Chapter Three: The Admission Order from the Stars

Leon looked at him. "Now?" Harren's expression stiffened as if the word had struck him. He placed the badge beside the medical pod. "The Academy Committee has revoked your expulsion." "Because my synchronization rate went up?" "Because you proved the old test result cannot explain your ability." Leon said calmly, "The old test result was accurate. My synchronization rate with Federation mechs is twenty-three percent." Harren frowned. "What does that mean?" "I am not compatible with your machines." Leon looked beyond the viewport at the stars. "But Astra-X is compatible with me." The sentence silenced both officers. Ardent spoke first.