Mira, his AI co-pilot, sounded strained. "CPU is cold. GPU is bored. But we have a problem. The PCIe switch is redlining. Lane 7 is saturated. Lane 3 is throwing correctable errors."

He had one trick. A dirty one. He pulled a laser scalpel from his toolbelt.

Kaelen closed the rack and leaned against the concrete wall, sweating. The pay was good. But the real reward was the quiet hum of the PCIe switch, now running at a perfect, balanced cadence. For ten more minutes, the path between the brain and the soul was wide enough.