The clock struck 9:00 PM.
Raen stood in front of a towering glass building nestled quietly in the corporate district—a sharp contrast to the decaying sidewalks and flickering signs a few blocks behind him. The kind of place that looked far too clean, far too calm, and far too out of reach for someone like him.
Yet here he was.
The automatic doors slid open as he stepped in. Polished black floors, gold-trimmed columns, and a faint ambient glow gave the interior an almost eerie elegance. Saelyn was already waiting by the reception, dressed down in a simple charcoal coat, but somehow still giving off that aura of quiet power.
"You're late," she said without looking.
"No, I'm just not early enough," Raen muttered, slipping his hands into his hoodie pockets.
She gave him a side glance and gestured toward the elevator.
[Top Floor – Private Lounge]
The elevator ride was silent. When they arrived, Raen expected another sleek, minimalistic conference room.
Instead, the doors opened to a dimly lit lounge—red velvet walls, low ceilings, a cigar-scented haze in the air.
At the far end, a man in a white silk shirt sat behind a wide desk. He looked too young for his silver-streaked hair and too amused for someone surrounded by two armed guards.
"So this is your little genius," the man said with a grin. "Doesn't look like much."
Raen stayed quiet, observing.
Saelyn stepped forward. "This is Varren Krowe, a logistics fixer. If it exists, he can get it. But there's always a price."
Varren leaned forward. "Let me guess... you need isotope cores."
Raen raised an eyebrow. "You knew?"
"Come on, kid. You've been pulling specialty-grade parts for three days straight. Someone notices.""And Saelyn's little message? She doesn't message me unless she's serious."
Varren slid a tablet across the table. A list appeared—sealed isotope cores, radiation shielding, reactor-grade tools. Raen's heart skipped.
"These are real?""As real as your Lux," Varren said, waving a hand. "But I'm not doing this for money."
"What then?"
Varren smiled.
"Favors. You build things. I might need something built in the future. One job. My terms. You don't get to ask questions."
Raen's jaw tightened. "You want me to blindly agree to something for a power core?"
"I'm giving you freedom, kid," Varren said calmly. "Power like this? It cuts your dependency to the grid. You become invisible. Untouchable. That worth a favor?"
He glanced at Saelyn, who gave a slight nod.
Raen stared at the screen, then took a breath.
"Fine. One favor. Nothing shady. You break that, I vanish."
Varren grinned and tapped the screen. "Deal."
Moments later, a secure package log popped up on VoxFrame's end—delivery scheduled in 48 hours.
Raen exhaled. "Alright… time to light this thing up."
[Later – VoxFrame Lab]
Raen returned just before midnight, walking the quiet streets with something new in his chest. A kind of heavy adrenaline, the kind that didn't wear off.
Inside his lab, he pulled up the system and ran a simulation with the now-expected isotope values.
Green light.
Everything aligned.
"Two days," he whispered, dropping into his chair. "Then we go live."
His gaze shifted to the far corner of the lab—an elevated platform with a glass box built on top.
There stood the small monument space, still empty.
"First, we finish you," he whispered, looking at the sketches for his old rig's memorial. "Then... we power the future."