> [Active Quest: Survive 24 Hours]
> [Time Remaining: 23:42:17]
> [Main Objective: Locate a Power Node]
> [Sub-Quest: Craft Leg Stabilizer v0.1]
> [Status: In Progress]
Riven limped through the scrapyard, each step sending a jolt through his right leg. The bite from that drone-rat had left more than just pain — it had destabilized his balance. His foot dragged slightly, like the system had downgraded his gait algorithm.
The terrain didn't help. The ground was a graveyard of shattered screens, melted breadboards, and tangled wires that sparked when stepped on. Towering heaps of obsolete tech loomed like rusted giants, casting long shadows under the flickering sky.
He paused beside a cracked server rack, panting. The screwdriver in his hand pulsed faintly — not with power, but with potential. His eyes flicked to the floating HUD.
[Inventory: Rusted Screwdriver, Damaged Servo]
[Blueprint Available: Leg Stabilizer v0.1]
[Crafting Station: Not Detected]
"Of course," he muttered. "No workbench in hell."
Still, he wasn't helpless. He spotted a half-buried drone chassis nearby — its frame bent, but its internal mountings intact. With effort, he dragged it out and flipped it over. The exposed panel looked stable enough.
[Improvised Crafting Station: Initialized]
[Stability: 42%]
[Risk of Failure: Moderate]
He laid the servo down and opened the blueprint. A translucent schematic hovered in front of him — a basic stabilizer brace, cobbled together from servo torque, wire tension, and a makeshift strap.
He got to work.
The screwdriver hummed as he tightened a bolt. Sparks flew as he spliced a wire into a power node. His fingers moved with muscle memory — years of tinkering in school labs, fixing broken RC cars, building bots from junk.
[Progress: 67%]
[Warning: Servo Integrity Low]
"Hold together," he whispered.
The final connection clicked into place. The blueprint flashed.
[Sub-Quest Completed: Leg Stabilizer v0.1 Crafted]
[Mobility +10%]
[New Blueprint Unlocked: Servo Enhancer v0.2]
[Item Equipped]
A faint hiss escaped as the stabilizer locked onto his leg. The pain dulled. His steps felt firmer, more controlled. He tested a jog — still awkward, but better.
He smiled. "Okay. That's something."
Then the sky pulsed.
A low-frequency hum rolled across the scrapyard, vibrating through the metal piles. Riven turned toward the source — the Power Node. It was closer now, visible beyond a ridge of shattered monitors. A tower of routers, antennae, and glowing cables, flickering like a dying star.
[Signal Strength: 12%]
[Warning: Node Instability Detected]
[Time Remaining: 23:29:41]
He started moving, faster now. The stabilizer absorbed the impact of each step. As he climbed the ridge, he passed strange relics — a melted VR headset fused to a keyboard, a drone with wings made of floppy disks, a cracked tablet still playing a looping error message.
This place wasn't just digital. It was curated. Like someone — or something — had built it from the scraps of forgotten tech and broken dreams.
He reached the ridge's peak and froze.
Below, a clearing opened around the Power Node. But it wasn't unguarded.
A massive creature patrolled the base — a quadruped made of server racks and cooling fans, its eyes glowing red behind a firewall-shaped visor. Its legs hissed with hydraulic pressure, and its back bristled with antennae.
[Threat Detected: Guardian.exe]
[Level: ???]
[Engagement: Fatal]
[Recommendation: Avoid]
Riven ducked behind a rusted satellite dish, heart pounding. He wasn't ready for that. Not yet.
But he needed access to the Node. Maybe there was another way in — a maintenance port, a backdoor, something.
He scanned the area. To the left, a collapsed relay tower. To the right, a trench of broken fiber cables leading toward the Node's base.
[New Objective: Locate Alternate Access Route]
[Status: Optional]
He chose the trench.
The descent was steep, the walls lined with shattered glass and exposed copper. Sparks danced around him as he slid down, landing hard beside a flickering terminal embedded in the wall.
[Access Port Detected]
[Authentication Required: Logic Puzzle Protocol]
Of course. The system wouldn't make it easy.
A puzzle interface appeared — a grid of circuits, some broken, some functional. The goal: reroute power from the input node to the output using only three moves.
Riven studied it. This wasn't just a game. It was a test — of logic, of pattern recognition, of calm under pressure.
He moved a resistor. Rotated a junction. Bridged a gap with a capacitor.
The grid lit up.
[Access Granted]
[Node Interface Unlocked]
[New System Menu Available: Upgrade Tree, Quest Log, Memory Fragments]
The terminal pulsed. A new HUD panel opened beside his quest log — a branching tree of upgrades, each node locked behind XP, materials, or achievements.
But one was glowing.
[Unlocked: Passive Skill — Improviser]
[Effect: +10% success rate when crafting with junk components]
He grinned. "Now we're talking."
Then the terminal flickered.
A voice — faint, glitchy — whispered through the static.
"You're not the only one grinding, Riven. The system watches. And it remembers."
He spun around. No one there.
Just the hum of the Node. The flicker of the sky. And the countdown ticking lower.
[Time Remaining: 23:17:03]
Riven's leg was damaged. The world was glitching. And the only way forward was to build something from junk — or die trying.