Location: Central Workshop District – Community Repairs
Time: 7:31 AM
A hammer struck steel.
Sparks danced.
Laughter echoed across the sunlit corridor.
Kaen, wearing simple overalls and a pair of cracked goggles, tightened the last bolt on a water pipe valve. Sweat stained his shirt. Grease smudged his cheek.
The boy beside him—Leven, twelve, loud, endlessly curious—watched eagerly.
> "You were the guy who hacked the Loop System, right?" Leven asked for the hundredth time.
Kaen didn't look up.
> "You going to tighten this next one or keep asking about the past?"
Leven groaned.
> "You never tell me anything cool!"
Kaen grinned, passed him the wrench.
> "Fix this pipe right. That'll be cool enough."
Leven sighed but followed the instruction. His grip was clumsy, but Kaen didn't correct him. Not this time.
The pipe clicked into place.
> "Nice," Kaen said, patting him on the shoulder.
"That's something even the old Kaen couldn't do."
Leven blinked.
> "Huh?"
