I could study its primary power core, its energy distribution matrix. It might be possible to reverse-engineer a 'cold start' process, bypassing the need for stellar energy entirely." He had planted the seed. Now, he would let it grow.

Addison and the intelligence officer, Attinger, exchanged a look filled with silent, momentous understanding. They automatically filtered out the impossible idea of asking Optimus Prime to share his technology. That left only one option.

"These current units," Aidan continued, gesturing to the bio-armors now being put through their paces in the testing yard below, "they have been activated for some time now. They are… eager. They need to find human partners soon. Preferably individuals who are accustomed to discipline and solitude."

The General's adjutant, Captain Foley, who had been observing his tiger-armor with a proprietary pride, asked a question. "I don't seem to see any flying creatures here."

"Flight requires a much higher power-to-weight ratio," Aidan explained patiently. "That will be the next batch. But I'm limited by the amount of raw bio-metal we can harvest. Once these units have been adopted, I can begin."

After a few more pointed questions, General Addison and his entourage left, a new, audacious plan already forming in their minds. Joshua Joyce, however, his own eyes gleaming with the reflected light of future profits, followed Aidan back into the hall.

"Snow," he said, his voice a low, excited whisper. "Tell me straight. Can you really do it? Can you build me an army of giants?"

"Yes," Aidan replied with unwavering confidence. "But I need a leader-level robot to study. Their command-and-control systems record a wealth of knowledge and information."

"Okay," Joshua nodded, his mind now racing. "I'll find a way to get it for you. Whatever it takes. The success of our company, no, the future of global power, depends on it."

"Excellent," Aidan said. "But there's one more thing. I want to change the location of my primary lab."

"Change location? Where to?"

"Egypt," Aidan said simply.

"In the desert? What could you possibly want there?"

"There is a device hidden within one of the great pyramids," Aidan explained. "A very old, very powerful device. Is there any way you can get me a pyramid?"

Joshua stared at him, speechless. This kid is completely insane, he thought. But if he can deliver an army of Transformers, I'll buy him a pyramid and gift-wrap it. "Let's focus on getting you Megatron's body first," he finally said. "We'll talk about the rest later."

After returning to his private laboratory, Aidan turned his attention from the worldly to the mystical. The shooting range had been converted into his personal meditation chamber—a cavernous, anechoic room, its walls lined with lead and esoteric runes to block both technological surveillance and mystical scrying.

He stood in the center and began to chant, his gestures weaving intricate patterns in the air. A trace of silver sparks flickered, then erupted into a huge, shimmering magic circle on the ceiling. The silver lines were like flowing metal, forming a complex, three-dimensional lattice that pulsed with energy. An energy crystal floated up from his hand, settling in the center of the circle and powering it. Space isolation magic, he thought, feeling the very fabric of the room detach from normal reality. It was not as complete as the Mirror Dimension, but it was a stable, self-sustaining bubble of altered space.

After studying and further improving the magic circle for nearly half the night, he sat cross-legged on the floor. His soul left his body, his astral form soaring into the endless library of the cosmos to continue his true practice. He knew that the strange, unpredictable power of magic came from the mind, the spirit. The Ancient One's spiritual energy could span the globe and touch other dimensions. In the two years since his training began, Aidan's own magical abilities had improved dramatically. He could now do more than just copy spells; he was beginning to understand the grammar of the universe, and with that understanding, he could start to write his own sentences.

A month later, the military returned to KSI. General Addison did not come this time. Instead, the delegation was led by his adjutant, Captain Foley, and the politician, Attinger. Aidan, accompanied by his assistant Birel Sheila, met them on a vast, green lawn on the KSI campus. Behind them, a group of his mechanical creatures jumped and played.

Lined up on the lawn was a column of elite soldiers, men and women, standing at perfect attention.

"Hello," Captain Foley said, stepping forward to shake Aidan's hand. "We have brought the candidates for adoption today."

"Have you explained the situation to them?" Aidan asked.

"In detail," the adjutant confirmed. "They are all volunteers. And they all have a preference for working with animal partners."

"Well then," Aidan smiled. "I wish you good luck." He turned to the bio-mechanical creatures behind him and shouted with a theatrical flair, "Alright, guys! Your new symbionts are here! See if any of you like what you see!" He couldn't help but feel like a pimp at a very weird, very advanced pet store.

"Woof! Meow! Roar!" The sounds of various animals echoed across the lawn as the creatures rushed towards the line of soldiers. It was organized chaos. A mechanical hound sniffed a soldier's hand before nuzzling affectionately against his leg. A sleek, black cat-armor leaped onto the shoulder of a female spec-ops soldier and began to purr, the sound a low, mechanical thrum.

"Aren't you going over, Amy?" Aidan asked, noticing that his red leopard hadn't moved.

"No," her sultry voice replied directly in his mind through their neural link. "I think it is good to be by your side." Her leopard head shook.

"Okay," he said, stroking her metallic fur. "I hope you won't get bored in the future." He didn't mind. Amy was special. She had been the first test product, created directly from the energy of the AllSpark. Her loyalty was to him, her creator.

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