They returned in silence.
Not out of tension, but out of thought—both Adam and Serin processing what they'd just discovered. Two nodes. One peaceful, one once-hostile. Connected, reactive, and part of something much bigger than either of them had guessed.
As the settlement lights came into view on the horizon, Adam exhaled slowly. The city glowed like a promise. Not a destination—but a start.
In the command center, the main map shimmered to life as Adam and Serin input the coordinates of the two discovered nodes. The interface adjusted instantly, drawing clean vector lines between the points and marking the center as the current settlement.
"They're almost perfectly aligned along a diagonal," Adam said, rotating the 3D map. "If they're symmetrical..."
"Then we might be standing in the center of a larger pattern," Serin finished.
Adam nodded and began plotting theoretical locations—mirroring the known nodes to complete a square. Two more corners. Two more potential sites. He tagged the projected locations on the map and stood back to study them.
"Could be," he murmured. "Or it could be totally off."
"Still worth investigating," Serin said. "If they're spread evenly, we may find the others opposite the first two."
With no time like the present, they loaded two scout drones and set out at first light.
The first projected site was due southwest, across a stretch of lightly forested terrain and rolling hills. It took the better part of a day to reach, and while the landscape was beautiful—clear skies, vibrant flora, a stream of glowing runoff cutting through bluegrass—there was no sign of a node. No energy reading. No structure. No hum beneath the soil.
Adam did a full scan anyway. Just in case.
Nothing.
The second site—northeast—was rougher terrain, made up of cracked rock and deep-rooted vegetation that slowed their progress. Again, they found nothing. Not even a false positive.
Back at the command center that evening, Adam stared at the map for a long time.
"It could be the pattern's different," he said. "Or we haven't discovered the right trigger yet."
"Or," Serin offered, "there are more than four. And the connections aren't geometric. They're… something else."
That thought lingered in the air for a moment—bigger, heavier.
Adam sighed and dismissed the node overlay. "Then we wait. We log what we have. And when the city expands, we send more search teams out."
Serin nodded. "We're not ready yet. But we will be."
Later that evening, Adam stood at the edge of the tower garden again, overlooking the heartbeat of his settlement.
Things were stable. Productive. Secure.
It was time to start planning bigger.
The system's development tab offered a new set of options under a fresh milestone header:
[NEW SETTLEMENT TIER GOALS UNLOCKED]
Develop Population Infrastructure (50+ Residents)
Establish Central Civic Administration Building
Initiate Trade Framework (Internal or Controlled External)
Expand Arcane and Technological Research Facilities
Designate Defense Zones and Expansion Corridors
He opened a blank layout grid and began dragging shapes—zoning a new residential quadrant, sketching future resource hubs, plotting out expansion routes beyond current borders.
Eventually, this would be a city. A capital.
But right now?
It was a foundation.
He closed the interface and turned toward the inner district, the quiet murmur of life growing behind him.
They hadn't found the next node yet.
But they were building the kind of future that could reach it.