The rain softened into a steady drizzle by the time breakfast ended, tapping gently against the windows like a familiar rhythm Blake had forgotten. The house felt warm—too warm for someone who had spent fifteen years in ruins, shelters, and cold stone cathedrals.
He washed his hands at the sink, watching the water swirl down the drain. Clean water. Clear water. Not filtered rainwater. Not rationed supplies. Just… water.
His reflection in the window looked wrong.
No scars.
No hollow eyes.
No exhaustion carved into his face.
No radiation burns.
No frostbite marks from unnatural blizzards.
He looked younger. Softer. Almost fragile.
He didn't recognize himself.
Behind him, Aer giggled as he played with his dinosaur toy. Mikaela scolded him lightly for spilling juice. Marie hummed as she wiped the table.
The sounds were warm.
Alive.
Normal.
Blake's chest tightened.
He dried his hands and stepped away from the sink, forcing his breathing to steady. His instincts were screaming—too much noise, too many windows, too many blind spots. No barricades. No reinforced doors. No escape routes.
He knew it was safe.
But his body didn't.
Fifteen years of survival didn't disappear overnight.
He slipped quietly into the hallway, away from the kitchen. The moment he was out of sight, his hand went to his jacket pocket.
The Blizz Pin pulsed again.
A faint vibration.
Barely noticeable.
But unmistakable.
He pulled it out.
The stylized snowflake gleamed softly, as if catching light that wasn't there.
Blake's breath hitched.
He closed his fingers around it.
The world blurred.
A soft chime echoed in his mind—clear, gentle, almost melodic.
Then a voice—not spoken, not heard, but felt—whispered through his consciousness.
---
[System Initialization Complete]
[Shelter Construction Protocol: Online]
[User Identity: Blake Ong]
[Temporal Regression Confirmed]
---
Blake staggered back, gripping the wall.
Temporal regression.
It wasn't a dream.
It wasn't a hallucination.
It wasn't a dying fantasy.
He was truly back.
The system continued.
---
[Warning: Apocalypse Event Detected]
[Timeline Divergence: 0%]
[Projected Outbreak: 97 Days]
---
Blake froze.
Ninety-seven days.
Not twenty-seven.
Not a month.
Not a desperate sprint.
Ninety-seven days.
Three months and one week.
Enough time to prepare.
Enough time to plan.
Enough time to save—
Marie.
Mikaela.
Aer.
Marie's parents.
Her foreman brother and his partner.
Their daughter graduating senior high.
Her youngest sister, the psychiatrist.
And…
His own family.
His parents in California.
His siblings in California and Las Vegas.
Their spouses.
Their children—his nieces and nephews.
People he only saw once a year.
People he missed every day.
People he lost in the old timeline without even a goodbye.
His breath shook.
The system wasn't done.
---
[Primary Objective: Ensure Family Survival]
[Secondary Objective: Establish Long-Term Shelter]
[Tertiary Objective: Prevent Global Collapse]
---
Family survival.
He closed his eyes.
Marie's smile.
Mikaela's gentle concern.
Aer's innocent laughter.
His mother's voice.
His father's quiet advice.
His siblings' teasing.
His nieces and nephews running around during reunions.
He had lost all of them in the old timeline.
Every single one.
He would not lose them again.
The system pulsed softly, as if responding to his resolve.
---
[New Feature Unlocked: Construction Interface]
[New Feature Unlocked: Resource Detection]
[New Feature Unlocked: Blueprint Mode]
---
A faint holographic grid flickered in the air before him—transparent, blue-tinted, barely visible. It hovered for a moment, then faded.
Blake exhaled shakily.
This was real.
All of it.
He looked down at the Blizz Pin.
The gift Mikaela had given him.
The last thing he held before dying.
The first thing that brought him back.
He tightened his grip.
A soft voice broke through his thoughts.
"Daddy?"
Blake turned.
Aer stood in the hallway, holding his dinosaur by the tail. His eyes were wide, curious, innocent.
"Daddy, what you doing?"
Blake forced a smile. "Just… thinking."
Aer walked closer, peering up at him. "Daddy sad again?"
Blake knelt and ruffled his hair. "No. Not sad."
Aer tilted his head. "Then why your eyes shiny?"
Blake froze.
He hadn't realized he was crying.
He wiped his face quickly. "Just… happy."
Aer grinned. "Daddy happy! Yay!"
He threw his arms around Blake's neck.
Blake hugged him tightly, burying his face in Aer's hair.
Warm.
Soft.
Alive.
He whispered, voice trembling, "I won't let anything happen to you. Not this time."
Aer didn't understand.
He didn't need to.
He just hugged Blake tighter.
Footsteps approached.
Mikaela peeked into the hallway. "Dad? Mom said she needs help with the laundry."
Blake stood slowly, lifting Aer into his arms. "I'll help."
Mikaela smiled. "You're acting weird today."
He managed a small laugh. "Just… appreciating things."
She raised an eyebrow. "You're scaring me."
He shook his head. "No. I'm just… grateful."
Mikaela softened. "Okay. Good."
She turned and walked back toward the kitchen.
Blake followed, Aer still clinging to him.
But inside, his mind was racing.
Ninety-seven days.
Ninety-seven days to prepare.
Ninety-seven days to build.
Ninety-seven days to change everything.
The system pulsed again.
---
[Quest Activated: Prepare for the First Outbreak]
[Time Remaining: 97 Days]
[Reward: Tier 1 Blizz Tech Unlock]
---
Blake inhaled deeply.
Then another notification appeared—one that made his stomach drop.
---
[Additional Note: User's Current Financial Resources Insufficient]
[Recommended Action: Increase Capital]
[Suggested Methods: Architectural Work, Construction Projects, Academic Salary]
[Note: User's Construction Company Recently Completed a Major Project]
[Income: Moderate but Insufficient for System Requirements]
---
Of course.
He was an architect.
A professor at Saint Louis University.
A small construction company owner.
He had income.
He had skills.
He had experience.
But he didn't have enough.
Not for the shelters he needed to build.
Not for the defenses he needed to prepare.
Not for the apocalypse he knew was coming.
Not for saving two entire families across two continents.
He exhaled slowly.
Today… he was supposed to teach at SLU.
Today… he had meetings scheduled for his construction company.
Follow-ups.
Payments.
A new potential project.
Today… he had to pretend everything was normal.
But nothing was normal.
Not anymore.
He looked toward the kitchen, where Marie and the kids were laughing.
He tightened his grip on the Blizz Pin.
The countdown had begun.
And this time…
He would be ready.