Ch 74: The Clock is Ticking
Kael sat hunched over his workbench, the dim glow of his terminal reflecting off scattered tools and schematics. 48 hours. That was all the time he had before Substation 9 was emptied out, and with it, his best lead.
Substation 4 and 8 had been nothing special—just minor operations siphoning energy for illegal crypto-mining and black-market augmentations. But Substation 9? That was different.
Piecing It Together
Kael traced his fingers along the city's schematics, overlaying them with his own patched-together data from stolen maintenance logs, black-market leaks, and decrypted drone footage.
The official records showed Substation 9 as an outdated facility—barely maintained, underused. The power grid data said otherwise—massive energy draws, fluctuating patterns, and hidden relays leading somewhere off the books. The evacuation order? That was the final proof. Someone had set up something big, and now they were shutting it down.
Kael leaned back, exhaling slowly. This wasn't a simple theft operation. Someone had been building something. Testing something.
And whatever it was, they were about to take it with them.
The Infiltration Plan
Kael grabbed his notepad and started listing everything he needed.
A Portable Photonic Scanner – Standard optical scanners wouldn't work on an underground facility, especially if it was shielded. A photonic system, however, could penetrate deeper, revealing structural weaknesses and active energy signatures.
A Signal Interceptor – If they were still transmitting data before leaving, he needed to catch it. Even if the files were encrypted, metadata alone could tell him where the operation was moving next.
A Power Surge Disruptor – If things went sideways, he wanted an escape plan. Overloading the local grid could trigger rolling blackouts, giving him cover to slip away.
✔ Non-lethal Defense – He wasn't looking for a fight, but if guards were still stationed, he needed a way to disable them quickly.
Kael scanned the list. This wasn't going to be easy.
He checked the time. 34 hours left.
Building the Tools
Kael got to work.
The photonic scanner was the most critical piece. He started by modifying an old optical relay system, replacing its outdated components with repurposed hardware from surplus industrial spectrometers. It needed to be compact, efficient, and, most importantly, undetectable by standard security sweeps.
The signal interceptor required more creativity. He dug through his pile of discarded components, extracting a miniaturized directional antenna from a decommissioned surveillance drone. With some custom coding, he integrated it into a passive relay system, allowing him to intercept outgoing signals without actively transmitting anything himself—staying invisible.
The power surge disruptor was a simpler design—he rewired a capacitor bank into a compact, one-use pulse emitter. If he placed it on a critical relay, it could fry the station's safety circuits just long enough for him to escape.
As he finished soldering the final connections, the dim hum of his workspace filled the silence. He powered on the photonic scanner, watching as the display flickered to life.
It was ready.
A New Player Enters
Just as Kael was about to pack up, his terminal beeped.
A message.
Unknown Sender: "You're looking in the wrong place."
Kael's breath slowed. His fingers hovered over the keyboard.
Who the hell was this?
He quickly checked the message's metadata—nothing. A clean transmission, routed through multiple dead relays. Whoever sent this knew what they were doing.
His mind raced. Was it a warning? A threat? Or was someone else after the same thing?
One thing was certain.
He wasn't the only one watching Substation 9.