Jack sat by the bonfire, the warm glow illuminating his face as he listened to the laughter of the locals around him. Despite everything—the fight, the defeat, the exile into the wilderness—he felt surprisingly at peace.
Maybe it was the familiarity of the outback, or maybe it was the simple, honest company of these people, but for the first time in a while, he wasn't thinking about power levels, antimatter, or world-ending threats.
He was thinking about them.
They had given him food, shelter, and a sense of belonging, and Jack Williams wasn't the kind of man to leave debts unpaid.
That night, as he lay on a makeshift bed inside a small wooden cabin, his mind whirred with ideas. These people didn't need weapons or high-tech battle suits.
They needed innovation.
And Jack knew exactly what to do.
The next morning, Jack wasted no time. He gathered materials, borrowed tools, and got to work in a small garage offered by one of the locals.