86: Chapter 86: The Queen deciphered the triple defense array, then sat down at the console to start doing her homework.

The first layer of the psionic matrix collapsed the moment the Brood Queen finished decoding it. The Old Ones Mimic Warriors, who were locked in combat with Sebastian and the Aeldari Ghost squad, froze simultaneously. Their living psionic shells shattered layer by layer from the inside out, exploding into a sky full of cold green light motes, which were reabsorbed by the hexagonal resonance chambers on the surface of the Origin Facility. Sebastian leaned his Power Sword against the ground, panting as he watched the remains of the last Mimic Sebastian dissolve into harmless light dust before him. He said over the comms channel that if the Brood Queen hadn't finished decoding, his power armor would have been wrecked by his own double.

"Decoding of the second layer, the Quantum State Encryption Chains, is complete." The Blackstone Cerebrate injected the final set of runes from its forehead plate into the console. The cold green runic chains entwined around the Living Psionic Network's living neural network loosened layer by layer. All reverse-decoded encryption layers in the coalition's shared database finished their self-checks in an instant. Canoptek-7 confirmed the decoding results via remote link, noting that the mathematical structure of the Old Ones' quantum encryption sequences and the Necron Dynasty's quantum resonance protocols could be traced back to the same source. These chains were less an attack on the coalition network and more a verification of whether the coalition possessed Necron quantum technology—it was another qualification check, and the Necron Living Metal Regeneration Protocol integrated into the coalition's Joint Military Project had already provided the answer.

Now only the third matrix remained—a prototype fragment of the Living Psionic Network released from the ancient seals. It was still slowly reconstructing itself above the console, cold green light patterns flickering between incomplete gene coding layers and Old Ones engineering blueprints. Each reconstruction approached a critical point before reverting to its initial state due to the lack of a complete living neural network substrate. The Brood Queen crouched before the console, the Blackstone Resonance Chamber on her adamantium-chitin carapace filtering out all external interference, while the cold green Photonic Crown pulsed steadily along the ridges of her shell. She swiped the translator with her forelimbs to inform the War Council: the core coding of this Living Psionic Network Prototype was highly homologous with the Zerg Swarm's Hive Mind. At the end of the War in Heaven, the Old Ones had attempted to use Cohesive Psionics to weave a living neural network capable of covering the Galaxy, but they lacked a stable enough collective consciousness core to serve as the network's substrate. The Swarm's Hive Mind happened to fill this gap.

On the bridge of the Wrath of the Emperor, Marcus Aurelian stared at the cold green network skeleton taking shape in the console projection. He keyed the War Council's all-hands channel: "Brood Queen, you are now fully responsible for the final engineering interface of the Living Psionic Network. All members of the Psionic Void Network Technical Committee will assist with your gene coding translation. The Iyanden Farseer will handle the synchronous calibration of the Web of Prophecy, and Canoptek-7 will handle quantum protocol compatibility verification. Bern, have the Grey Knights squad establish a Holy Power protection circle around the Brood Queen. No external interference is allowed near her during the engineering interface."

Heinrich sent scanning data from orbit. The Origin Facility's energy core began emitting regular cold green pulses after the Brood Queen started the interface, perfectly synchronized with the frequency of the Old Ones' seals at the base of the Talastra Void Gate. He warned that the facility's deep interior was still triggering a large number of Old Ones protocol signals and advised the Technical Committee to monitor them closely.

The Brood Queen translated the fragmented gene coding of the Living Psionic Network Prototype into The Swarm's Gene Devourer Template segment by segment. Simultaneously, the Blackstone Cerebrate injected the Living Metal Self-Repair Algorithm, extracted from the Necron Dynasty's quantum resonance protocols, into the quantum state encryption layer of the network skeleton. The Iyanden Farseer used her Wraithbone Staff to draw an ancient symbol above the console corresponding to this network in the Web of Prophecy—a canopy-like network topology woven from cold green light patterns and ethereal blue prophetic gold threads, which the Aeldari called the "Shade of the Old Ones." In ancient Aeldari legends, this was the psionic network the Old Ones intended to use to connect all sentient species in the Galaxy, but it was never completed. The Brood Queen stared at the topology map, and after a moment of silence, responded through the translator: "Building it now."

The final stage of the engineering interface was quieter than the coalition had estimated. There were no explosions, no desperate counterattacks from defense arrays; only hundreds of millions of cold green light patterns spreading outward from the console. The Living Psionic Network Prototype was reconstructed segment by segment under the Brood Queen's gene coding completion and the Blackstone Cerebrate's quantum protocol reinforcement. The formed light skeleton began to automatically interface with the existing nodes of the Psionic Void Network. The moment the interface was complete, the Void Shield coordinators of every Brood Queen, every Blackstone Cerebrate, and every coalition ship shimmered with a faint green pattern. The Living Psionic Network's living neural network and the Old Ones' Living Psionic Network Prototype successfully synchronized. The project was complete.

The self-destruct countdown at the Void Throat Defense Command terminated automatically at the same moment the synchronization succeeded. Canoptek-7 reported that the Old Ones Evaluation Protocol's countdown had reached zero, and the self-destruct protocols were rescinded across all coalition tactical interfaces. The Iyanden Farseer lightly touched the console with her Wraithbone Staff. All prophetic fragments concerning the Origin Facility in the Web of Prophecy closed simultaneously, leaving only the "Shade of the Old Ones" topology map glowing with a blend of ethereal blue and cold green light in the coalition's shared database.

The Brood Queen slowly rose from the console, took off the Photonic Crown, and placed it squarely in the center of the console. She then announced over the War Council channel that the final interface of the Living Psionic Network was complete. Her homework was finished. Marcus leaned against the command station, closed his data slate, and said that this was the answer to the Old Ones' final exam, and the coalition had passed. Heinrich sent a message from orbit: "Witnessed by the Shield of the Emperor." Bern gently rested his Holy Hammer on the floor of the Origin Facility, the silver Holy Power fluorescence blending quietly with the cold green network patterns beneath his feet. He whispered that the Old Ones' exam was over, and the coalition wasn't late.