She leaned closer, her face dangerously near Karl's. "Do you have ANY idea how much work I have to do just to make this… remotely useful?"
Karl's lips twitched. "I didn't… mean…"
"I know you didn't!" she interrupted sharply, then her tone softened ever so slightly, leaning into her teasing-seductiveness. "But you really are the world's most selfish genius, aren't you? You think: oh, I'll survive the ichor, I'll get the scraps, I'll save the day later. Meanwhile, I have to fix your mistakes while worrying you might collapse into a pile of blood and nanites at any second."
Her avatar drifted closer to the cockpit console, hands hovering over the projections. "Do you even know what I can do with these?" she said, voice dropping to a low, sultry whisper, the teasing edge returning. "I could actually make something… incredible. Something that'll work perfectly, fly beautifully, and maybe, just maybe, make you look like the genius you think you are."
Karl coughed weakly, feeling both guilt and awe. "I… didn't know you could—"
Agnes smirked, cutting him off. "Of course I can. But you? You give me scraps. You put your life on the line for scraps. I swear, if you ever try this again, I'll make sure you eat your own blueprints."
She let the words linger, voice still teasing, fingers brushing over the holographic models as if caressing them, almost seductive in the way she manipulated the projections. "You see this?" she said, pointing to a half-finished fighter drone frame. "This… thing could have flown like a pigeon with one wing tied behind its back. But you wanted to scavenge it. Fine. I'll make it work. I'll turn your useless doodles into something… worthwhile."
Karl's lips quivered, half from fatigue, half from the subtle mix of amusement and exasperation her tone always managed to provoke in him.
Agnes let out a frustrated huff, shaking her head. "Honestly… you're impossible. But you're mine. And since I can't let your precious scraps go to waste…" She paused, letting the seductive edge sharpen again. "I'll make something spectacular out of your garbage. Just… try not to die again while I do it."
Karl couldn't help but manage a weak chuckle, despite the pain still coursing through his body. "You… really don't forgive easily."
Agnes leaned in closer, voice dropping lower, teasing and intimate: "Forgive? Oh, I forgive. But I don't forget. And you, foolish genius, owe me a lot of patience while I clean up your mess."
Karl groaned, half in pain, half in helpless amusement. "I guess I'll… just have to… watch, then."
She smirked, returning to the projections, her tail flicking dangerously behind her. "Watch closely, battery boy. You might actually learn something from your own mistakes."
And with that, her fingers danced across the holograms, wires and schematics twisting and linking together in ways only her precise nanite manipulation could manage. The fighter drone slowly began to take shape, glowing faintly with azure lines and pulsing nanites, a testament to both Karl's stubbornness and Agnes' skill.
But even as the drone's outline solidified, Agnes kept her eyes on Karl, sharp, teasing, and full of quiet fury. "Next time… you better bring something useful."
Karl could only nod weakly, knowing full well that Agnes' teasing, seductive scolds were a punishment and a lesson rolled into one. And somehow… it hurt him more than the ichor ever could.
Karl lay strapped in the cockpit, still unable to move. The nanite cuffs Agnes placed over his wrists and ankles held him firmly, tightening whenever he even thought about shifting.
She stood in front of the hovering projections, expression tight, voice low and sharp.
"Unbelievable," she muttered as she deconstructed the scrapped fighter drone. "You nearly died… and you brought me this."
Karl swallowed, trying not to agitate the restraints. "I—"
"Don't."
That one word cut like a scalpel.
She wasn't yelling — she didn't need to.
This was disappointment sharpened into steel.
Agnes flicked her hand, and the fighter drone's internal blades floated into view. They were cracked, mismatched, some warped beyond proper use.
"These were the ONLY useful parts in that entire facility," she said flatly. "And even these are half-destroyed. Do you know how much work this is going to take?"
Karl stayed silent.
"Good. Because you're going to sit there and listen while I fix your mistake."
Reworking the Cores
Agnes sliced apart the broken drone blades, pulling out their fragmented cores. Every piece hovered in a rotating pattern, glowing faintly as she reconstructed them like a surgeon rebuilding a shattered organ.
"You see these?" she said, voice trembling with restrained emotion.
"These weren't meant for purification. They weren't meant for life support. They weren't meant for anything you needed."
She fused two cores together, sparks of royal azure jumping between them.
"And yet here I am… turning them into something that will stop you from killing yourself the next time you decide pain is optional."
Karl flinched slightly. Agnes noticed — but she didn't soften.
"This isn't devotion," she said coldly. "This is me preventing you from making another suicidal decision."
Designing the Back‑Mounted System
Blueprints snapped into place.
A circular frame.
Four blade housings.
A reinforced spinal tract.
Agnes' tone was ice and fire at the same time.
Focused.
Hurt.
Angry.
Working faster than any human engineer could dream of.
She pointed at the design.
"These will mount directly into your Drive Regulator. When contamination reaches a threshold, I deploy them automatically. You don't get a vote."
Karl tried again, gently. "…Agnes—"
"No," she snapped. "You used that human-state loophole once. Never again. You are not slipping away from me like that."
She deepened the cuts along the 3D spinal model.
"Your back opens here… here… here… and here."
Four precise slits aligned with the spine.
"From these, the dorsal blade spines deploy."
Her expression hardened.
"And before you complain—yes, it will hurt the first time."
Karl winced.
"Good. Maybe you'll remember it."
Activation Mechanisms
She displayed the detection parameters:
Ichor density
Particle mutation rate
Corruption spread
Spore turbulence
Blood contamination timers
Agnes stated the deployment phrase with absolute finality:
"Karl — contamination detected. Purifier deploying."
Her voice in that moment sounded like a warning and a promise.
Blade Deployment Sequence
She animated the mechanism for him:
1. Spinal slits open.
2. Blades rise from compact housing.
3. They fold outward like turbine petals.
4. Spin begins — slow → fast → Erevos-tier rotation.
The sound filled the cockpit simulation:
wind shear
nanite resonance
mechanical hum building like a storm engine
Agnes crossed her arms, still irritated.
"You like wings, right? Too bad. These aren't wings. They're functional."
Karl blinked. "…They look amazing."
"Don't flatter me," she shot back. "I'm still mad at you."
Purification Abilities
Agnes narrated the functions without looking at him:
"Airborne ichor: broken down into neutral dust."
"Bloodstream contamination: isolated and eliminated."
"Structural stability: reinforced for corrupted zones."
"Directional propulsion: optional, and no, you're not allowed to abuse it."
Karl hesitated. "Agnes… this is incredible."
She froze.
Just for a second.
Then she turned away.
"It should have been better. If you brought back the right blueprints, I could have built something twice this efficient."
She clenched her fists.
"You scared me, Karl."
Her voice trembled—not seductively, not teasing. Real hurt.
"You scared me more than anything else ever has."
Karl's breath caught. "Agnes… I'm—"
"You're not forgiven. Not yet."
She resumed assembling the turbine, her movements tight and controlled.
"But I'm finishing this. Because next time you walk into a contaminated zone, I'm not letting you fall apart in front of me again."
A beat passed.
Her voice softened just slightly.
"…And don't ever untransform to avoid me again."