Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 518 Prototype of the Psionic Knight

“Very good.” Chen Xi nodded slightly, turning his gaze to Kaur with a hint of inquiry. “What about the applicability assessment of the technology? Can its core principles be safely transferred to a smaller platform? For example, the Knight Mech?” He emphasized the word “safety”, his voice echoing faintly in the vast space before being swallowed up by the ubiquitous mechanical hum.

This is exactly the question Kaul was waiting for!
His metal joints emitted a slight hydraulic hiss, and several mechanical tentacles sprang up excitedly as if injected with high-pressure energy, pointing precisely to an area on the side of the laboratory that was tightly isolated by a high-intensity energy field.

The pale purple force field barrier emitted a low hum, and the air was filled with the acrid smell of ionization.

Inside the quarantine zone, a standard Imperial Knight mech was held firmly to the reinforced experimental frame by heavy adamantium restraints, like a suffering colossus.

Its cockpit area was violently dissected, exposing a complex network of wires that stretched out like dissected nerve bundles, flickering with unstable electrical sparks, connecting to a crudely made prototype of a psionic restraint unit—the metal cage-like structure inside which flickered with an extremely unstable, eerie blue light that seemed ready to explode at any moment—and a prototype device replicating the Ciricrux Anima core, being tuned by multiple precision robotic arms.

The Knight's originally solemn armor surface was etched with crude, crooked rune lines that attempted to imitate the divine prototype of the Titans. Under the force field light, it appeared particularly fragile and full of a blasphemous sense of technological overreach.

"The 'Psionic Knight' prototype, Your Excellency!" Caul's synthesized voice suddenly rose, drowning out some of the background noise, filled with enthusiasm due to the possibility of a technological breakthrough. "Miniaturize and adapt the Ciricrux Anima technology for the Knight platform! Imagine an Imperial Knight that can controllably release psionic power! This will be a revolutionary weapon against powerful enemies!"
We strongly recommend that the next phase of preliminary psionic circuit activation and psionic compatibility and safety testing be conducted as soon as possible! Theoretical deductions need practical data to verify and refine them!

Several servo skulls responsible for monitoring the prototype seemed to be affected by his emotions, and the scanning beams quickened their pace.

Chen Xi frowned deeply, his gaze fixed on the modified knight and the empty, unsettling psionic restraint unit next to it, as if drawn by a magnet.

The cold metal surfaces inside the unit reflected a ghostly light, as if silently awaiting their victims.

A sense of risk, heavy as cold engine oil, filled his chest.

The psionic titan is a walking, unstable source of warp energy, its power is violent and untamed, and even getting close to it can create a sense of oppression on a soul level.

How can we transfer its technology to the Knight Mech, which is far inferior in terms of structural strength, energy carrying capacity, and machine soul stability?
Around them, low-ranking technical priests climbed like worker ants on the metal scaffolding surrounding the Titan and the prototype, or chanted monotonous binary prayers in front of oil-stained data terminals.

Their red robes looked like congealed blood in the dim light, their mechanical eyes gleaming with either awe or anxiety, carefully recording every faint energy pulse of the Titan runes, their occasional glances toward the prototype a mixture of thirst for forbidden knowledge and a hint of instinctive fear.

Metal particles suspended in the air danced like tiny stars under the scanning beam.

“Safety, Great Sage Kaul.” Chen Xi’s voice was deep and serious, with a metallic, cold quality. His gaze was sharp as a blade, seemingly able to pierce through thick armor. “This is my biggest concern. Psionic backlash, uncontrolled subspace rifts, energy core overload and explosion, even the Knight’s Soul’s own violent rejection of this foreign force… Any one of these out of control would have unimaginable consequences.”

"What energy dissipation threshold can your safety redundancy measures withstand? What is the response time of the emergency shut-off device in nanoseconds? Is the machine soul compatibility protocol sufficiently robust?" "We have designed a multi-redundant psionic suppression rune array and a physical emergency shut-off gate!" Caul pulled up a complex 3D design diagram, and a holographic image instantly unfolded in the air. Dense data streams rolled around it like a waterfall, attempting to build a persuasive barrier with a massive amount of technical details. "The initial plan is to use only the lowest-rated, relatively controllable Delta-level psionics for shallow link testing!"
Regarding the compatibility issues with the Machine Soul, we are attempting to logically couple some stable circuits with its core consciousness, supplemented by a standardized Machine Soul appeasement protocol…”

One of his mechanical tentacles unconsciously tapped the edge of the suspended data panel, making a rapid clicking sound.

At this moment, Sage Aurejana stepped forward, the hem of her red robe brushing against the condensed metal floor, producing a faint scraping sound.

Her electronic voice was clear and calm, like the hum of a precision instrument, carrying the candor of a friend and a pragmatic assessment of the technology: "Chen Xi, based on the existing model and the limits of material performance, even with the lowest power settings and a Delta-level psionicist for testing, the risk of the system going out of control is extremely high."

Attempting to achieve the practical power required on the battlefield is almost certain to fail.

The core bottleneck lies in two points: First, existing materials cannot replicate the near-law-like energy binding stability of the Titan armor—the materials themselves may contain dark technologies that we cannot decipher.

Secondly, there is a fundamental and deep conflict between the soul energy of the psionicist and the will of the knight's machine spirit, which is currently irreconcilable.

The technology is far from mature, and forcing testing would bring unacceptable and enormous risks, enough to destroy this quarantine zone and even affect the core Titan.

She looked at Chen Xi, the light in her optical lenses steady and profound, expressing her dual stance as a project participant and Chen Xi's friend.

Chen Xi silently watched the Knight prototype, which was flashing a dangerous, pulsating blue light in the isolation area.

It was like a warrior forcibly grafted with alien organs, appearing exceptionally small and unstable under the silent gaze of the massive psionic titan.

The Titan's massive body cast a heavy shadow, and the deep, constant blue light of its runic array seemed to silently mock the morbid, flickering glow of the crude replica on the prototype.

Aurejana's cold and precise assessment was like a bucket of liquid nitrogen poured onto Caul's scorching theoretical deductions. The iceberg of technical bottlenecks appeared even larger and harder in contrast to the two people's drastically different attitudes.

Kaur's arguments cannot conceal the enormous risks involved.

He needs power, but not at the cost of creating an unstable subspace bomb that detonates at the core of his own forged world.

(End of this chapter)