Inside the safe house, the tense standoff had given way to focused activity. Lin Ye placed the two spoils he had "claimed as compensation" from the Shi'ar and Kree envoys on the main workbench: an intricately constructed biological psychic chip glowing faintly blue, and a mechanical arm connected to a miniature storage unit and a peculiar energy emitter.
"Well, well, well! A Shi'ar Empire Mindlink VII psychic core chip-the latest model! Supposedly, it connects directly to the secondary network of their Imperial Knowledge Repository! And a Kree Neural Lock memory unit and Stasis Pulse emitter arm! Standard issue for their special forces! These are real beauties!" Rocket Raccoon's eyes gleamed greedily as he rubbed his paws together, as though he had found priceless treasures.
"Careful, Rocket," Gamora warned. "Shi'ar and Kree technology both come with powerful defenses and countermeasures. Forcing your way in could trigger self-destruction, or even let them trace us back."
"Relax! When it comes to cracking systems and taking things apart, I practically invented it!" Brimming with confidence, Rocket immediately brought out his assortment of tools. They looked cobbled together from scrap metal but were remarkably capable. He began carefully stripping away the chip's outer protective layer.
Dr. Banner's hologram appeared above the workbench as well, his voice carrying a scientist's precision and excitement. "Shi'ar psychic technology focuses on integrating biological neural networks with information streams. Cracking it requires simulating specific brainwave frequencies and access credentials. Kree mechanical encryption is more straightforward, but its physical locks and energy authentication are extremely complicated. We need to work simultaneously and cross-check our results. Quill, connect me to the ship's main computing array. I need all the processing power it can provide."
"Roger that! Help yourself, Banner! This ship's got some serious processing power now!" Star-Lord immediately went to work