Darkness had a texture to it—rough, heavy, pressing down like a blanket made of stone.
Cael Veren lay still beneath that weight, his body aching, his mind fogged. Breath came slowly, each inhale pulling the staleness of centuries into his lungs. Somewhere above, or perhaps within, a dull humming stirred to life.
Then: a sound.
Chime.
Not a bell, not a machine—something in between. Sharp, but not metallic. Deep, but not hollow.
A line of golden light flickered before his eyes, a rectangle hovering in the black, lines rotating and settling like a blueprint materializing in the air.
[DUNGEON ARCHITECT SYSTEM INITIALIZING...]
Scanning Vital Signs…
User Identified: CAEL VEREN
Occupation: Registered Civil Architect, Tier-3 Urban Planner
Cognitive Stability: 47%
System Reboot: 92% Complete
Welcome back, Architect. The world has fallen. Rebuilding has been assigned.
Cael blinked. The light dimmed with his breath, retreating but not disappearing. His throat rasped as he sat up, the movement kicking loose a cloud of dust and ash. Around him, the chamber stretched—concrete walls buckled inward, pipes twisted like skeletal arms reaching from the stone.
He was in a bunker. One of the old ones, judging by the degraded sealant and rusted support beams. Emergency lights flickered to life overhead, bathing everything in a pale orange glow.
His memory stuttered. The last thing he remembered—an evacuation? No, not quite. An assignment. He had been underground, yes, but under control. Testing systems, analyzing structural integrity for deep shelter networks. And then...
Then nothing.
No war, no explosion, no screams. Just... silence.
And now this.
The golden interface returned, floating at eye level. His fingers reached out instinctively, brushing a hovering icon labeled:
[CORE STATUS].
Population: 1 (Cael Veren)
Energy Output: 8%
Atmospheric Filters: Compromised
Food Reserves: Expired
Blueprint Database: LOCKED
Reconstruction Priority: Establish Safe Shelter
Optional Objective Unlocked: "Survive the next 24 Sparks."
He exhaled, slow and steady.
"All right," he murmured, voice rough as gravel. "Guess we're skipping the tutorial."
He looked around again. Beyond the chamber's collapsed exit, faint outlines of utility tunnels branched out like veins. A generator throbbed weakly in the far wall, a single red eye blinking. And there—near his foot—half-buried in debris, a crate marked with the universal icon for modular field tools.
He dragged it free, the lock responding to his fingerprint. Inside: a portable 3D frame printer, two recharge cores, and—miraculously—an intact deployable shelter module.
Cael smiled. It wasn't much, but it was a start.
The system pinged again.
[NEW TASK UNLOCKED]
Construct Shelter Pod (Tier I)
Materials Required: Stone (12), Metal (5)
Estimated Completion Time: 1.8 Sparks
Note: Sleep is optional. Collapsing is not recommended.
"Charming," he muttered.
He picked up the scanner and stood. Dust shifted beneath his boots. Overhead, the bunker groaned, and something distant echoed like the cracking of stone.
He was not alone in the deep.
But he was first.