A thunderstorm rolled across the horizon.
Rael stood on the base's watch deck as lightning danced between dark clouds, the wind rushing like whispers of timelines lost. Below, the hydro plant glowed with new life—solar panels on its cracked roof, reinforced entrance gates, upgraded ventilation systems. It had taken weeks in the old timeline to do what he and Avery accomplished in five days.
And now, they had an ally.
Jaxon Stryde.
He was still unpredictable. His silence carried ghosts. But his skills in infiltration, command, and guerilla tech were undeniable. While Avery fine-tuned internal systems, Rael had tasked Jaxon with his first mission:
Accessing the global network.
To find others like them—other Resetters.
Three Days Later – Inside New Albion's Digital Backbone
A skyscraper downtown held the city's central ISP hub. Jaxon had gone in under the cover of a maintenance contractor, with forged credentials, a hacked retina tag, and a stolen wristpass. His neural interface synced with Rael's system node.
[Covert Protocol Engaged – Ghostwalk Access Active]
[Infiltrating Data Nodes: Progress 28%... 67%... 99%... COMPLETE]
[Target Identified: ReSync Network Beacon - 14 Signals Detected Across Global Grid]
Jaxon blinked twice, activating his retinal UI.
A map flickered across his vision. Dots blinked in multiple zones—Tokyo, Berlin, Nairobi, Mexico City, San Francisco. Two of them pulsed in red: classified as "Hostile Conversions."
[Priority Targets Acquired. Uploading to Rael's Core Network. Auto-Ping Enabled. Quantum Channel Rebooting...]
Back at the hydro base, Rael's HUD erupted with alerts.
[RESETTERS DETECTED: 14]
[STATUS: 9 Potential Allies | 2 Hostile | 3 Unverified]
[AUTO-MISSION GENERATED: Secure First Contact – Location: Kyoto, Japan | Target: Resetter #03 – Codename: "Hina"]
Rael turned to Avery. "Pack up the drone kit. We're going to Japan."
She blinked. "Now?"
He nodded. "We're not the only ones trying to save Earth. But some of them might try to control it instead. We need allies. Real ones."
Day 6 – Kyoto, Japan
The city lights shimmered under soft rain as the team—Rael, Avery, and Jaxon—landed via covert charter. They checked into an old ryokan under false identities and synced their equipment. While Avery patched into the local grid, Jaxon scouted routes.
Rael studied the system overlay.
[Target: Resetter HINA YUKIMURA]
[Former Occupation: Quantum Robotics Researcher – Osaka Institute]
[Timeline Anomaly: 3 Weeks Post-Reset]
[Behavioral Pattern: Isolated | Paranoid | Possibly Armed]
"She's been active," Rael muttered. "Three weeks ahead of us. She may not trust anyone."
"Or," Jaxon added, "she's already been approached by someone who tried to kill her."
That night, they made their move.
Hina Yukimura lived in a high-rise on the edge of the Kyoto metro zone. With Avery running a false power surge to trigger the building's fire alert, they entered during evacuation.
Rael reached the 18th floor first.
Her apartment door had triple-locks, biometric pad, and a custom AI firewall.
He smiled. "She's definitely one of us."
[Bypassing Lock… Accessing Firewall Signature… Confirmed: Resetter Class ALPHA-LINKED]
[Identity Request Initiated]
Before Rael could respond, a voice cut through the silence.
"Step back, or I melt your bones."
Rael froze.
At the end of the hallway stood Hina. Short black hair, augmented visor, plasma emitter braced to her left wrist. Her stance was pure combat-readiness.
"You're synced," she said.
"So are you," Rael answered.
"I don't trust you."
Rael lifted both hands. "You shouldn't. But we're not enemies. And we don't have time to fight over trust."
Behind him, Jaxon emerged from the shadows. "Let's not test whose timeline burns faster."
Hina's visor flickered.
She hesitated.
Then lowered her weapon.
Inside her lab-studio hybrid, holograms of strange tech hovered midair. There were half-completed android shells, spatial distortion modules, and quantum anchors.
"You've been busy," Avery said, impressed.
Hina raised an eyebrow. "So have you. That hydro base is impressive. You even caught a Harbinger."
Rael leaned forward. "We need a network. A real one. Not just pings and interference. We need coordinated command. And we need it soon."
Hina sighed. "You think the others will join?"
Rael's tone dropped. "Not all. Two of them are already flagged as hostile."
She turned to her console.
[ACCESSING RESETTER LINK: Uploading Communications Protocols…]
[New Node Synced: YUKIMURA-CORE v1.2]
[Alliance Level: Neutral Pending Reinforcement]
"I'm in," Hina said quietly. "For now."
[Mission Complete: Establish First Contact with Resetter #03 – HINA]
[Reward: Quantum Relay Protocol | Skill Gained: Team Sync Lv.1]
But even as the alliance formed, shadows gathered.
A world away—in Berlin—a different Resetter watched them from behind layers of stolen surveillance feeds. He smiled as the Kyoto signal pinged live.
"Found you," he whispered.
[Subject: Rael Kessler – Confirmed Node Activity]
[Authorization: Initiate Disruption Protocol. Deploy Agents.]
And so the next wave began.