The faint hum of the aetheric resonance reactor settled into a rhythm—deep, consistent, like a heartbeat forming inside metal skin.
Raen stood near the half-assembled central control bridge of the ship. The skeleton of the vessel extended outward like a starborn cathedral, its ribs forged of the strongest materials Arkbound could produce.
Lira knelt beside a module, tightening a valve near the neural integration port, sparks snapping across her gloves.Korin hovered over a holo-screen, pulling data from the fusion grid's feed.
Korin: "Stability's holding. You said 72 days to flight-ready? At this pace... we might beat that."
Raen's eyes didn't leave the growing structure.
Raen: "We're ahead, but we don't rush this. Every step has to be perfect. No blind leaps."
Just then, the secure comm node lit up. It was Nyra.
Nyra (on comm): "Kael just confirmed the mayor's follow-up team is arriving in two days. They're touring the HQ and Space sector. Everything's on track."
Raen: "Good. Have Saelyn settled into her role yet?"
Nyra: "She's coordinating well with the team. The new control systems for Arkbound Main are syncing. Also—your message to Kael was delivered."
Raen nodded. That meant the 500 bots were now fully deployed—200 finalizing HQ and Space HQ, 300 already moving soil and laying the grid for the first blocks of the city.
As Nyra signed off, Raen turned to the others.
Raen: "We're entering the phase where this stops being a project… and becomes a statement."
Lira: "That we belong in the stars?"
Raen: "No. That the system that left us behind... will watch us rise."
There was a stillness. Not silence—machines buzzed, bots moved—but a stillness in the air, like the moment before lightning strikes.
Korin stepped away from the console and gave Raen a glance.
Korin: "By the way… someone's been sniffing our local frequencies. Quietly. Like they know what they're doing."
Raen (calm): "Are they inside the net?"
Korin: "Not yet. But they're looking."
Raen: "Trace the pattern. If they knock, we'll answer."
Lira (murmuring): "They're already curious. It's only a matter of time."
Raen walked back to the primary bridge module, placing his palm on the cold metal.
Raen: "Then let them look. When we launch this… no one will have a doubt about what Arkbound is anymore."
Overhead, the internal lights of the unfinished vessel pulsed in sequence—one section at a time. Power flowed. Systems synced.
The Arkbound starship was awakening.