Hyperion's fusion gain, Q = 3.424, is computed from a power balance at the machine's own operating point — not extrapolated from a scaling law anchored to somebody else's reactor. That distinction is the single most protective statement in the whole design record.
Fusion concepts routinely quote a gain by taking a demonstrated machine's Q and rescaling it by a power law in size. That procedure hides the anchor: change the reference machine and the number moves. Hyperion instead solves its own coupled power balance, so the gain is a property of this plasma at this operating point.
A gain that is solved can be reproduced from the deposited inputs; a gain that is scaled can only be trusted. The Kronos record even preserves the earlier scaled figure it withdrew, so anyone can see exactly which class of error the freeze on 'solved, not scaled' was written to prevent.
| Design gain Q | 3.424 (power-balance solve) |
| Method | coupled balance at the operating point |
| Not | a size-scaled extrapolation |
| Basis | declared ash f_He4 = 0.05 (Z_eff 1.158) |
| Record | withdrawn scaled value kept, labeled |