Season 2. Chapter 1: Volume 3

Chapter : Seventeen Signatures

The droning hum of the city faded behind them as Oliver and Fern returned to the border district where they'd first met Yotel—the quiet, watchful artificer who carried a mop like a crown and spoke with the calm confidence of someone who already understood how the world would unfold.

It was still early July, the air thick with heat and that vague electric tension cities often carried when change was crawling beneath the surface. Somewhere, the faint static of distant holo-ads could still be heard, but here—where Yotel had repurposed an old mechanic's hub into a temporary base—the world felt oddly at ease.

The doors hissed open.

Inside, Yotel stood at a wide worktable surrounded by floating glyph blueprints and levitating cubes of arcane alloy. As he turned, the mop over his shoulder slid slightly, but didn't fall. It never did.

"Back already?" he said, voice mellow as ever.

Oliver stepped forward and, without a word, pulled out a small stack of cards—Traveler glyphs, each one marked, signed, or rune-stamped by someone from the streets who had said yes. A small number… yet a powerful one.

Seventeen.

Seventeen lost souls.

Seventeen who dared to hope again.

Fern crossed her arms. "Most of them said they'll travel discreetly. A few want escort. But they've committed."

Oliver nodded. "By the end of July, they'll arrive."

Yotel blinked once, then gave a faint smile. It wasn't smug or surprised—just… genuine.

"Seventeen," he echoed. "Good work."

He reached over and took the cards, laying them on a stone slab laced with detection runes. With a tap of his finger, the glyphs flared briefly—confirming authenticity, checking for duplicates, and binding the names to the Traveler Record, a living document stored in his pocket dimension database.

"All we need now," Yotel said, eyes scanning the activation lines, "is for them to show up. End of the month gives us… three weeks."

He glanced toward Oliver. "Enough time to prepare security and housing structures?"

Oliver nodded once. "Riven's expanding the forest grid. Basil and Fern can oversee resource renewal. Garrick has the infrastructure under control."

Yotel tapped a new panel, projecting a 3D model of a clearing just outside the surveillance-grown woods—marked with 17 luminous figures.

"I'll craft dorm pods. Temporary. Quiet. Each tuned to their Vita signature. If they're too fragile to socialize, they'll still have space."

Fern's gaze softened just slightly. "That's thoughtful."

Yotel shrugged with a smirk. "I'm an artificer. We build where no one else wants to."

He folded the interface closed and leaned back against the bench. "Still... you two got that many in a single sweep? Impressive."

Oliver remained silent.

Fern answered for them. "It's not hard. You just have to look in the places no one wants to."

Yotel gave a soft hum of agreement. "Mm. And once you find them… give them a name to whisper."

He looked between them.

"July's just beginning. But the signal's been sent. The movement's real now. The only thing left... is to be ready when they come."

Fern nodded. "We will be."

Yotel finally pushed off the table, straightening his mop like a sword sheathed on his back.

"Then I'll start building tomorrow."

The trio stood together in the quiet shop, seventeen glyphs glowing faintly on the slab beside them.

Not just names.

Not just numbers.

Seventeen chances.

Seventeen stories.

Seventeen sparks to light the fire.

The end of July would be their first reckoning.

And for the first time in a long time—

They would be welcomed.