A/N: Enjoy chap! Faster release rates to follow for sure! I also released an original on WN called "Last Hero of the Academy" If you're into my action scenes and world-building, with a pseudo-system, you might find it interesting.
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[Campus-9, Venus]
The Venusian jungle swallowed up and drowned out every sound within it.
Even with the hum of sparrows, even with comms chatter, it simply had this damp quiet that made everything feel closer than it was. Leaves dripped. Vines hung heavy. The air reeked of petrichor and old rusted metal.
"This is it?" Marcus said.
Campus-9 lay ahead..
A dead research centre. Broken windows. Collapsed roofline. Rusted frames half sunk into the earth. Vex scars on the walls like the place had been clawed open and forgotten.
Marcus slid on his sparrow and slowed it down first, boots crunching on gravel and broken glass. He looked around, then glanced at Void.
Pahanin's eyes narrowed, scanning the empty doorway. "This is where the Vex geniuses live?"
Void didn't answer. He just lifted his wrist and sent the message to Gallida's private channel.
A simple ping.
Marcus shifted his weight. "You sure about this, chief? Think you got played."
Void had a cheeky smile as he stared at the building. "Just wait."
A few seconds passed.
Then the air changed.
As if the world had been holding its breath and finally decided to exhale.
The space in front of them rippled.
Not all at once. It broke in patterns, in lattices. Clean lines folding over clean lines, like an image being peeled off glass.
Marcus took a half step back without even realising it. "What the hell?"
Pahanin's ghost flickered into existence for a second, then dimmed again like it didn't want to draw attention.
The ruins in front of them were still there. But now? They could see the seams of reality fraying.
A door that didn't exist a moment ago unfolded out of thin air. No, perhaps the door had always been there. It was they who couldn't see it.
Phanain stepped forward a half step, eyes locked on the door with edges glowing faintly. Not bright. Just enough to make the jungle look wrong around it.
Gallida Tuyet stepped out first, just far enough that her boots touched the real ground.
She held one hand up, palm open, calm. Her eyes shot to Pahanin in confusion, then she glanced at Marcus, and finally at Void. "You're back?"
Void gave her a small nod in response, "Figured I bring the team back to your place."
Gallida raised a brow. "Hmm. I mean, not a bad idea. But you definitely should've called ahead."
Marcus looked between Void and Gallida, confused and mildly offended. "What? Are you gonna turn us away at the door? Kinda rude, won't lie."
Void glanced at him. "Relax. Don't raise your voice either, there's more ears around here than you think."
Pahanin took a step closer to the gate, eyes sharp as he observed the faint seams of space. "This is a pocket, a subscape. A pocket dimension?"
Gallida sighed and nodded. "That it is. On that note, we don't leave it open long, just come in."
Marcus hesitated for half a second.
Then he leaned forward and took a step inside the door like he couldn't help himself. "This is sick."
Pahanin didn't speak. He just walked.
Void followed and dragged the door closed behind him.
The jungle smell vanished, replaced by metal and oil and something faintly sweet, like coolant.
Marcus turned back instinctively and stared at the spot where it had been. "No way."
Pahanin's eyes flicked around, already reading the place. "This is why you didn't bring them to us."
Then his gaze strayed forward.
Clean floors. Soft light panels. Quiet machines humming underfoot like the building had a heartbeat.
Gallida glanced back once. "Welcome to Campus-9," she said. "The real one."
Marcus let out a low laugh, half disbelief, half excitement. "Okay," he muttered. "Now I get it."
Void smirked and walked ahead with her.
On the far side of a glass wall, a lab fell away in tiers, each balcony hung with coils of cable and racks of odd components. No dust. No rot.
Marcus leaned toward the glass like he might press his face against it. "You live like this?"
Gallida didn't break stride. "We work like this."
Pahanin's eyes kept moving. "How are you hiding the volume. This is too big to mask with just the signal."
Gallida glanced back once, a quick look that said she respected the question. "Encrypted space. Not just data."
Void cut in, "And a power bill that would make the City cry."
Gallida's mouth curved slightly. "Exactly."
They passed a mezzanine where a scaffolding ring held a dormant conflux like a specimen jar. Under it, a wall was full of etched notes and pinned diagrams. Data on strips. Handwritten arrows. Layers of work.
Pahanin slowed half a step, eyes widening just a little.
Marcus noticed it and smirked. "Oh, he likes it."
Pahanin didn't deny it. "Shut up."
Gallida led them into a long gallery strung with cables like harp strings. The space opened up. A table sat at the centre, clean and ready. A window at the far end looked out into the same ruins they'd just walked through, the jungle framed like a photograph.
Six figures waited there.
Uzoma Vale leaned on the railing. Isidel Brandor stood like a doorframe by his side, armour scored and neatly repaired. Alemyr had a slate in hand, patient eyes, calm posture. Taeko-3 lifted her hand in a quick greeting.
And The Stoic stood a half step away from the rest.
Pahanin's head snapped slightly. Marcus blinked twice.
Marcus heaved a breath in disbelief.
The Stoic looked at him with surprise. His chin jutted up, as if greeting Marcus.
Marcus broke into a grin anyway and chuckled. "That's the most excited I've seen you in ages. Guess it's really been a while."
The Stoic tilted his head just a little to the left.
