Two days after recruiting Arnel, the warehouse buzzed with new energy. The boy was hunched over a workbench, dismantling a broken soldering gun. His hands moved quickly, confident despite the clutter of wires around him.
Jericho leaned over, whistling. "Kid, you're making me look bad."
Arnel flushed. "I just… like fixing things."
Maria, watching from a distance, gave Rafael a sidelong glance. "Alright. He's got some skill. But you can't build an empire with one schoolboy."
Rafael only smiled. "That's why we're not stopping at one."
The Codex pulsed faintly in his vision later that night as he drove through Manila's cramped backstreets:
"Candidate search: ongoing. Parameters: practical engineering, high improvisation skill, resilience under pressure. Suggested location: informal automotive districts."
He parked near a line of grease-stained shops where mechanics worked long after sundown, their faces lit by naked bulbs. The air smelled of oil, metal, and grilled street food.
At one corner, Rafael noticed a man crouched beside an engine block. His shirt was torn at the collar, his hands blackened with grease. Unlike the others, he worked silently, efficiently—tools laid out in perfect order. Beside him, an old tricycle engine sputtered to life, smoother than it had any right to.
The Codex flared:
"Candidate Identified: Eduardo 'Lolo Ed' Villanueva. Age: 42. Specialty: mechanical improvisation, structural durability. Loyalty probability: 77%. Risk: cynicism due to past exploitation."
Rafael stepped closer. "That trike shouldn't even be running."
The mechanic glanced up, eyes sharp under the dim light. "Shouldn't. But it is. Sometimes that's enough."
"Ever build something from scratch?" Rafael asked.
Lolo Ed chuckled without humor. "Built a water pump for my barangay when the old one broke. Saved them hauling buckets from the river. They used it for a year before the mayor's men came, claimed it for a photo op, then forgot about it. That's how it goes."
Rafael crouched, meeting his gaze. "What if it didn't have to go like that? What if your work could reach thousands—and no one could steal the credit?"
The man snorted. "You sound like every smooth-talker who's passed through here."
Rafael didn't flinch. He pulled an AquaPure straw from his pocket, dipped it into a murky glass of water from a nearby bucket, and took a long sip. Then he offered the straw to Lolo Ed.
Suspicion flickered in the mechanic's eyes, but he tried it. His brows shot up. The water was clean. Pure.
"That," Rafael said quietly, "is what we're building. And I need people who can make more than straws. People who can turn scrap into miracles."
For the first time, Lolo Ed's hardened face cracked into a faint, cautious smile. "You might be crazy. But you're the first boss who ever asked me to build instead of just repair."
Rafael extended his hand. "Then let's build together."
After a long pause, Lolo Ed shook it—firm, grease-stained, unyielding.
Back at the warehouse, Maria's eyes widened as she saw the hulking mechanic enter. "First a kid, now a grease monkey?"
Rafael only grinned. "Brains and hands. Both matter. Watch what happens when you mix them."
The Codex pulsed in his vision:
"Recruitment Success. Team foundation forming. Expansion potential: rising. Next priority: specialized sciences."
Rafael looked at Arnel and Lolo Ed working side by side, one quick and eager, the other steady and methodical.
For the first time, the dream of a true innovation core for AquaPure felt real.