Chapter 29: Original Blueprint

The BloodRider settlement was a marvel of brutal, pragmatic survival.

Tents made from cured beast hides and scavenged metal plating clung to the canyon walls like barnacles. Below, in the valley floor, warriors moved with practiced ease among massive, six-legged warhorses and scaled raptors. There were no grotesque, monstrous mutations here—just hard, weathered humans with tribal paints marking their faces in stark red and black, wearing practical, scavenged armor. They were the descendants of those who had refused to hide behind the Sector City walls, and it showed in the easy, lethal grace of their posture.

Gio walked beside Melody, his eyes scanning the settlement with a mixture of awe and unease. The air smelled of woodsmoke, roasting meat, and the sharp tang of beast hides being cured. Children played near the entrance, their laughter echoing off the canyon walls. Warriors sharpened weapons made from bone and old-world steel. It was alive in a way the Sector Cities had never been.

"They don’t look like mutants," Lloyd murmured, his voice tight with disbelief. "I thought... I don’t know. I thought they’d be monsters."

"They’re not monsters," Kojiro said quietly, his lazy grin absent for once. "They’re survivors. Descendants of people who adapted instead of hiding. Eighty-seven years out here, and they built a society. A real one."

Melody’s tail lashed nervously. "But they’re so... calm. Like they’ve been expecting us."

Kira led the way to the largest structure in the camp, a massive tent reinforced with the ribcage of some colossal, long-dead beast. She stopped at the entrance and gestured for Darwin and the four recruits—Gio, Melody, Lloyd, and Kojiro—to enter. The rest of the thirty-two recruits had been left to guard the trucks, but these four had flatly refused to be separated from the Commander after the vault.

Inside, the air was thick with the scent of burning herbs, old leather, and dried blood. Sitting cross-legged on a woven mat in the center was the Clan Elder. He was ancient, his skin like cracked parchment, his eyes milky white and completely blind. Yet, as they entered, his head tilted, tracking their movements with unnerving precision.

"City-born," the Elder rasped, his voice like dry leaves scraping across stone. "You bring a loud noise with you. A screaming metal box."

Darwin stepped forward, his bionic arm whirring softly at his side. His mechanical pupil dilated, scanning the old man. "We are on a mission, just passing through. We mean no harm to your clan."

The Elder chuckled, a dry, rattling sound that ended in a wet cough. "Harm is a matter of perspective, Commander. I do not see your faces, but I see your bioenergy. I see the rot clinging to you." He paused, his blind eyes shifting toward Kojiro. "And I see the fractured soul of a man who has eaten too much raw power."

Kojiro shifted uncomfortably, his lazy grin faltering for a fraction of a second.

The Elder’s attention snapped back to Darwin. "But it is the fragment you carry that concerns me. It calls out to the dark. The King stirs. He has been sleeping for decades, but the fragment you carry is waking him. If you do not remove it from this canyon, his hounds will tear my people apart to get to you."

Darwin’s expression remained impassive, but Gio saw the subtle tightening of his jaw. "We have technology. Old and new world weapons, medical supplies, high-density plasma cores. We can trade for your protection. And an escort to the eastern coast."

The Elder shook his head slowly. "Your metal and your fire mean nothing to the King. He will not stop until the fragment is his. I will not trade with a dead man, and I will not spill my people’s blood for your city’s scraps."

"Then what do you want?" Melody asked, her tail lashing in agitation, her claws half-extended.

The Elder’s blind eyes shifted to her, then back to Darwin. "There is a King’s outpost three days’ ride north. It sits on the ridge overlooking our primary hunting grounds. His Stewards use it to coordinate the hound packs. It is a thorn in our side, and a beacon for the King’s attention."

He leaned forward, the burning herbs casting long, dancing shadows across his scarred face. "Destroy the outpost. Kill the Stewards. Do this, and I will grant you safe passage through our territory, and maybe guide you to the coast. Refuse, and you will leave this canyon by force, or you will not leave at all."

Darwin was silent for a long moment. Gio could see the tactical calculations running behind the Commander’s mechanical eye. An outpost meant organized resistance, possibly D-Rank or even C-Rank threats. But they had no choice. They were outgunned and outmaneuvered.

"We accept," Darwin said flatly.

The Elder nodded. "Good. Kira will brief you on the route. Leave us."

Kira stepped forward to guide them out, but the Elder raised a hand. "Wait. The boy. The one with the quiet fire. Stay."

Kira hesitated, her hand resting on the hilt of her bone-handled spear, but she nodded and led Melody, Lloyd, and Kojiro out of the tent. Gio remained, standing awkwardly in the dim light.

The Elder patted the mat in front of him. "Come closer, child."

Gio stepped forward and knelt. The old man reached out, his trembling, scarred hands finding Gio’s chest. He pressed his palms flat against Gio’s tactical vest, right over his heart.

Instantly, Gio’s System flared to life in his vision, a cascade of silent, urgent text.

[Warning: External Bioenergy Scan Detected]

[Analyzing...]

[Scan Origin: Unknown biological entity]

[System Integrity: 100%]

[Velithari Protocol: Concealed]

[Host’s unique bio-signature masked successfully.]

The Elder gasped, his blind eyes widening in sheer shock. He snatched his hands back as if he’d been burned, his chest heaving.

"By the ashes..." the Elder whispered, his voice trembling with a mixture of awe and terror. "It seems the King does not just want the metal box, boy."

Gio’s heart hammered against his ribs. His System had hidden the Velithari interface, but the old man had still felt something. "What are you talking about?"

The Elder leaned in close, his breath smelling of ash and bitter roots. "He wants you. Your core... it is not like the others. It does not just hum. It sings. A song the King has not heard in eighty-seven years."

The old man’s blind eyes seemed to stare straight through Gio’s soul, piercing the very foundation of his existence.

"You are not just a mutant, child. You carry the original blueprint."

The words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. Gio’s mind raced, trying to process what the Elder had just said. Original blueprint? What did that mean? Was it connected to the Velithari System? To the asteroid? To the entire apocalypse?

"Explain," Gio demanded, his voice steady despite the tremor in his hands.

The Elder shook his head slowly. "I cannot explain what I do not fully understand. I only know that your core carries a resonance I have not felt since... a long time ago. The King will sense it too, when he wakes fully. And he will come for you, child. Not for the metal box. For you."

He leaned back, his blind eyes staring at nothing. "You must decide what to do with this knowledge. Will you run? Will you fight? Or will you embrace what you are and become something the King cannot control?"

Gio stood up, his legs feeling like lead. "I’m... not running?."

The Elder smiled, a sad, knowing expression. "Then you had better prepare yourself, child. Because the King does not forgive those who defy him. And he does not forget."

Gio turned and walked out of the tent, his mind spinning with questions. The Elder’s words echoed in his head, a haunting refrain that refused to fade. Original blueprint. Whatever that meant, one thing was certain: the hunt wasn’t just about the beacon anymore.

It was about him.