The plaza was glowing.
Alive.
Self-powering lights pulsed gently. Air purifiers thrummed. The walls shimmered like they'd been printed fresh from the future.
ARK scanned everything.
ECHO BUILD STABILITY: 99.3%PUBLIC SIGNAL DETECTED.
Riven raised a brow.
"Public what?"
A light pinged.
Then another.
Dozens.
People had seen it.
Within the hour, BuilderNet was buzzing.
📡 Unknown Tech Spike in Greyline📸 "Witnessed an entire plaza rebuild itself in under 10 seconds. No crew, no tools—just... light."📄 Suspected Echo Tech usage. Confirm origin immediately.
Ash shoved a tablet at Riven.
"You've gone viral. Every Builder Council, underground crew, and tech syndicate knows something just happened."
"Let them look," he said calmly.
"Riven—this isn't small anymore. You didn't just build a shelter. You just proved the myths are real."
Later that night, a message came through ARK's secure channel.
Encrypted. Heavy signature.
It was from a Builder Council member.
Just five words:
"We are watching. Closely."
And beneath that, coordinates.
A challenge.
Riven stared at the screen, then back at the plaza.
Everything had changed.
He used to fix broken things.
Now, he was rewriting what broken even meant.
"Let them watch," he whispered."I'm not done building."