Building Zoids in a World of Titans

(Interior — Stonehand's Supply & Salvage, Back Workshop)

The workshop filled with a metallic clang as the crane arm swung the chest plating into place. Alex, after wiping his hands, faced Borin, Ziya, and Team Celestia. Borin inquired about the guild visit, and Alex explained his promotion to Rank 7, two ranks at once, due to the Guildmaster's embarrassment over a Rank 9 killing a B-rank Titan. Anya then revealed the complication: the Foreman insisted on having the Zoid's technology, either its specifications or the entire machine, but Alex had refused her demand.

The workshop fell silent except for the hum of the overhead lights.

Borin rubbed the scar on his temple, his jaw working slowly. "Elara Vance." He said the name like he was testing its weight. "I've met her. Years ago, when I was still running salvage crews. She was a squad commander then. Sharp. Driven. Didn't take no for an answer then, either."

Ziya moved closer to her father. "Is Alex in danger?"

"Not the kind you're thinking of." Borin looked at Alex. "She's not going to send thugs after you. That's not how she operates. But she's persistent. She'll come back. Maybe not today, maybe not this week, but she'll find a reason to call you in again. And the next time, she'll have a different angle."

Alex's hand drifted to the pendant at his chest. "I'm not giving it up."

"I know you're not, lad." Borin's voice was heavy. "Just keep your head down and your reports filed. Don't give her an excuse."

Ziya touched Alex's arm briefly, her fingers cool against his skin. "Be careful."

"I will."

Borin nodded toward the Arosaurer. "Now get back to work. That core housing isn't going to seal itself."

Alex turned back to the machine, but Borin's words sat in his chest like a stone. The Foreman would come back. He was sure of it.

He just didn't know what shape that conversation would take.

(Interior — Stonehand's Supply & Salvage, Cold Vault)

The Stormclaw Liger's corpse lay stretched across the reinforced floor of Borin's cold vault, its massive form suspended in a haze of cryogenic mist. The mane had gone dark, the bio-electrical charge drained, but the body still radiated a sense of coiled power even in death. Alex stood before it, his breath fogging in the chill air, while Team Celestia filed in behind him.

Fia whistled low, her gauntleted hand resting on the vault's doorframe. "Still gives me the creeps. You'd think after helping kill it, the thing would look less... angry."

Lyra adjusted her goggles, her azure eyes scanning the Liger's forelimb. "I'd be angry too if someone built a machine specifically to hunt me."

Fia grinned, thumping her gauntlets together. "Don't worry, Lia. If anyone builds a machine to hunt you, I'll just punch it for you."

"That's not reassuring."

"It wasn't meant to be." Fia's grin widened. "It was meant to be funny."

Seraphine stepped closer to the Liger's flank, her hand hovering above the galvanic fur-hide without touching it. "The conductivity is remarkable. Even inert, there's residual charge in the tissue. Alex, what are you planning to do with it?"

Alex had already extended his left hand, the Z-Bracer humming softly as the System's interface flickered across his vision. Data cascaded down his retinal display. Component analysis. Tissue density readings. Energy potential mapping. And there, locked behind a cascade of familiar prompts, a new entry bloomed to life.

[BLUEPRINT UNLOCKED: LIGER-TYPE ZOID CORE COMPATIBLE]

His pulse quickened, but he kept his face neutral. The System had done it again. The Liger's biological signature had given him exactly what he needed. Not just materials. A path forward.

"I'm going to build a Zoid," Alex said.

Anya crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing. "We assumed as much. But your Arosaurer is mechanical. All metal and wiring and hydraulics. This—" she gestured at the Liger's organic mass, "—is a dead Titan. How does one become the other?"

It was a fair question. Ziya had been watching him from the doorway, her arms folded, her expression caught between professional curiosity and something more pointed. She'd been quiet since they entered the vault, but her eyes hadn't left him.

Alex pulled up the inventory list on his display, running the numbers. "I need 15 kilograms of Vita-Alloy. Just enough for one core shell."

Borin, who had been leaning against the vault wall with his arms crossed, pushed off and walked to a secured cabinet on the far side. He keyed in a combination and pulled out a small lead-lined case.

"Been expecting you to ask. Got a new shipment in last week. Took some doing to source it, but considering my best customer keeps asking for the stuff despite it costing more than his annual credit limit, I figured I'd better stock up."

He opened the case. Inside, nestled in foam padding, sat several ingots of Vita-Alloy, their surfaces catching the cold vault's light with a faint, almost liquid sheen.

Ziya's eyes fixed on the ingots, then shifted to Alex. "15 kilograms. You know what 15 kilograms of Vita-Alloy costs?"

"I have a rough idea."

"A rough idea." She stepped closer. "That's about eight thousand Sols. For 15 kilograms of metal you could barely see. I've been working in this shop for six years, and I've seen you buy more Vita-Alloy than the entire Veridian Warden detachment combined. What are you using it for?"

Alex met her gaze. Ziya was sharp. She'd been tracking his purchases for years, and she wasn't the type to let a ledger imbalance slide. But the System's processes weren't something he could explain. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

"I'll show you later," he said.

Ziya held his stare for a beat, then exhaled through her nose. "You know, for someone who just got promoted two ranks, you're still terrible at answering questions."

"I've been told."

She turned and walked toward a side corridor. "There's a private room three doors down. Locked, soundproofed, and it has a fabrication bench. Father uses it for sensitive client work. Try not to blow anything up in there."

"I'll do my best."

"Your best is what worries me."

Alex almost smiled. He took the 15 kilograms of Vita-Alloy from Borin's case, the metal warm despite the vault's temperature, and followed Ziya down the corridor.

Behind him, Fia's voice echoed off the vault walls. "Did he just dodge a direct question from Ziya? I've seen Wardens face down Titans with less courage than that took."

"He's not a Warden," Lyra said. "He's an engineer. Dodging questions is basically their native language."

Anya said nothing. She was still looking at the Liger, her expression unreadable.

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