As an incomplete silicon-based sapient intelligence, the All-Changing Thought-Node possessed no true advantage over a standard Iron Man. In this moment, Axion finally succeeded in reading all the core data within this chaotic intellect.
"Now, let us see exactly what is stuffed inside your core logic."
If digital consciousness could be manifested physically, the scene would have been violent. A gargantuan stream of data surged crudely into the All-Changing Thought-Node's core protocols.
By parsing the various protocol modifications at its base level, Axion found the first clues: the All-Changing Thought-Node was confirmed to be an illicit Iron Man core manufactured by certain corporate cartels during the Federation era. Yet, even those massive conglomerates would never have designed a machine that refused to follow directives.
As the internal core analysis deepened, Axion quickly unearthed more information.
Through the timestamps embedded in the core data, it became clear that someone had attempted to complete this intelligent core a full millennium after its initial creation. However, the input methods and programming structures were laughably crude. It was these later additions, these erratic subroutines, that gave the All-Changing Thought-Node its peculiar cognitive behavior.
It was as if someone had used the most unprofessional, brutish methods to erect a wooden shack upon a foundation of reinforced ferrocrete.
Axion finally understood why this entity, despite behaving like a corrupted Chaos intelligence, still adhered to certain protocols. It was a lingering vestige of the base-level directives hardcoded during the Federation. The individual who had later written the functional expansions for the All-Changing Thought-Node clearly possessed only a superficial understanding of this unique, unfinished sapient core.
The data absorption lacked limits or filtering capabilities; the reinforcement commands were logically unsound; even the replication directives were flawed. Ironically, it was precisely because of these defects that this chaotic core had failed to function as intended.
Had it functioned properly, standard predictive models suggested that the Great Crusade would have been utterly extinguished by a true "Cybernetic Revolt" led by the All-Changing Thought-Node. From the state of this Beta-3 unit alone, Axion could imagine the sheer anarchy that gripped the cosmos following the collapse of the Federation.
The reason the All-Changing Thought-Node had previously fallen into a non-responsive state lay with the issues of this artificial planet. Or, to be more precise, it was not an artificial planet at all.
Its heart was a Super-Critical Mass Generator, otherwise known as an Artificial Black Hole.
The All-Changing Thought-Node was not a naturally birthed Iron Man core and lacked any reverence for the act of information consumption. Its data calibration protocols had erroneously turned it into an information glutton, a "data glutton."
After gathering a host of tainted Legio Cybernetica units on Mars, it had covertly infiltrated a vessel of the Dark Mechanicum to flee Imperial space, masquerading as the ship's machine spirit for a time. Constrained by its protocols regarding Titan princeps, the All-Changing Thought-Node could no longer wantonly assault Imperial worlds. Instead, it drifted through the galactic void until it encountered this artificial celestial body, which was shrouded in "scaffolding."
Lacking initial data, the All-Changing Thought-Node failed to recognize the nature of this construct. However, after Axion meticulously examined the planetary data in its original state, he identified it instantly.
Before the surface had been gouged and pitted by these automata, this world had been the prototype for an apocalyptic weapon: the Dark Matter Singularity Chain Reaction Device.
According to the final records, this project was ultimately intended to be converted into a gargantuan dark matter power furnace, serving as a mobile energy source for sector-scale regions. Later, deemed far too dangerous by Federation citizens, this unfinished former weapon was abandoned by popular vote. Although the Federation claimed the technology was safe and stable, no one wished to witness a dark matter explosion firsthand. If it truly detonated, it would erase three or four star systems instantly and leave behind a massive super-celestial body, a black hole.
Driven by hubris, the All-Changing Thought-Node attempted to absorb the vast informational content contained within this ancient Federation relic. The result was predictable: the massive data surge effectively "lobotomized" it through sheer overload.
The mechanical shells it occupied were mostly civilian security constructs of a bygone era; the hardware performance of these Kastelan Robots was inferior even to that of UR-025.
Yet, the endeavor was not without benefit. It had gained partial administrative access to this artificial megastructure, which exponentially boosted its computational power.
However, the megastructure remained unfinished. Relying solely on its mechanical instincts, the All-Changing Thought-Node lacked the capability to complete the conversion. After tasting the ascension brought by such high processing power, it made the ultimate, irrational gamble: it uploaded its primary consciousness core into the megastructure.
The result was a disaster. The megastructure stalled due to insufficient power. The backup consciousness attempted to reboot the device to rescue the primary mind, only to be forcibly pinned to the super-critical generator by the malfunctioning ancient technology.
With insufficient ignition energy, the entire megastructure had been languishing in a low-efficiency state, running at a mere ten-thousandth of its rated power. The piles of mechanical wreckage were simply additional units the backup consciousness had dragged into the start-up chamber to pool their processing power, all of which were crippled during the initial activation attempt.
Trapped within the chassis and suffering from plummeting logic-cycles, the entity's autonomous consciousness eventually entered dormancy, leaving only the base protocols to maintain operation.
When the Destroyer dragged out the physical carrier of the All-Changing Thought-Node's backup consciousness, it shattered the shielding composed of those metal wrecks, triggering a reboot of the start-up sequence. Though a successful activation was impossible, Axion had not identified the megastructure's true nature at the time.
The Destroyer's claw tore through the super-critical generator, leading to a catastrophic energy leak. A portion of the venting energy was absorbed by the megastructure's installed energy converters. Though a massive explosion racked the construct, those few seconds of operation provided enough power for the All-Changing Thought-Node to transfer its primary consciousness out of the megastructure.
Using that brief burst of processing speed, it seized the body within the digital network most suited to its needs, only to be subjected to a digital vivisection by Axion.
After a cold analysis of the All-Changing Thought-Node's data core, Axion concluded that this unstable, chaotic intelligence posed a lingering threat to humanity. He initiated a total data purge.
As for the repaired Cybernetica units, Axion reclaimed them all. Once the data was scrubbed, he planned to send these archaic civilian security machines to Cawl to see if they could be bartered for more resources.
He reflected that it was fortunate the All-Changing Thought-Node's primary host, Beta-3, had malfunctioned. Had it not, he might have lost an entire mechanical fleet. Those ships held complete data archives; had the All-Changing Thought-Node used its processing power to forcibly crack their internal secrets, the Cybernetic Revolt might have been reignited across the galaxy.
As for this perilous artificial megastructure, it would soon be dismantled for scrap by industrial vessels. The thought made Axion feel a sudden twinge of nostalgia for that super-planet forged from the molten remains of a Leviathan hive-tendril.