STARLIGHT UNBOUND by Deus Ex Machina - HTML preview

STARLIGHT UNBOUND

This place has potential.

But potential means nothing unless we make it real.

With that, he turned and followed the others, the soft whirring of maintenance bots trailing behind them.

***

The rebels gathered inside what become their headquarters—a hollowed-out administrative building, its walls streaked with water damage, its air thick with rust and mildew.

Their meeting space was an old planning office, its walls lined with faded blueprints and cracked screens.

A battered table sat in the center, piled high with maps, schematics, and scattered tools.

Lucien leaned over it, studying the faded layout of the sector.

Harun stood beside him, sketching lines and circles onto the map with a marker, his usual cocky smirk in place.

Lyra leaned against the wall, while Jaris, Aarik, and Selene hovered near the edges of the room, their expressions steady but watchful.

Harun tapped the marker against the map. “Alright, folks. Step one: we need to make this place look less like the set of a dystopian movie. Priorities?”

Lyra pushed off the wall, stepping forward.

She tapped a spot on the map, her voice decisive. “We need a central gathering space. Somewhere people can eat, plan, and rest while we rebuild the apartments. This building is too small to house everyone.”

Jaris nodded. “The old civic hall down the street might work. It’s mostly intact, and it’s close enough to the main road for easy access.”

Aarik added, “But the west side’s roof is half collapsed. It’ll need patching.”

Harun twirled the marker between his fingers, grinning. “Roof repairs? No problem. That’s what our little robot friends are for.”

He gestured toward the window.

Outside, the maintenance bots stood in a neat row, their metallic bodies dusty and worn, but their status lights blinked steadily.

Selene raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure they’ll even work?”

Harun scoffed, mock-offended. “Please. This isn’t my first bot rodeo. Give me half an hour, and they ’ll be patching roofs like pros.”

Selene chuckled, crossing her arms. “If you’re wrong, I vote we use the bots as furniture. ”

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