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Chapter 4 - Blueprints

Rael barely slept.

By sunrise, his hands were already deep in the drone's salvaged parts, spread out across a steel table inside the far wing of the hydro plant. Sparks leaped from his soldering tool as he cracked open one of the alien signal processors.

Avery stood beside him, her eyes heavy with fatigue but her fingers steady as she cleaned fragments and charted wiring patterns on her holoscreen. The system had given her limited access to technical overlays since she'd been synced to Rael's workshop network—though not the core interface.

"You're bleeding," she noted casually.

Rael looked down. A thin cut ran along the back of his hand, where a sharp metal edge had caught him. Blood welled up, vivid against the synthetic polymer smeared across his skin.

"I'll heal," he muttered, wiping it off with a cloth. "We don't have time for first aid."

Avery rolled her eyes but didn't push. She understood now. The countdown was real. The drone had proven it.

And so did the message that Rael had decrypted from the drone's memory matrix: a fragmented ping to a Varkel relay node somewhere near Mars' orbit.

"They'll be back," she said quietly.

Rael nodded. "Not 'if.' Just 'when.'"

He pulled up the workshop schematics in his vision.

[Base Construction: 38% Complete] [Defense Module: Uninstalled – Awaiting Foundation Integration] [New Construction Option Unlocked: Hidden Drone Bay – Tier 0.5]

"Let's upgrade the defenses," Rael said.

"I'll start drawing power from the turbines," Avery replied. "We'll need to rewire the magnetic coils, but I can improvise a regulator."

He smiled faintly. "I knew I picked the right engineer."

For the next 12 hours, they worked like machines. Between them, they connected the scavenged drone tech into the base's defense logic grid. The Varkel quantum casing provided advanced signal shielding, and the processor core—though too complex to replicate—offered insight into predictive targeting algorithms.

Rael rewrote the auto-turret code to integrate those subroutines.

And by dusk, the facility wasn't just a ruined hydro plant anymore.

It was fortified.

Avery ran diagnostics on the energy capacitors while Rael closed the final access port on the drone bay doors, now disguised under moss and leaves near the northern slope.

[Hidden Drone Bay Installed – Operational Range: 500m. Capacity: 2 Recon Units.] [Skill Gained: Tactical Infrastructure Lv.1]

Rael stretched, his back popping.

But before he could sit down, a warning blinked in red across his vision.

[System Alert: Unauthorized Lifeform Detected – Human Signature. Distance: 260 meters. Approaching Fast.]

He tensed.

Avery looked up. "What is it?"

"We've got a visitor."

They moved quickly. Rael activated the exterior perimeter camera, now patched into his interface via a crude satellite relay. The video feed showed a figure in dark gear, sprinting through the trees.

Not Varkel.

Human.

[Subject Identified: JAXON STRYDE. Former Black Echo Operative. Timeline Match: Confirmed.]

[Status: Unknown Reset Candidate. AI Sync Detected.]

Rael's eyes narrowed.

Avery frowned. "You know him?"

"I did," Rael said. "In the future. He was one of us. A Resetter."

The man moved with soldier-like precision, pausing behind trees, scanning the horizon. He wore no insignia but held a rifle Rael recognized from Earth's last stand—one that shouldn't exist in this year.

"He's from the future?" Avery asked, her voice low.

Rael nodded. "Or another future."

They moved to intercept.

They met him in the clearing—Rael out in the open, Avery hidden behind a tree with the signal jammer.

The man stopped twenty paces away.

"You're a hard man to find, Kessler," he said.

Rael raised an eyebrow. "Only if you're hunting. Are you?"

"Depends," Jaxon replied. "You've got something I want."

"And what's that?"

Jaxon stepped forward, lowering his weapon slightly. "The system. You're synced. I saw the flash on the Harbinger's report. You're not the only one who got pulled back."

Rael's jaw tightened. "How many?"

"Dozens. Maybe more. Different branches, different missions. Some work for Earth. Some don't."

"Which are you?"

Jaxon smiled without humor. "Still deciding."

[Optional Mission: Determine Allegiance of Jaxon Stryde. Success Reward: +150 EXP | Tactical Partnership Available. Failure: Hostile Encounter Triggered.]

Rael made a decision. "Then let's talk inside. You'll want to see what we've built."

Jaxon hesitated.

Then nodded.

Inside the facility, Jaxon moved through the half-lit corridors with wary eyes, studying the panels, the makeshift security grid, and the alien fragments mounted for analysis.

"Impressive," he admitted. "You're ahead of schedule."

"We have to be," Rael said. "They're watching."

Avery handed Jaxon a tablet. "This is telemetry from the Varkel scout. Came two days early."

Jaxon scrolled, eyes narrowing. "You're right. This is escalation protocol. The swarm will follow."

He looked up. "We need to unify the resets. There are groups working independently. Some think we should prep humanity in secret. Others... want to hijack Earth's governments."

Rael folded his arms. "And you?"

"I think if we don't lead, someone worse will."

[Decision Point: Accept Jaxon's Alliance?]

Rael said nothing for a long time.

Then: "You'll follow my lead. No coups. No blood unless necessary."

Jaxon nodded slowly. "You've changed since the old timeline."

Rael smiled. "Good."

[Mission Success: Alliance Established – Jaxon Stryde.] [Skill Unlocked: Command Network Lv.1]

[New Objective: Locate Other Resetters – Global Net Access Required.]

The war hadn't started yet. But the army was forming.

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