She turned from the blueprint to face me. Her copper hair caught the forge light and her green eyes held none of the playful flirtation from earlier. This was the real Yumi. The one who lived inside equations and alloy compositions and the gap between theoretical models and physical reality.
"When you hold it for the first time, the graft will recognize the Phase Edge as an extension of itself. The resonance coupling will happen automatically. And when you channel your abilities through it, the weapon will amplify them by a factor I cannot predict because the variable that determines amplification strength is how many people in this world are willing to die for you."
She held up a finger. "Not fight for you. Not care about you. Die for you. The distinction matters because the dimensional field responds to the threshold of sacrifice, not the threshold of affection."
"That's..." I didn't finish the sentence because I didn't have a word for what it was.
