The echo of Saelyn's footsteps faded as the reinforced door hissed shut behind her, leaving Raen alone once again with the quiet hum of VoxFrame.
For a moment, the silence settled heavily.
Then he turned, clapping his hands once.
"Alright, partner," he muttered to the lab, "let's build a power source worthy of you."
The command console illuminated. VoxFrame recognized the tone, the patterns of intent behind the voice, and began pulling up everything Raen had stored—schematics, simulations, theoretical models. The display shifted and shimmered as layers of his miniature nuclear reactor came into full focus.
[Time: 03:07 AM – VoxFrame Core Workspace]
Blueprints flickered, showing parts Raen already had and highlighting what was missing. Advanced thermoelectric converters, neutron reflectors, micro-scale shielding arrays—all difficult to source, some legally impossible.
He'd need to bend the rules. Not break them. Just… bend them hard enough to reshape.
"Alright," he muttered, "mechanical mastery time."
Activating his skill, a rush of systems-based understanding surged through his brain. Every bolt, every flux control coil, every equation felt like second nature now. The theoretical became physical—mental blueprints turning tactile in his imagination.
He moved to a worktable, where parts already delivered from his recent bulk orders sat idle.
His fingers twitched with the memory of the specs, the design imprinted in his mind. The reactor chamber casing—that was first.
With precision and care, he began assembling the housing. The mechanical arms from VoxFrame's ceiling came alive, lowering tools and parts at his command. Every movement was seamless, as if the lab itself were an extension of his body.
[Later That Morning]
Raen wiped sweat from his brow as the sun pierced through the high warehouse windows. Half the reactor casing sat before him, polished like obsidian, surrounded by parts still waiting their turn.
He hadn't even noticed the time pass.
VoxFrame pulsed softly above, screens around him adjusting to daylight mode.
Raen stood back, arms crossed.
"Three days," he whispered. "I can finish the frame in three days. The hard part… is getting the fuel."
He checked the list again. One item blinked in red: a rare isotope core needed to begin even basic power cycling. Saelyn's network might help, but he had no guarantee she could source something so tightly regulated.
"I need to think ahead," he said aloud. "Just in case."
He opened a side project log. If the reactor didn't pan out immediately, he needed an alternate plan to reduce the lab's power consumption. High-efficiency routing systems, software-driven load balancing, even kinetic converters built into the lab floor.
VoxFrame adapted the plan on the fly, showing him the energy flow of the current layout. Not perfect. But adaptable.
[Ping – Notification Received]
A soft tone brought his eyes to the corner screen.
Sender: Saelyn VireMessage:"I have someone who might help with acquisition. Might cost you a favor. Meet me at 9 PM."
Raen groaned and cracked his neck. "A favor. Great."
Still, his lips curled upward. The idea of having to owe someone wasn't appealing—but it was worth it. Especially when every second counted in shaping the lab of his vision.
He looked back at the half-complete miniature reactor and felt a strange sense of pride building.
"You'll be alive soon," he said, patting the metal gently. "And when you are... we're never depending on anyone again."