Chapter 1: Saint Cauvery Museum
Morning sunlight filtered through the steel lattice above Sector 11's apprentice dorms, drawing neat golden stripes across Luke's face like someone had casually painted him while he slept.
Sector 11 was always quiet at this hour.
Too quiet, honestly.
So quiet that Luke could hear everything, the distant hum of hydro-turbines cycling water from the city canals, the faint hiss of the air filters and even the tiny ticking of the wall sensors adjusting the dorm temperature by 0.4 degrees.
Most people found the quiet peaceful.
While Luke found it mildly accusatory.
Because the ceiling above him looked exactly the same as it had the night before. And the night before that. And his half-sleeping brain kept throwing the same thought at him:
You still haven't solved the calibration.
He groaned softly and dragged a hand over his face. He had technically slept—his watch even congratulated him on "achieving a satisfactory REM cycle"—but in his dreams, he'd been right back at his workstation, staring at the same blueprint. The same glove.
His Fifth Generation Machine prototype
—or what he hoped would one day qualify as one.
He'd done everything else:
Completed the machine's chassis. Tuned the micro-reactor to a three-quarter alignment, and lastly stabilized the sensory circuits enough that they didn't explode anymore.
But the calibration phase, the soul of the machine, refused to make sense.
It was like trying to assemble a puzzle that kept rearranging its own pieces whenever he blinked.
He suspected that a few more days of this and he'd end up like those infamous apprentices who went hollow-eyed from overwork and started naming their prototypes as if they were pets.
He wasn't there yet.
But the slope felt slippery.
And he couldn't stop.
Not with the Oxford Scientific University entrance exam only three days away.
The famous educational institute was hosting its entrance exams, and the requirement for the exam was for the applying apprentices to produce a simple but complete Fifth Generation Machine.
So Luke couldn't afford to stop.
His gaze shifted to the prototype resting in its small metal crater across the room. Even inert, it looked like it was waiting for him to explain itself.
"Well," Luke muttered at it, "same problem today?"
The glove did not respond, thankfully.
He was debating whether to stand up or burrow into his blanket and pretend the world didn't exist when a knock hit the door.
Tap. Tap.
"Luke!" A cheerful voice called out.
"You awake? You need to see this!"
Rin.
Of course.
Her timing was always suspiciously precise, usually when Luke was feeling miserable or trying hard to pretend he wasn't.
He sighed and rolled out of bed, grabbing his coat.
"If this is another video of kittens operating vending drones, l swear—"
"It's not!" Rin said, louder. "Just open the door already!"
He opened the door.
Rin stood there in the hallway. Her hair tied messily like she'd rushed over. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were bright with excitement. She looked like morning energy incarnate and Luke, still half-asleep, resented that just a little.
"What now?" he asked warily.
He was always aware that whenever Rin came to him with this vibrant energy, usually it meant that she wanted to do something very dramatic.
Rin upon facing his wary gaze rolled her eyes, continued with the same ecstatic tone.
"You're not going to believe this." She took a dramatic breath. "Dr. Chuck is unveiling something at Saint Cauvery Museum today."
Luke blinked, waiting for the punchline.
"The media says it's a Second Generation Machine."
He stopped mid-motion.
A Second Gen.
Here.
In their city.
"Wait—seriously?"
Rin nodded vigorously. "And he's showing it personally."
Luke opened his mouth to process this, but Rin held up a finger.
"Also… Governor Archibald Wenshire is attending."
Luke almost dropped his coat.
Governor Wenshire, the engineer who helped end the Second Robotic War.
Before he took up the mantle of Governor, Archibald Wenshire, was known as the most influential and most accomplished engineer of his generation.
His inventions were what helped humanity to equip themselves with enough arms to overthrow the tyrant grip of the Robots.
Luke finally exhaled.
"Fine… give me a minute to grab my gloves."
He snatched the prototype off its cradle and followed Rin out the door.
Outside, the early-morning atmosphere was lively in that mild, chaotic way the city always was.
Vendors were setting up food stalls, steaming buns, roasted grain cakes, and nutrient squares. Delivery drones buzzed overhead, announcing things like:
"Your morning productivity package is arriving!"
Kids in uniform sprinted across the street, almost getting run over by a slow-moving sanitation bot.
