The morning after the clicker attack came with a strange stillness. Gray skies. The air was thick, almost like the world itself was holding its breath.
Zane sat outside the safehouse on a rusted bench, cleaning the pistol Ava had given him. His hands moved slowly, following steps he'd never done before but somehow knew. Like muscle memory from a past life.
[Weapon Familiarity: +1]
[Skill: Improvised Gun Maintenance (Lv.1) unlocked.]
"Looks like you've done this before," Ava said behind him, holding a mug of weak coffee.
"Maybe. Feels like it, anyway."
She sat beside him.
"Wanna know what happened to my group?" she asked, voice low.
Zane glanced over. She didn't wait for him to answer.
"We were twelve. Firefly defectors. We wanted something different—no politics, no chain of command. Just survival. Our own place."
"What happened?"
"We got too loud. Took in a kid who screamed at night. Next morning, six of us were dead. One turned."
"…Damn."
"Didn't even have time to bury them. We just ran. Me and two others."
Zane didn't speak right away.
"I've lost people too," he said finally. "Not here.
She looked at him, searching for a lie. Didn't find one.
[Bond Level Increased: 2 — "Wary Allies"]
[New Trait Unlocked: Bond Link (Ava - Tier 1)]
Perk: Tactical Awareness — Slight danger detection boost when near Ava.
Suddenly, the System flickered again.
[World Expansion Unlocked: "Kingdom Protocol - Genesis Mode"]
[New Feature Added: Survivor's Forge (Prototype)]
[Crafting System Online — Scavenging Now Enables Base Building, Weapon Crafting, Community Design.]
Zane blinked as an ethereal interface hovered before him—a grid, a toolset, and glowing icons: walls, beds, stoves, even simple farms.
[You may now convert any Safe Zone into a Core Base.]
He looked up at the old laundromat behind them.
"…Ava," he said slowly, eyes wide. "What if we didn't have to keep running?"