Morning light bled across the academy's eastern spire as hundreds of students poured into the lower grounds — the section of Grimstone once reserved for decommissioned labs and failed prototypes. Today, it had been reopened.
And this time, it belonged to them.
The Synergy District stretched for miles beneath the academy's main campus — a sprawling web of forgotten hangars, defunct mecha bays, and sealed test vaults. It had been abandoned for decades, ever since Grimstone shifted its focus from open experimentation to controlled assessments.
Now, as the new coalitions flooded in, those quiet corridors burst back to life.
Kai stood at the threshold of the district, hands on his hips, staring at the endless rows of metal doors and half-collapsed walkways.
Oliver whistled low. "It's like stepping into a scrapyard run by geniuses."
Selena glanced around thoughtfully. "A scrapyard is still a forge... if you know what you're looking for."
Valerie pointed at a rusted sign that flickered with static light:
'District 03-B: Prototype Containment Zone.'
"Looks abandoned enough," she said. "Plenty of space, good airflow, and I think that's an old coolant line."
Oliver squinted. "You mean the one sparking in the corner?"
"Exactly."
Kai grinned. "Then it's perfect."
Behind them, dozens of other coalitions were doing the same — scouring the ruins for their new homes. The academy's AI had announced that each coalition could claim one facility as their primary operations base — a place to tinker, train, and test their synergy projects. First come, first served.
And competition was fierce.
Across the district, shouts and arguments echoed.
"Hey! We saw that reactor hall first!"
"Your energy team doesn't even know how to wire a flux node!"
"Exactly why we need it!"
A group of students in sleek black exosuits moved past, their formation tight and silent. The logo on their shoulder read "Crimson Vector."
Their leader, a tall girl with crimson eyes and a sharp voice, paused as she passed Forgeborn. "You're Kai Zore's group, right?"
Kai nodded warily. "That's right."
She smiled faintly — a smile with challenge beneath it. "Name's Ryn Calder. Crimson Vector will be taking Bay 7. Stay clear of it."
Oliver raised a brow. "And if we don't?"
Ryn's eyes glimmered. "Then I'll remind you why it's called Crimson."
Kai chuckled, stepping forward. "Noted. We'll keep to our corner."
Ryn studied him for a moment longer, then gave a curt nod before leading her team onward.
Selena exhaled softly. "Charming."
Valerie smirked. "I like her. She's bold."
Oliver frowned. "You would."
Nearby, another coalition — The Lumina Syndicate — had gathered around a holographic floor map, their leader, a calm boy named Eiden, coordinating teams with near-military precision.
"Set up reactors along the west wall," Eiden said. "We'll need energy conduits by nightfall. No wasted lines."
Kai couldn't help but admire the efficiency. "They're organized."
Selena nodded. "And smart. They're focusing on energy before structure — the right call."
"Guess that makes us the artists," Valerie said. "Let's find a space worth shaping."
After another hour of searching, they found it — an old forge hall buried beneath layers of dust and silence. Huge ceilings arched over dormant cranes and skeletal frames of unfinished mechs. Light streamed in through fractured skylights.
Oliver whistled again, slower this time. "Now this... this feels right."
Kai ran his fingers along a rusted anvil. The metal still held warmth, faintly humming with residual energy. "Feels alive."
Selena knelt beside an old energy conduit, inspecting the lines. "Still partially active. We could route biocurrent through the central hub — rebuild from the core outward."
Valerie smiled. "We can make this a real forge."
"We are Forgeborn," Oliver said. "Wouldn't feel right anywhere else."
Kai nodded. "Then it's settled. This is home."
Hours passed as they cleaned, patched, and reactivated the space. Sparks danced across the walls. Tools clanged. Systems hummed awake after years of silence.
Everywhere across the district, similar transformations unfolded — groups carving out territories, raising banners, arguing over wiring patterns.
Down the hall, Quantum Soup had converted an old storage wing into a chaotic lab filled with glowing liquids and laughter.
Across the district, The Gearwright Circle — a team specializing in mechanical automation — had turned their hangar into a maze of drone arms and conveyor belts.
And far above, Crimson Vector's red banners unfurled from a suspended bay, casting long shadows over the others.
By dusk, Forgeborn's forge hall glowed with soft blue light. The central hub now thrummed with energy — Selena's handiwork — while Valerie's designs lined the walls with shimmering holo-panels. Oliver had restored one of the old cranes, now used to move heavy materials.
Kai stood in the center, watching it all take shape.
Selena approached, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "Feels strange, doesn't it?"
"What does?" Kai asked.
"Building something permanent," she said quietly. "Something that belongs to us."
Kai looked around — at his friends laughing over a broken turbine, at the glow of life returning to dead metal. "Yeah," he said softly. "It feels... like a beginning."
Meanwhile, in the upper observation decks, Principal Eleanor Hart watched through surveillance feeds, arms crossed.
"They're settling in faster than projected," she said.
Dr. Zhao stood beside her, sipping from his ever-present mug. "Of course they are. You drop a bunch of hungry inventors into a sandbox full of scrap metal — they'll build a city before sunset."
"And fight over it by sunrise," she murmured.
Zhao chuckled. "Wouldn't be Grimstone otherwise."
As night deepened, the district came alive with light — glowing signs, flickering banners, arcs of test energy firing across the air. Students laughed, shouted, competed, collaborated. The sterile academy had transformed into a living organism of creativity.
Kai leaned against a railing, looking out across the sea of new beginnings.
In the distance, he saw Crimson Vector testing their first formation drills. Their synchronized movements looked like a dance — precise, sharp, dangerous.
He turned to see The Lumina Syndicate channeling a power surge through crystalline nodes, illuminating their base in golden light.
Then, closer, Quantum Soup accidentally detonated a beaker of biogel.
Oliver winced. "And there's always them."
"They'll learn," Selena said with a smile.
Valerie stretched her arms. "At least we're not the loudest."
Kai laughed softly. "Not yet."
Later that night, a quiet meeting formed in the Forgeborn forge. Teams from neighboring coalitions arrived — informal envoys carrying notes, blueprints, and ideas for trade.
Ryn Calder from Crimson Vector approached first, arms crossed but eyes softened. "Your forge has power flow stabilizers. We have spare alloys. We could make a deal."
Eiden from Lumina Syndicate joined, calm and diplomatic. "We'll need those stabilizers too. In return, we can supply energy conduits."
Oliver raised a brow. "Wait, are we... trading?"
"Negotiating," Valerie corrected. "This is how guilds form."
Kai smiled. "Alright. Let's talk terms."
And just like that, alliances began to weave across the district — quiet connections, tentative trusts. Grimstone was no longer just a school; it was becoming a city of invention.
When the lights dimmed and the hum of machinery softened, Kai walked alone to the edge of the forge. Outside, the air shimmered with distant sparks, laughter, and promise.
He took a deep breath.
For the first time, it felt like they weren't just surviving the academy — they were building it.
Above him, the academy clock tower chimed.
Tomorrow, the real lessons would begin — as they split into their chosen divisions.
But tonight, they had claimed something greater:
A home.
A name.
A place to belong.