Rin bought a bun from a vendor and handed Luke one without asking.
"I figure you didn't eat," she said casually.
She was right.
He never did on stress-filled mornings.
They caught a cab, a compact yellow taxi that smelled faintly of citrus cleaner and headed for the museum.
Luke kept glancing at his glove prototype, holding it like a worried parent holding a toddler at a theme park.
Rin noticed.
"You look like it's gonna jump out the window."
He smiled at her and said.
"One can never be too careful "
After a few moments of drive the cab finally reached the Grand Museum of the city. The Saint Cauvery Museum.
The plaza was a sea of people.
Apprentices in crisp coats, families with happy expressions, veteran engineers leaning on mechanized canes, retired soldiers whose prosthetic limbs clicked softly with each step.
Even the enforcers encased in sleek mech-enhanced armor had their hands full managing the crowd.
Rin whistled. "Wow. I've never seen this place so packed."
Luke nodded.
"A Second Generation machine isn't a joke. People travel continents just to see one."
"Lucky for us," Rin said brightly, "we live twenty minutes away."
They passed through the security scanners and stepped inside.
The museum never failed to impress Luke.
It wasn't just a building, it was a giant mechanical cathedral. It had glass ribs, steel arches, steam powered pipes and floating platforms that made everything seemed to breathe with history.
At the center stood a giant golden statue of the first Saint of Knowledge to ever been birthed inside this city.
Luke lifted his chin, eyes following a golden statue of Anthony Cauvery.
"Feels bigger every time."
Rin grinned and nudged him. "Come on. Lets first check the First Wing before we do anything else."
Luke didn't object to that idea.
They weaved through the crowd, stopping before the tall glass capsules lining the walkway.
Each capsule contained a relic of the past wars.
A Third Generation exoskeleton frame, its plating thick and weathered, built for brute strength. It had been used and created during the first robotic war.
A Fourth Generation modular rifle, its parts still in peak condition. Also been created in the second Robotic War.
A Fifth Generation skeletal limb actuator, fibers dense as muscle tissue, hummed softly with dormant energy. This one unlike the others had been created during the First Robotic War.
Luke placed a hand on the glass, leaning closer.
"Look at that wiring density," he whispered. "The torque pathways… they compressed the entire system."
Rin nodded pretending to understand what Luke was rambling on about.
They move towards different kinds of wings taking on into detail the various Generations of machines displayed in glass capsules.
Since the Meusium of Saint Cauvery was only at the Platinum level, it only housed machinery ranging from Third Generation to Fifth Generation.
Those of Second to First Generations were not housed in here, and were only housed in Gold-level Museums
Although given how Dr. Chucks has decided to introduce and donate his newly formed Second Generation Machine, the rank of the Meusium was about to rise from Platinum to Gold.
After a few peeks at the different types of machinery artifacts, Luke and Rin eventually decided to head to the Gallery, as the time for the announcement was drawing near.
As they approached the gallery floor, Luke's attention snagged on something unusual.
A person leaned against a distant column.
He was tall reaching almost two meters in height.
He was donning a black hoodie, his face hidden behind a smooth white bunny mask. The mask's painted smile was faint and almost serene.
Luke frowned.
There was nothing overtly threatening about the figure. No weapons, nor any abnormal movements..but.... The stillness. His stillness was unnatural in a way that people rarely had in public spaces.
Rin followed his gaze. "What is it now?"
"That person," Luke murmured.
"A bunny mask," she sighed. "Luke, it's probably just someone trying to stand out."
"Maybe," he said quietly.
But his instincts kept warning him.
Without any evidence of the threat posed by the man, Luke decided to let it go. He and Rin proceeded into the Gallery.
The floor was already packed with people and Luke and Rin had to squeeze through the crowd with difficulty in order to reach the front row of people so that they could get a clearer view.
Normally people wouldn't just let them reach the front, but with the help of Rin's charm, lot of men, who were the norm around here, were more than happy to let her at the front. That way they could enjoy the view.
As they reached the front row, they did not wait that long before the, announcement began.
A gentle chime echoed through the chamber.
Instant silence followed with thousands of breaths held at once.
Spotlights converged on the central stage.
And Governor Archibald Wenshire stepped into the light.
.