March 9, 2024 — Aurora Central Hub, Quezon City | 7:30 AM
The morning air around Aurora Central was thick with dust, humming with motion. Trucks idled along service roads, cranes turned in slow arcs overhead, and the rhythmic clang of metal on metal echoed across the expanding interchange site.
Inside a command trailer on the edge of the station, Angel reviewed overnight reports. She scrolled past boring metrics, air quality readings, and contractor attendance logs, then paused at the updated map.
TBM Aurora had advanced another 82 meters overnight. Rizal, 69. The lines were converging—slowly but surely—toward the future.
Matthew entered, tossing a white Sentinel hard hat onto the desk. "Pasig shaft's stabilizing. We had to resurface one segment due to minor sediment intrusion, but it's under control."
Angel didn't look up. "We're still on schedule. Just barely."
Matthew poured himself a cup of the weak black coffee on the counter and took a sip. "Then let's get ahead of it."