"Damn, guess he really does know how to express himself." Uzoma laughed under his breath. Taeko-3's shoulders lifted in a quiet chuckle.
Void stepped up to the table, making it simple.
"Team," Void said, voice carrying without effort. "Meet Pahanin and Marcus. They're with me. You'll be seeing them a lot now."
Pahanin gave a casual nod. "Sup."
Marcus waved. "Hello. I would like to apply for residency in your pocket dimension."
Isidel's eyes moved once over Marcus, measured. "No."
Marcus pointed at Void immediately. "He invited me."
Void didn't look guilty. "He's useful."
Uzoma tilted her head at Pahanin. "And you."
Pahanin shrugged. "Also useful."
Taeko-3 leaned on the rail. "That's the kind of confidence that gets people killed or rich."
Pahanin smirked. "Why not both?"
Gallida clapped once, sharply. "Alright. Relax. Talk to us Void, why are you here again?"
Void nodded, straight to the point. "Asher Mir is on board."
That landed.
Alemyr's brows rose. "You spoke to him? How'd you even get him to agree?"
Taeko-3 clicked her tongue. "Did you threaten him? There's no way he agreed to work with you. He declines every invitation we give him."
Void's tone stayed casual. "I've got my ways."
Marcus leaned toward Pahanin, whispering, "Does he just say that to everyone?"
Pahanin whispered back, "Yep."
Gallida didn't press any further. "Good. If anyone can dig up a Gate Lord trail without getting us killed, it's Asher."
Uzoma's grin thinned into something more focused. "And if he can't."
"Then we adjust," Void said. "But until he finds something, we'll focus on what we can."
He looked at Pahanin. "Bring it out."
Pahanin's Ghost flashed. A hologram split into the air over the table.
A ring.
Thin. Elegant. Dense with fine channels and a layered internal structure. It rotated slowly, throwing soft light onto their faces. The kind of tech that looked simple until you stared too long.
Isidel didn't smile. "That's dangerous."
Gallida's eyes narrowed, interest sharp. "That's fascinating."
Pahanin tapped the inner channels, zooming in. "This section is the handshake. This is how the ring talks to subspace storage without needing a whole console, or a City vault terminal, or a damn crew."
Taeko-3 leaned closer. "So it's not just storage."
"No," Void said. "It's access."
Uzoma grinned. "A door on your finger."
Alemyr murmured, "A door we can sell."
Pahanin corrected, calm. "A door we can control. But not just that," Pahanin tapped the algorithm again as a web of nodes came into view.
"A network of doors, that we will own."
That made the room go quiet for a second.
Everyone felt a certain weight. They all knew whatever they were looking at would change the history of the solar system.
Alemyr spoke first, carefully. "The City doesn't know you have this."
Void shook his head. "They don't. No one does. No one, except us." His gaze slowly panned over the room.
Gallida nodded slowly. "Got it."
Isidel grunted approval.
Pahanin flicked to a second projection. Simpler. Clean lines. A ring. Nodes. Routes.
"The real detail is here," Pahanin said. "Nodes across the system. You don't haul a crate from the Shore to the City. You drop it into the nearest node. It appears at another node. Far faster than the City's vault system. You pay for access, storage, speed."
Uzoma's grin faded into something sharper. "How much faster?"
"Capacity?" Isidel said.
"Schematics suggest an improvement of over a hundred times. Trust me, I ran the numbers." Marcus added, immediately.
Taeko-3 snorted quietly. "Ok. Did you test that?"
The Stoic inclined his head as if approving Marcus's words
Marcus grinned like he'd won a medal. "Like I said. Trust me."
Uzoma exhaled through his nose. "But if it's just faster than the City's network. That wouldn't be so revolutionary. You said nodes, right? What's the range on these nodes?"
Pahanin leaned forward, voice light. "As long as the nodes have a signal, they'll work. That means, no limitation on location. The spatial storage would work the same whether you're in a crater on the Moon. Or in a dugout on Mars."
"Alright," Gallida took in a deep breath. "Alright. So...work plan?"
Uzoma's grin returned, smaller. "Before that. I've got a better question."
Taeko-3 rolled her shoulders. "You're goddamn right. There is a question we're all thinking of."
Alemyr added. "How much."
Void breathed once and hummed. "Like I said. I'll give you a fair share. Not just crumbs. Something real. But in return."
He paused.
Everyone leaned in, focusing on his words.
"This must be perfect. If we do it half-baked, someone will eventually copy it. As Pahanin said, the real play is the network. You guys build, program and plant the nodes. Start small and do it without being detected."
Gallida's eyes sparkled, "You want to put out the nodes and then bring in the ring?"
"That's the only way. It'll take us longer and cost a lot more. But once the network of nodes is in place. No one can steal it from us." Void nodded. "Is that clear?"
His voice echoed around the room.
A moment later, everyone replied with a simple nod.
"Fine by me." Alemyr chimed up.
Uzoma gave a quick nod, "What's the timeline?"
Pahanin scratched his chin, "Months at best. We can't go any faster. If we rake in any more material, half the solar system will know something is up."
"With that said." Gallida cut in. She shot everyone a glance, slowly going around the room. "Let's settle on a work plan."
"Let's." Void nodded.
The room went silent as Gallida projected a miscellaneous list of tasks that were needed to finish the project that would go on to revolutionise the world as they knew it.