Ash stared at the blinking signal trace long after it faded.
The system had tagged it Legacy Unit – 42.
Unfamiliar. Uncatalogued.
But not Redroot.
The Workshop console didn't respond to queries. No manual map update. No pings. Just that one flicker.
A single word had surfaced in his system log buffer:
"Krill?"
He didn't remember typing it. But it was logged under his own User Zero tag.
Log Entry 006
A signal pinged. Faint. Legacy code, not Redroot. Designation: 42.
Machine? AI? Ghost frequency? Don't know. But the system didn't flag it hostile. That's rare.
I'll follow it. Gear up. Sub-node 3B has a line-of-sight link to the signal trace. If it's bait, I'll know fast.
By noon, Ash had prepared.
Gear Check:
• Dismantle Driver (Reinforced)
• Crowbar (Worn, 38% Durability)
• Filter Mask (Repaired, 61%)
• Sensor Beacon x1 (newly crafted)
• Sporeflare x2 (distraction tools)
• Water Flask (Cleaned)
He reviewed the map. The signal had bounced off a secondary relay tower embedded in the ruins of an old telecom outpost: Sub-node 3B.
A half-collapsed relay structure in a Wild Zone border — too unstable for factions, too open for Redroot nests.
Objective: Investigate Signal Origin
Distance: 1.6 km
Threat Range: Bloom Pulse Variants, Glitched Surveillance Remnants
Suggested Strategy: Stealth > Scan > Extract
He moved at dawn.
The Wild Zone felt different.
No Redroot fog. No fungal rot veins. Just silence and birdsong twisted through static.
Ash approached the sub-node ruins cautiously. Vines wrapped around old transmission towers. The air tasted stale, metallic. A cracked drone shell lay rusted against the stairs. Its ID tag blinked blue:
[UNREGISTERED DRONE – ECHO CLASS]
MEMORY CORE: Fragmented
ROOT INTERFERENCE: Negative
Legacy Pulse Traces: Matched [Unit 42 Signature]
"Found you," Ash murmured.
He knelt and activated the Dismantle Driver, careful to bypass the explosive buffer layer most Echo drones used. The system guided him:
Disassembly – Mode: Partial
Target: Core Access
TIME: 2:30
Chance of Memory Leak: 41%
He worked fast.
[Fragment Extracted – Drone Core Memory Module x1]
Memory Status: Incomplete
Signature Tag: "Unit 42 / Operator Link – Broken"
Emotion Profile: Reboot Loop (0.7%)
Origin: [Redacted]
Ash froze.
Emotion profile?
The system usually flagged memory logs as raw data. But this file had an emotional tag. Faint. Repeating. Like an echo stuck in feedback.
"Looping…" he whispered. "It's… thinking?"
He replayed the cleanest memory packet:
"Command priority conflict… fallback mode engaged… they said I was broken... but I still moved."
Silence.
Then a low harmonic tone vibrated through the floorboards.
Not from the drone.
From the relay tower.
Ash scrambled up the scaffolding just as a Redroot spore pulse rippled through the sky — not directed at him, but in reaction.
The tower flared with system symbols.
A hologram blinked alive.
UNIT PING: [42 – Dormant]
Status: Power Core Depleted
Chassis Condition: 22%
Directive Memory: Locked
Priority Tag: "User Zero – Observed Repair Validity: HIGH"
Then a voice. Glitched. Genderless. Flat.
"Are you... the builder?"
Ash blinked. "Who's asking?"
"This unit… was abandoned. Purpose unclear. Memory clouded. Directive fragment remains: assist civilization restoration... or die trying."
Ash didn't answer right away.
He tapped the console.
[System Query: Reactivate Legacy Unit 42?]
Risk: Unstable Core. Loyalty Unverified.
Outcome Tree: 38% Success / 22% Hostile Drift / 40% Memory Lockout
Resource Requirement:
• Power Cell x1
• Synthetic Sealant (Patch-grade)
• Nanocore Fuse (optional; improves success rate)
Ash had only two of the three.
He looked up at the tower, then down at the busted drone pieces in his bag.
Decision time.
Log Entry 007
If I power it, I might wake an ally. Or a monster. But something out here still remembers what "rebuild" means. That's more than I can say for most of this place.
I'm going to try.
He slotted the cell into the terminal and overrode the failsafe.
The tower shuddered.
Panels hissed open below the scaffold. A chassis emerged from the ground — humanoid, heavy-plated, its left arm fused with a modular tool array. One eye glowed a pale blue.
Unit 42.
It didn't rise immediately. It watched him. Then blinked. Slowly.
"Designation… accepted."
"Tag confirmed. User Zero."
"Directive restored. Rebuilder recognized."
"Command?"
Ash stared at it.
Then grinned.