Two years.
He had grown accustomed to life as the hunted.
This vast, steel graveyard had now become Allen's own familiar backyard.
He could draw a map with his eyes closed, marking which areas had the strongest radiation, which canyons had the least frequent patrols, and which wrecks had structures suitable for hiding.
Over the past two years, he had inscribed perception-blocking Rune Arrays inside hundreds of hidden wrecks.
The broken engine nozzle of a giant warship, the hollowed-out chest cavity of a Golem, the nodes of energy pipelines buried deep underground... even the saying "a sly rabbit has three burrows" was no longer enough to describe his current caution.
Seizing every available moment to cultivate had become his entire life.
He could have finished constructing the eighth Core Matrix within a year, but the ever-present pursuers and his constantly frayed nerves had more than doubled the time it took.
