evidently that was 45's brain, and a jammer Ardon built to disrupt 45's ability to control the robots. From twitter:

Quote Originally Posted by @nat1advice
I reread Fortyfive's last appearance on an archive binge recently; that's Fortyfive's "brain" and the jammer that Ardon built to disrupt his ability to command the construct army; Ardon claimed it could give him control over the robots if he could combine the two.