The moment Ava closed the door to her
new bedroom
, she finally exhaled.
The whole day had been
a lot.
Scavenging. Getting caught in a
Shifter ambush
. Nearly getting
murdered by her own aunt.
And then, of course,
Lucas Bai
—offering her a deal she
couldn't afford to refuse.
But now?
Now she had a
moment to herself.
She turned toward the
small, metal desk
in the corner of her room. Basic. Functional. But for the first time since this apocalypse started, she had a
workspace.
Her fingers twitched.
Her
system was humming in the back of her mind
, restless.
It was time to see
what it could really do.
The Blueprint System – Online
Ava pulled out
one of the salvaged circuit boards
she had grabbed earlier and placed it
on the desk
.
The moment her fingers brushed the surface—
[SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
[ANALYZING MATERIAL...]
[BLUEPRINT OPTIONS AVAILABLE]
Her vision
shifted
as glowing schematics
overlaid the object in front of her
.
Lines of
text and numbers
scrolled in her mind, breaking down the
quality, structure, and potential uses
of the board.
She barely
breathed
as she scanned the options.
[Basic Power Source – Requires: 1x Circuit Board, 1x Copper Wire, 1x Power Cell]
[Encrypted Data Storage – Requires: 1x Circuit Board, 1x Memory Module, 1x Secure Casing]
[Faulty Component Repair – 67% Success Rate]
Ava's
heart pounded.
This wasn't just
scrap metal
anymore.
This was
opportunity.
She scanned the room, looking at the
other pieces she'd collected.
A rusted motherboard. A bundle of
old wiring
. A few
damaged battery cells
.
It wasn't much—but her system
saw potential in all of it.
And that meant
she could turn garbage into something worth trading.
A slow smile crept onto her face as Ava
worked fast.
Not just because she wanted to
test her system
, but because she finally had
the space to do it.
For the first time since the world ended, she wasn't sitting in a
cold, overcrowded bunker
fighting over scraps. She had a
desk, materials, and—most importantly—privacy.
She
rolled up her sleeves
, fingers itching as she laid out the salvaged parts.
Her system was
already waiting.
[Blueprint System – Active]
[SELECT PROJECT]
Ava scanned the options again, weighing her choices.
Most of them were
too complex for her current materials
. She needed
better parts
—higher quality, less rust,
actual power sources.
But one blueprint
stood out.
[Faulty Component Repair – 67% Success Rate]
Not glamorous.
Not groundbreaking.
But
useful.
If she could
fix broken components
, she could sell them. Trade them.
Stockpile working tech before anyone else.
That was
how you stayed ahead in a place like this.
She selected the blueprint.
[INITIATING REPAIR SEQUENCE...]
[TARGET: Circuit Board]
[PROCESSING...]
Ava grabbed
a thin tool from her kit
, carefully following
the glowing system instructions overlaying the board.
She removed a
damaged resistor
, replaced a few
corroded pathways
, and adjusted
the remaining power lines.
The moment she finished, her system flashed.
[REPAIR SUCCESSFUL – FUNCTIONAL CIRCUIT BOARD OBTAINED]
Ava grinned.
Perfect.
She had just turned
a worthless piece of junk into something valuable.
And if she could do it once?
She could do it
again.
Ava leaned back, staring at the board
in her hands.
Lucas Bai wanted
tradeable assets?
She was about to give him
something even better.
A
new supply chain.
And she'd make sure
she was the only one who controlled it.
Ava didn't waste time.
She had a
working circuit board
—something that
shouldn't exist
in a place like this. Most scavengers barely knew how to tell
wires from scrap metal
, let alone
fix delicate tech.
Which meant she had
an edge.
And she was going to
use it.
She grabbed the board, wiped the dust off her hands, and left her room.
Lucas was
in the living area
, casually flipping through
a worn ledger,
golden eyes scanning numbers that
probably decided half the bunker's economy.
Ava dropped the circuit board onto the
table in front of him.
Lucas
raised a brow
, glancing at it. "You brought me a broken circuit board? I have plenty of those."
Ava smirked. "Check again."
Lucas sighed, picked it up—and the moment he
turned it over
, his expression
shifted.
Ava
caught it instantly.
A flicker of
genuine surprise
. A quick recalculation.
Then, just as fast, it was gone—replaced by
his usual amused smirk.
Lucas leaned back, spinning the board between his fingers. "This was dead when we pulled it from the ruins."
Ava shrugged. "Not anymore."
Lucas hummed, clearly
reappraising her.
"You fix broken tech now?"
Ava stretched, pretending she wasn't
watching him carefully.
"Let's just say I have a good eye."
Lucas chuckled. "Sure. And I'm a humanitarian."
Ava didn't rise to the bait. "You wanted me to be useful. Here's proof."
Lucas tilted his head. "And what do you want for it?"
Ava tapped the
edge of the table
, considering.
"Information," she said finally. "You know everything happening in this bunker. I want in."
Lucas grinned. "Bold."
"Smart," Ava corrected. "You need me more than I need you."
Lucas
laughed
, tapping the board against the table. "That remains to be seen."
But he didn't say no.
Which meant
she had his attention.
Good.
Because this was just
the first step.
And if Lucas Bai thought she was just going to be another
pawn in his game?
He had no idea
who he was dealing with.