Asharub_Pervez

Raen Solis has never known comfort—only rejection, debt, and failure. Trapped in a crumbling apartment in the lower districts of Velden, he survives by doing shady game-boosting gigs and digital scraps, praying each day won’t be his last.

Then one night, a sudden power surge from his worn-down rig knocks him out cold. When he comes to, a glowing interface hovers before him:

[SYSTEM LINKED: SKILL SHOP INTERFACE]
Any skill. Any mastery. For a price.

The Skill Shop System Runs on Cash

The early morning sun cast long shadows across the freshly built apartment complex. What had been a bare lot just days ago now stood as a fully-formed, four-story structure—sleek, clean, precise. Not a single human had touched a hammer.

NEAR-03 and NEAR-04 stood silently at the base, tools retracted, systems idle. Their work was complete.

Barron Vrax stared up at the building, speechless. His usual arrogance had melted into raw disbelief. "Ten days," he muttered. "Ten days and it's… finished."

Beside him, his assistant wiped sweat from his brow. "Sir, local officials just inspected the structure. They said it passes every regulation. Not a single fault."

Barron ran a hand through his hair, then turned to the hovering news drone capturing the moment. "Keep the cameras rolling. The world's about to see what real power looks like."

Inside the temporary site office, Nyra, Korin, and Lira monitored the bots' diagnostics. Every reading came back clean. Reactor temperature normal. Structural integrity of the bots: flawless.

A familiar voice crackled over the comms—Raen.

Nyra answered immediately. "Building is complete. All parameters green. No external input needed."

Raen's tone was calm but proud. "Perfect. This confirms it."

Korin looked over. "Confirms what?"

Raen replied, "That they don't just build—they finish. Completely autonomous start-to-end construction."

Outside, the bots began walking slowly toward the waiting truck, their limbs folding with quiet mechanical grace. They were heading back—mission complete.

Barron Vrax approached Nyra, trying to mask his excitement with faux professionalism.

"I want eighteen more units," he said. "Same specs. Same price. But I'll deliver materials directly this time. I'll even offer you a 5-year exclusive contract for all my company's housing developments."

Nyra raised an eyebrow. "You just saw what two bots did in ten days. You still think it's just about construction?"

Barron hesitated. "What do you mean?"

She leaned in, voice calm. "This tech doesn't just build buildings, Vrax. It builds industries. And we're just getting started."

The drone camera caught the image of NEAR-03 and NEAR-04 climbing onto the transport truck, the backdrop of a completed building gleaming behind them.

Raen's voice returned one last time in the comms. "Good. That's one complete deployment. Now we scale."

Controlled Echoes